I turned around to catch my elevator buddy poking his head in with a big smile on his face. All of a sudden this asshole was all teeth. “Are you ready for me?”

“Yes, of course.” Gail’s voice sounded mad fake as she waved him over.

I shot a look at her, certain that whatever she didn’t get to tell me had everything to do with the fact that this gorgeous, oversized motherfucker was sauntering over to us, looking like poorly dressed perfection.

I stood up and knocked over a can of Diet Coke, hitting my elbow on the table so hard I belted out a curse. As I stood there rubbing my injured limb, I realized Gail had stayed in her seat and was looking at me like she might have seriously misjudged my ability to be helpful in this situation.

“Julia.” I had no idea how Gail could pack so much warning and encouragement into one word, but I had to admit, I was impressed. “Part of what the executive board has asked for is that we fill Mr. Quinn and his team in on the work our programs do.”

I didn’t really fully panic until I saw Gail doing Vanna White hands between me and Rocco. I opened my mouth to say something but Gail started talking before I put my whole foot in my mouth.

“Rocco, Julia will be showing you around our programs over the next few weeks. She’s the best person to do it, since she developed our new after-school program and clinic. I believe those are the areas of most interest to Mr. Sturm.”

No wonder Gail was stressed out.

I turned to Rocco and flashed him my best attempt at a smile as I very quickly tried to roll with the bomb Gail had just dropped on me.

“I’ll be happy to fill you in on whatever you need to know.” I glanced over at my boss, who was starting to look a little pale.

He dipped his head, with that smirk that I couldn’t decide whether I wanted to kiss or bite off his face. Either way, teeth would be involved.

“Excellent.”

I managed to produce a nod and some upward movement of my lips.

“Sure,” I choked out as he beamed at me.

The programs, the funding, and my job now depended on me not fucking this up. On me not making a fool of myself with this man, whose mere presence made me act like a full-on wreck.

Forget before, this was perfectly terrible.

Don’t miss Here to Stay by Adriana Herrera, available wherever Carina Press books are sold.

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