LEANED BACK in his chair, stretched and placed his feet on the corner of his desk. After days of pulling numbers from various sources, the advertising report was officially done—well, at least until Sage gave him yet another adjustment or addition.
Today marked his sixth day on the job and he’d not only completed the report but he’d also managed to cut his workload in half via a combination of macros and a few short computer programs. He was feeling pretty pleased with himself.
He removed the eyeglasses that he hadn’t quite adjusted to, closed his eyes and leaned his head back as classic rock music pounded in his earbuds. It was nice to just sit back for a moment and enjoy all that he’d accomplished. After all, he deserved it.
He’d been working nonstop since he’d taken this undercover position. He’d made inroads with the new managing editor, but so far he had yet to uncover her secret to success. Sure she was first in the office and the last one out, but there was more to it. She did keep her office door closed a lot. So what was she up to in there? Were there bribes involved—
His feet were shoved off the desk.
He jerked forward in his seat as his feet hit the floor. His eyes snapped open. Was this someone’s idea of a joke? Because it wasn’t funny.
And then his gaze met Sage’s. Her eyes darkened and appeared almost violet. If it wasn’t for the distinct frown on her face, he might have been moved to compliment the striking color of her eyes. But now definitely wasn’t the right time.
He straightened up, not sure what to say.
Sage continued to frown as she gestured for him to remove his earbuds.
He’d totally forgotten about them. His full attention had been on his boss. Was it strange that he found her even cuter when she got worked up? Her face flushed. It made him want to pull her into his arms and kiss away her worries. Not that he would ever act on the impulse.
Trey scrambled to pull the earbuds from his ears and then press the pause function on his phone. “What did you need?”
“I’ve been buzzing you. Didn’t you hear?” And then realizing the foolishness of her question, she continued. “There’s a red light on your phone. Right here.” She pointed it out.
“I was busy.”
“Doing what? Taking a nap?”
“Hey, that’s not fair. I just finished that report—again. And I needed to rest my eyes for just a moment.”
“You finished it?” The frown on her face eased.
He nodded. He reached around her and retrieved the printed and proofed copy from the top of his desk. He still wasn’t quite sure of the purpose of this report, but as he handed it over, he noticed Sage’s pleased expression.
He hadn’t known her long, but in that period of time he’d studied her. She cared a lot about the people that worked for her—except him. They butted heads a lot. He realized that was as much his fault as hers. Thankfully this arrangement wouldn’t last too much longer.
He’d also noticed that she held back a lot. Many women he’d dated had been more than willing to share the intimate details of their lives. Not Sage. It wasn’t like they were dating. That would never happen. But she never mentioned anything about her life outside these office walls. He found that a bit odd.
“Thank you for this.” She started toward her office and then turned back. “From now on, earbuds are prohibited in the office.”
He opened his mouth to counter a defense, but the firm line of her glossy lips had him closing his mouth without uttering a word. This was her office—her rules. Even if he didn’t see the harm with earbuds. He allowed his employees to use them. His motto was happy workers were productive workers. But the problem was that he wasn’t the boss here.
She continued to stare at him. “Aren’t you coming?”
“I didn’t realize...” His voice trailed off as he scrambled to his feet and followed her.
“I thought you might be interested in the process of deciding on a cover for next week’s edition.”
She was right. He was definitely interested. Perhaps this was where she sprinkled her fairy dust that made all the vendors sit up and take notice of QTR once again. “Yes, I would be very interested.”
She gestured for him to follow her into her office. Three large computer monitors sat on a table. She moved to her desktop computer and pressed a couple of keys. Her gaze moved to the monitors, which remained dark. Her fine brows drew together as her rosy lips pursed together. She tried again with the same results.
Computers were his field of expertise. “Can I give it a try?”
She shook her head. “I’ve got it.”
She tried again with the same results.
“I’m pretty good with computers.” He moved to her side ready to take over.
He reached for the keyboard at the same time she did. Their fingers touched. Her hand was soft and warm. And her touch sent a wave of attraction washing over his eager body.
When he raised his gaze, he caught the look of desire in Sage’s eyes. But in a blink it was gone and he was left wondering if it had ever been there at all.
She glanced away. “I’ll get it. Just hang on.”
“You do realize that I’m your assistant, right? So let me assist.”
“No. I can figure this out.”
“Are you always so stubborn?”
Her gaze met his. “I refer to it as independent.”
He shook his head and backed off. He wondered what had happened to her to make her so stubborn and unwilling to accept help.
After flipping through a couple of papers and reading something, she tried again. A triumphant smile lit up her face as the monitors flickered on. “There we go. I hit the wrong key before.”
Each monitor displayed a cover of QTR. There were different headlines and different fonts. He had to admit that this was all new to him as for so much of his career he’d focused on software development and website design.
“These are the three layouts that my staff has put together for the upcoming week.” She gave him a moment to read the headlines. “Now they want me to choose which will have the biggest reach both online and in the supermarket aisles.”
He read each headline.
Superstars Go Pink and Blue
Serenaded Beneath the Stars
Singing for Angels
Trey turned to Sage. “They’re each different stories?”
“No.”
He frowned. He hoped she wasn’t going to slip into his father’s old ways. Had she decided that responsible journalism
