The Lost One (Lost Series Book 1) (8 page)

I sense him so close behind me. He leans in to me and his warm breath tickling my neck sends continuous shivers down my spine. How am I going to contain my professionalism if he is my boss and all I want to do is wrap my arms around that body and kiss him
?

“I will talk to you later and explain everything then…sorry,” he whispers into my ear, making my i
nsides clench with excitement.

“I also look forward to hearing about your dream,
Ms. White.” The mere mention of the dream causes my stomach to roll into a tight ball of anxiousness.
Oh, hell! How am I going to get out of that conversation?

Standing at Rachel’s desk, he has moved away from me. I need to take my mind off him and get stuck into work, a
nd that’s not going to be easy.

Helen leaves, but not before explaining a few things to Rachel, wishing me good luck, and reminding me she will be back for the paperwork. I don’t notice
Corban leave; that’s a good thing though. At least I can concentrate on what I need to do.

Rachel shows me to my desk and boots up the computer. She then gets to work setting up my email and redirecting emails that will now come to me. She leaves me to start filling out the paperwork from Helen. Before long,
it’s lunch time and Rachel walks over to my desk.

“
Wanna go grab lunch?” She is a beautiful girl with long black hair, brown eyes, tall, and very slim. She is wearing a long sleeve, bright red blouse with black pants and red high heels. She’s really gorgeous.

“Sure, I didn’t realise it was lunch time already,” I answer,
reaching for my bag.

“We just have to let Mr Andrews know we are going. Do you
wanna give him a quick call, if he isn’t on the phone?”
Ahhh…not really, but if I have to I will.
Well, that’s what I want to say, but better not let on I know him since he didn’t acknowledge it, which is a little confusing since he was so keen on getting to know me and giving me his number. Maybe that’s what he wants to explain to me. An uneasiness settles within me. What if he shatters my hopeful heart?

“Sure, no worries.”
Grabbing the phone and dialling his extension, my hands shake and my heart rate goes through the roof. He picks up after the first ring.

“Mr Andrews,” he answers, his sweet smooth voice causing me to lose mine for a
second.“Oh, ah, Mr Andrews, just want to let you know that myself and Rachel are heading out to lunch.” My voice is shaky; I hope Rachel doesn’t notice.

I really need to get past this effect he has on me. He is just another guy; well, a guy who has my full attention as well as the atten
tion of every nerve in my body.

I’m met with silence. “Okay,
” he finally answers.

“Please be careful, you never know the creeps you will run into in this city
,” he quickly adds in a much quieter, and less business and more of a caring tone.

“Yep, no worries.
Will be back shortly,” I quickly answer, hanging up.

We head for the elevator. “So, Rachel,
how long have you worked here?”

She thinks for a moment.
“Going on three years. I love it here. The people are friendly and I love my boss. He is great; although, he has his moody days.” Yeah, you don’t have to tell me he is great. Plus, I’m sure he is great in the bedroom as well; that thought brings a smile to my face.

We click instantly. She tells me about herself. She has a boyfriend named Axel. They have been together since they were eighteen. He is a tattoo artist. I ask if she has any tattoos since there are none visible. She rolls up her sleeve and there’s a full arm of tattoos. Now I see why she wears the long sleeve shirts. It looks
awesome.

“There are more in many other places though,” she tells me, giving me a wicked grin. The thought of getting a tattoo scares me, thinking I would have it for the rest of my life. What happens when I get old and wrinkly? They would just sag.
Eww! Oh, and the thought of the tattoo needle…argh!

“So, Mel, do you have a boyfriend?” Now it’s my turn to answer the twenty questions, in
wardly cringing at the thought.

“Nope, no boyfriend; not interested right now.
”

“Where does your f
amily live, here or Australia?”

“Here, my mum and dad live in Philly. We moved over when my dad was in the Army and we stayed since we like it here.” I automatically know what question is coming next; the one I really didn’t want to answer
right now.

“Oh, cool,” she says excitedly as she takes another bite of her salad roll. Seriously, she doesn’t need a salad; she needs some deep fried food. “Do you have any brothers or sisters?” Yep, there it
is, the dreaded doomsday question.

“I had a sister. She disappeared about three years ago,” I quickly answer, not wanting to go into too much detail or get upset. She stops mid-bite and just stares at me,
unsure what to say.

“That must’ve been hard. I can’t begin to imagine how that feels.” I see sadness in her eyes. I really don’t want talk about this right now, but once it’
s done, it’s done.

“Yeah, pretty hard.
It wasn’t an easy time. Oh, hey, which reminds me, I need time off work in a couple of weeks. My family has a tradition every year since my sister disappeared and I’m always there for it.” She has continued to eat. I’ve finished and am just waiting for her.

“Okay, I can show you where to get the form from when we get back. You just need to put in the dates and get Mr Andrews to sign it; then it goes to Helen.” She smiles. The energy that comes from her smile is enough to brighten anyone’s day. I know we are going to get along great at work and will surely be hitting the to
wn together in the near future.

“Sounds good, we better get back. I got the check,” I quickly snatch it from the table, heading to the counter. We walk back to the office in silence, totally satisfied from our lunch.
When we get back to the office, Corban is in a meeting with clients. I make my way back to my desk where I find a bouquet of lilies. I wonder who they’re from. I’ve only been here not even a day, so they could be for Rachel and put on my desk by mistake. They are in a stunning arrangement of yellow and pink with baby’s breath and carnations. I pick out the card; it’s addressed to me.

To Our Darling Daughter,
Congratulations on your new job. We love you lots and good luck.
All our Love
Mum and Dad xoxo

Oh, my parents are awesome. I love them so much. I might give them a quick call to thank them. I pick up the phone and dial their number. Dad pi
cks up after a couple of rings.

“Hello?” he sounds
out of breath.

“Dad, it’s me.
”

“Oh, hey, h
oney, how’s the new job going?”

“It’s fantastic. I think I’m really going to like it here, and thanks for the flowers. They are beautiful. Is M
um around?” I ask.

“No, she is working day shifts for the next two weeks. Glad you liked them; thought they would brighten your day.” I sit admiring the beautiful flowers. I see
Corban come out of his meeting, coming straight for me. He stops in front of my desk and waits.
Oh, crap, a personal call may not have been the best decision right now.

“I have to go sorry, Dad. Talk to you and Mum later.” I quickly hang up knowing, I’ll probably be in trouble.
Corban looks at me, shoving a bunch of paperwork toward me.

“I need twenty copies of each now,” his tone sharp, no kindness in his words at all. “And no more personal calls during work hours,” he snaps.

“No worries, sorry, Mr Andrews.” I take the paperwork and leave him standing at my desk.

When I turn around, he is heading back to the meeting, but not before looking my way again.

He shakes his head, giving a small smile for only me to see. I don’t smile back.

Seriously, what is his problem!
I don’t have time for little games. I know I was in the wrong making a personal call during the work hours, but it’s only my first day. Talk about moody.

The rest of the day flies by. Rachel shows me where to get the leave form from, which I’ll do at home tonight. By the end of the day, I have learnt so much. I didn’t really get to talk to
Corban again, only when phone calls came in, but even then, it was very brief. I don’t think I even said goodbye as he was in another meeting. I left with Rachel, stopping in at the HR floor to drop the paperwork off to Helen.

“How did your first day go?” she asks, looking up from perusing
the paperwork.

“Great! I’m sure I’ll like it here. Rachel has been super helpful,” I say, smiling toward Rachel
.

We chat for a little longer about nothing in particular. Rachel and Helen have a great relationship. Anyone can see that in the way they speak to each other so carefree and know about the other’
s life outside of work.

After an hour of chatting, we leave. I say goodbye to Rachel and get in the car, ready to go home for a soak in the bath. I haven’t messaged Flick today, especially after the run-
in with Corban about personal calls. I’m sure she will be keen to hear about the turn of events with him.

Grabbing my phone, I send her a quick text.

Me: You are never going to guess how my day went!!

Ugh! The New York traffic can kiss my ass! It’s the one thing I really dislike about this place, so much road rage, myself included. I have the shortest temper, so there’s cursing and yelling going on all around, me at them and them at me.

I take a deep breath to relax. Now I’m home, time for a quiet night in with some delivered fatty Chinese food. Firstly, a soak in the bath after I reply to the four messages from Flick. Getting my phone out, I read all her messages.

Flick: Why? What happened?

Flick: What’s your boss like?

Flick: Did you get fired already?

Flick: HELLO? Answer me!

Laughing to myself about how she automatically thinks the worst, I quickly text back before she freaks out and sends a heap more messages.

Me: Ease up! Nothing bad has happened. Come around in an hour and I will tell you EVERYTHING!

I call and order dinner and go to the bathroom, ready to relax for a little while. My phone goes off; of course, it’s Flick.

Flick: Sure,
I can’t wait! x

I’m sure she’ll be as shocked as me by this turn of events. But what I’m more interested in knowing is why Flick didn’t tell me the other night it was Mr Andrews I was with? I will question her about that when she gets here. I run the bath, adding some lavender scented salts. I smell the salts and they instantly relax me. This is ex
actly what I need after today.

Sitting in the bath, I replay today in my head, not really believing what happened.
Corban is my boss!
I’m not sure how this affects our relationship or us. What am I talking about? There is no relationship, and I highly doubt there ever will be now. I will wait until we’ve spoken. It might be better though. If I am the employee and he’s the boss, there could be some conflict of interest, like a no dating co-workers policy.

Another thing is
, I need to control my emotions around him, especially at work. Being in his presence, he has this hold on me, on every nerve in my body. They react straightaway to him and everything within me ignites, like nothing I have ever felt before. Kind of like a fuel to fire. It could be dangerous. He probably goes out with a lot of beautiful women so much better than me.

I think back on our first meeting at the club. It seems ages ago that we met and shared our first kiss. I find it hard to believe he was interested in me. He could’ve just wanted to make sure no one sues him for hurting themselves in his club. I can’t believe I let myself get so wasted, but it was a bad day for me with Abby going through my mind. T
he drinking eased the pain.

The club was buzzing, the music wasn’t all that techno crap, and being with Flick and Liam had made me feel so good. But nothing compared to that captivating kiss with
Corban. Just the thought excites me, causing my body to erupt with desire.

A sharp knock at the door brings me back to the present. That must be Flick. She is early or I have been in the bath for longer than I thought. Scrambling out of the bath, I wrap my towel around me, still dripping wet, and trying not
to slip on the polished floors.

“I’m coming!” I yell.

I reach the door, thankful I didn’t slip. Taking a breath, I open the door. My stomach falls to the floor and I instantly regret answering the door in my current attire because standing in the doorway is not Flick, but
Corban Andrews!

For the second time today,
I am speechless by his presence and my legs are weak. He stands here in front of me in dark blue jeans and a black fitted t-shirt. Boy, he looks delicious. I want to pull him to me and kiss him passionately.
WAIT! Hold up. How the heck does he know where I live?
All of a sudden, I remember I’m wrapped in my towel!