Written on Her Heart (8 page)

Andi narrowed her eyes. “I never—”

“Just remember, I’ve been here from the beginning. I’m the one who’s helped get him to where he is. And once all this media attention dies down, he’ll have no use for you.” She tugged on the bottom of her suit jacket. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have real work to do. I have Ford’s blog post to type up, a press release to take care of, and a call back to Oprah.”

Andi’s mouth dropped.
Oprah?

Focus.

She reached out and put a hand on the assistant’s arm before she could turn away. “You’re not going to intimidate me.” Andi steadied her voice. If there was one thing she wasn’t, it was a pushover. “I earned this job. I’ll be good at it and I’ll prove myself useful. There’s no reason why we both can’t work here amicably.”

The assistant glared down at Andi’s hand, pushed it off and wiped at her sleeve.

“And while we’re working together,” Andi said. “It would be helpful to know your name. That is, unless you want me to go around calling you The Assistant.” She smirked as the assistant narrowed her eyes and scowled.

“I’m Ms. Perry to you.”  Her gaze moved over Andi, her lip curling.

Andi crossed her arms as if she could hide her clothes. Suddenly, her plain dress and the 1960s blazer didn’t seem adequate, not compared to Ms. Perry’s tailored suit. She made a mental note to go shopping.

“Oh, and there’s one more thing,” Ms. Perry said. “No visitors here. Not ever.”

“I wouldn’t do that.”

“Humph.” Ms. Perry’s mouth tightened before she turned and entered the office.

“Ugh. It’s going to be a long day,” Andi muttered and followed her.

#

Andi threw the folder on her desk with a sigh at the exact moment Ford left his office.
Great.
She’d probably get another lecture.

She plopped down in her chair without glancing up, but she could see him out of the corner of her eye. He stood off to the side, watching her.

Andi had suffered several hours of snide remarks and scornful glares from Ms. Perry. She had just about met her limit of feeling unwanted in the office. The thick air had begun to eat at her and she craved a reprieve.

Shaking her computer mouse, she refreshed the screen. She’d finished her research on the mill, turning up a few new stories and adding detail and personal anecdotes, but she wasn’t about to ask Ford if he wanted the information. She would wait until he asked, especially after being told not to interrupt him.

Remembering Ford’s presence, she glanced up and locked eyes with him, but shifted her gaze before he could say anything and busied herself on the computer. She went to her e-mail and logged in. Until he gave her a new task, she may as well e-mail Rachel and Carma, even if she was annoyed with Rachel for nearly snatching away her job.

She opened her in-box and scanned through the new e-mails—nothing important. Moving her mouse over the compose button, she began to type.

To:
[email protected]

 
[email protected]

Subject:
I kick ass!

Hey girls,

Guess where I’m at? Well, Rachel you already know, but don’t think you’re going to steal the job away from me so easily. Competition or not, I hope we’re still on for tonight. The cove is waiting and I need my best friends. I’ll bring the refreshments. You bring the idle gossip.

Andi bit the inside of her cheek, then signed the e-mail.

Hugs,

Andi Callaway

Assistant to bestselling author Ford Delaney.

I may as well have fun with this
. Smiling, she hit send and glanced at her watch—three o’clock. Maybe she should go to lunch? After her tardiness, she wasn’t going to take one, but now she reconsidered, since she had nothing to work on.

She glanced up from her desk and her eyes widened when she saw Ford walking toward her, two cups of coffee in hand. She tried not to stare, tried not to notice the graceful way he moved, his strong hands or the way his sandy hair looked—as though he had been running his hands through it all morning.

She tried to hide her eyes as he approached, as if she could care less about his presence. When he stopped in front of her, he extended one of the mugs and cleared his throat.

Andi blinked up at him, saying nothing.

“For you,” he said.

She hesitated but reached for the mug. Cringing at the thought of having to drink a bitter cup of black coffee, she peeked at the contents and realized the dark liquid had been tempered with cream. She lifted her eyes to his and raised her brows.

Ford cleared his throat. “I, uh, saw your half-empty mug earlier, when you left the office for the bathroom.”

Interesting
. He was playing coffee detective and watching when she left her desk? Should she be flattered or creeped out?

Lifting the mug to her lips, she noticed he had gotten her a delicate rose-patterned teacup, while he drank from a heavy, plain mug. Taking a tentative sip, she suppressed a smile. The coffee had been sweetened with a touch of sugar, exactly how she took it, and she wondered if he had actually tasted her coffee before he murmured, “I guessed at the sugar.” He twisted his own mug in his hands, then took a sip.

Behind him, Andi spotted Ms. Perry, watching their exchange.

“You did good,” Andi said, her voice flat.

“Could I have a word with you for a moment?”

Andi wanted to say no. She had no idea what he wanted to talk to her about, but if it was something he couldn’t say there, with Ms. Perry looking on, she wasn’t sure she wanted to hear it, now that she’d decided a professional relationship was best.

“Sure,” she heard herself saying.

Standing, she followed him into his office, feeling the daggers of Ms. Perry’s gaze with every move. Once inside, he turned to her. “Is there something wrong?”

“What?” She hadn’t expected this.

“You’re quiet and the few times I saw you today, you looked as though something was bothering you.”

Andi narrowed her eyes. Seriously? What did he expect?

“Nothing’s wrong. I was just working, which is what you wanted.”

“Yeah.” He leaned back against the desk and rubbed his jaw. “Why were you late this morning?”

Andi angled her head. Where was he going with this? “I had car trouble.”

“That’s it?”

“What else would there be?”

He crossed his arms in front of his chest. “The thing is, I know how badly you wanted this job. It’s a great opportunity. This morning, you just looked as though you had something else going on. And while I don’t really know you, it just doesn’t seem in your character to be careless. If anything, you seem like the type that would’ve been here early.”

Andi exhaled, dropping her arms to her sides. “That is me. I do want this job, more than anything. I don’t want you to think I’m irresponsible. I just…” She bit her lip. Telling him about Peter and their fight felt wrong, but what choice did she have?

“My boyfriend came into town yesterday, and we got into an argument. We didn’t leave things great, and he’s only in town a week, so he showed up this morning. I had trouble getting him to leave, then once I did, my car wouldn’t start. It’s old and the engine floods easily. That’s all.”

Ford nodded. He opened his mouth to say something, then stopped.

“I won’t be late again, even if it means I have to sleep here.” The moment the words left her mouth and sunk in, she blushed.

Ford raised a brow, his lips quirking. “Though that offer sounds nice, it won’t be necessary.” Andi’s face reddened further, and his smile widened. “Listen, I’m sorry if I was harsh this morning. I’m under a lot of pressure. I’ve got my agent and the publishers breathing down my neck to have a novel written in the next two months, so they can exploit the publicity. And I’ve got Trisha, who handles all my personal relations stuff, pressuring me to do the Oprah gig …” He nodded toward the office door, and she realized Trisha must be Ms. Perry. “Friday, I shared some stuff with you, something I usually don’t do. Okay, something I never do.” He shoved his hands in his pockets and stared at the floor. “So when I thought you weren’t coming…” He trailed off, then cleared his throat. “Uh, anyway, how’d the research go?”

Her heart fluttered in her chest at the way he spoke so candidly to her. Andi focused on her breathing, forced herself to focus on his question. The return to even ground, discussing her research, centered her. “I finished it. I’ll go get everything. I put it all together in a file.”

Ford nodded. “Good. If you want, you can go home when you’ve finished.”

She turned to leave his office.

“And Andi…”

When she glanced back at him, he smiled. “Thanks.”

Nodding, she closed the door behind her and noticed the atmosphere had changed. As she made her way to her desk, the office no longer seemed so dark, so closed-off. Already her step felt lighter, the air thinner after her conversation with Ford.

She was reaching for the file when a hand covered hers.

She glanced up to Ms. Perry’s bug eyes. “You have a guest who just barged in here, which is completely unprofessional. Didn’t I just tell you this morning, no visitors?”

Andi wrenched her hand out from under hers. “What are you talking about?”

“Him!” Ms. Perry whipped around and pointed to the waiting room, where Peter emerged from the hallway. In his hands, he carried a huge bouquet of roses.

“Peter?” Andi hurried toward him, a sinking feeling in her gut. She had no idea what he was doing there or how Ford would feel about his presence, but the air between them had just cleared, and she wasn’t about to find out.

“What are you doing here?” she hissed.

Peter blinked. He opened his mouth to say something, but Andi placed her hand on his chest and pushed. “You can’t be here. You have to go.” A ball of fire fisted in her chest. “I told you I’d talk to you tonight.”

Peter enveloped her hand in his. “I called Rachel to see where the office was so I could send you flowers after work, and she said I should deliver them personally, that she was just here this morning and no one would mind.”

Andi closed her eyes. Rachel. Of course.

Clenching her jaw, she spoke through her teeth. “She’s wrong.” Then, in a softer tone, “The flowers are beautiful and I appreciate the gesture, but you have to go. I’m about done. Go outside and wait. I’ll be out in a few minutes.”

A door behind them squealed. “Hey, Andi, do you have that…”

Oh no.

Andi spun around. Ford stood in the doorway of his office, his eyes trained on Peter, his mouth slightly open. “Who’s this?” he asked, an edge to his voice.

Andi had a feeling he knew who it was. Beside her, Ms. Perry smirked, clearly enjoying her discomfort. Her stomach twisted in knots as she glanced back at Peter. “Uh, this is Peter.”

Peter’s hooded gaze moved over Ford, his cool blue eyes frosting over.