by Layla Holt
Corrine thought fast. She’d always wanted to take painting lessons. Why not now and from her aunt? “I’d like to sign up for lessons.”
Her aunt turned to her. “Really? You don’t have to, I’m sure the gallery will find me other students.”
“Yes, really. I’ve always wanted to and my weekends are free. How long are the lessons?”
“Two hours, ten to twelve,” her aunt said.
“In that case I will,” Corrine said.
“You’re a wonderful girl Corrine Roberts,” her aunt said.
Corrine unlocked the car and helped her aunt into the front passenger seat, then placed the crutches in the back seat.
"Is your boss handsome?" her aunt asked. "I haven’t met him but his brother Dean is eye candy."
Corrine burst out laughing. "I didn’t know you knew that term Aunt Maureen. Eye candy. Ha!"
"Well, is he?"
"He's definitely handsome," Corrine said when she got into the car.
"Well, then, it's going to be an interesting couple of months," Aunt Maureen said.
Corrine knew what her Aunt was thinking but she refrained from commenting. The less she said about it the faster her Aunt would stop those hints she'd been throwing around ever since Corrine arrived in Lockwood.
"What do you feel like having for dinner?" Corrine asked her.
Her aunt chuckled. "That is the poorest attempt at changing a topic that I've ever heard," she said with a chuckle. "However, I'm not pushy, at least not all the time, and I’ll let it go. How about roast potatoes and chicken? My Leonard loved them."
"You still miss him, don’t you?"
"Every day," she said. "You know, you remind me of myself at your age. Courageous and ready to take on the world."
Corrine shot a glance at her aunt. She couldn’t possibly be describing her. There was no way they were alike. Her aunt had always lived life to the fullest whereas she felt as though she lived on the fringes of things.
At least since her accident. "Are you sure you're talking about me?" she said.
"Yes," her aunt said. "You may not realize it yet, but you're a very strong young woman. Another person would not have made that decision to come to Lockwood. To start afresh after such an upheaval. I'm proud of you."
Tears welled up in Corrine’s eyes and she brushed them away with the back of her hand. "Thank you." It was kind of her aunt to say that even though Corrine didn’t think it was true.
Aunt Maureen lived in a cute cottage on Evermore Street and as Corrine drove into the driveway, she could see Smokey, Aunt Maureen’s snow-white cat, staring out the window. She laughed. "Does Smokey look out for you every evening?"
Her aunt laughed. "Always. He makes me look forward to coming home after work."
Her aunt was one of several resident artists in the gallery. Her specialty was landscapes though she occasionally did portraits. Leonard had done abstract paintings and they hung all over Aunt Maureen’s walls.
In the house, Corrine helped her aunt to the living room and left her cuddling Smokey while she got their dinner started. She'd been in Lockwood for less than a week and she could already feel herself emerging from her dark shell. Her aunt was undemanding and easy to live with.
Later, while they were eating, Corrine told her about the plans Jaime and Lance had about boosting employee morale and the part she had played in it.
"That's exactly the kind of spirit I meant earlier. I like it that you speak up when you have something to say."
"I cannot not speak. My mouth takes off without asking me for permission first," Corrine said.
Aunt Maureen laughed.
Chapter Four
"WHAT'S ON THE AGENDA for today?" Lance said as they sat across from each other at his desk.
Corrine had been trying unsuccessfully to stop thinking how the jacket of his tailored suit accentuated his broad shoulders. How would it feel like to run her hands over his shoulders and to be held in arms?
"Corrine?"
She jerked to attention. "Sorry. Let me see." She turned her attention to the iPad on her lap. "You have a meeting with Adrian here in your office in half an hour."
She hadn’t met him but she'd learned from the other secretaries that Adrian was another brother. They went through the schedule for the day, after which she nipped to the small kitchenette on their floor and brought him some coffee.
She'd just settled behind her desk when a man she assumed was Adrian walked in. He had a commanding presence about him and he had the same penetrating gray black eyes. Now, they were trained on her and she found herself fidgeting in her chair.
What was it with the Cohan brothers? She was yet to meet one who was not sexy.
"Good morning, sir," Corrine said with a smile.
"Good morning yourself," he said. "Please call me Adrian."
"And I'm Corrine," she said and stood up to shake his hand. "I'm Mr. Cohan's new secretary." He gripped her hand and shook it firmly.
"Welcome on board. Is he in?"
He was friendly but he did not have Jaime’s or Sean’s friendliness. Adrian was a little intimidating and his manner did not invite familiarity.
Yes," Corrine said briskly. "He's waiting for you." She left her desk and went to open Lance's door for Adrian. When he entered, she closed it behind him.
The morning passed by in a series of meetings for Lance. A lot of his working day was spent in meetings with the various managers at Candin Inc. He also walked the factory floor a lot, at least twice in the course of a day.
He hadn't once left the office before her in the last few days. She always left him working. Either his social life was nonexistent or he was a workaholic.
The first notion was quickly proven wrong when a blond bombshell strolled into the office at midday. She had flawless makeup on and she wore a pencil skirt that showed off her gorgeous figure perfectly.
"Hi," she said without really looking at Corrine. "I'm here to see Lance Cohan."
"Is he expecting you?" Corrine asked politely.
"No, but he'll be pleased to see me," she said and licked her lower lip. "I can guarantee you that. The name is Stacy."
Corrine’s stomach churned. She ignored it and stood up. "I'll tell him you're here."
She padded to Lance's door and knocked softly. He didn’t answer and she pushed the door open. Sometimes he was so engrossed in his work that he never heard a knock and she'd learned to just go in.
He looked up, a distracted look on his face.
"There's a Miss Stacy here to see you," Corrine said.
He was silent for a while. "Show her in."
Miss Stacy had followed her and she walked past Corrine to Lance's desk. "Darling!" she cried and lowered her head to kiss Lance on the mouth.
A burning sensation came over Corrine’s chest. She shut the door and trudged back to her desk. She sat down and blew out a shuddering breath. In the back of her mind, she had started to think that she and Lance had amazing chemistry.
What a fool! She’d allowed herself to forget about her face. She’d set herself up for disappointment and now she could feel tears prickling at the corners of her eyes.
It was a good thing that she had been brought back to earth now before her stupid feelings grew even more. She saw the blond woman confidently sashaying around to Lance’s chair and planting a kiss on his mouth. That was his type of woman.
She forced herself back to work but couldn’t help looking at the door and wondering what they were doing in there. It had already been fifteen minutes. Torturous images of the blond seated on Lance’s lap with her arms around his neck, kissing him, haunted her.
Corrine couldn’t believe herself. Was she so used to having a man that the moment one came into her life she immediately became possessive over him? He was her boss for crying out loud! She'd even gone as far as imagining heated looks between them.
It had to stop. She had to train her mind to separate reality from fantasy.
The blond walke
d out minutes later and hurried out without a look or word to Corrine. Lance followed seconds later.
"If she comes again, tell her that my diary is full," he said and returned to his office, slamming the door shut.
Corrine's heart leaped. Her dark mood lifted. Okay there was no point in pretending.
She was attracted to Lance Cohan. She had been from the moment she first saw him but that meant that she was a normal functioning woman. Her attraction would pass and fade. Corrine was sure that she was not the first nor would be the last secretary who was attracted to her boss. And lots of people did not act on it and she wouldn’t either. She felt mature and in control of her life after reaching that decision.
It had been silly to pretend that she wasn’t drawn to Lance. Accepting it was the first step in getting over her attraction.
LANCE SAT AT THE USUAL table in the cafeteria where his brother and other senior managers sat. There was an excitement in the cafeteria as the ice cream cart had just been wheeled in by the people from Sweet Ice Creams.
"What the heck is going on?" Adrian asked, joining them at the table.
"Ice cream," Jaime said. "It's a Friday treat."
They watched as a queue quickly formed and people left the cart holding cones of rainbow-colored ice cream.
"Who knew that people loved ice cream so much?" Sean said and laughed. "I'll go get some as well."
"Whose idea was this?" Adrian asked.
"Lance's new secretary," Jaime said.
Lance grinned, proud of Corrine. Jaime went on to tell Adrian and the others at the table what they had planned in the next couple of weeks.
"We'll have ping pong matches every lunch hour. Something to look forward to," Jaime said, his voice tingling with enthusiasm.
The excitement in Jaime's voice was catching and everyone jumped in to offer more suggestions. It hit Lance then how dull life had become at Candin Inc in the last few months.
It pleased Lance to hear the happy chatter as people returned to work after lunch. The office people went upstairs to their stations and the people who worked on the production lines headed downstairs to the factory where the chocolates were produced.
Corrine was already behind her desk.
“That went beautifully,” he said.
She smiled. “It did. The ice cream was yummy.”
He went to her desk. “Thank you. If there’s anything I can do for you, please let me know. You came through for Jaime and I, and for that I’ll always be grateful.”
She cocked her head to the side. “There is something ...”
“What?” Lance said. “Please tell me.”
Her hands went up to her hair to fiddle with it. It was coiled at the top of her head. As she toyed with it, some pins dislodged and it came tumbling down. It was thick and wild, a mass of corkscrew curls that fell over her face and covered it.
Lance reached out and smoothed them away from her face and then took a strand, pulled it back and watched it bounce several times before settling amongst the other red curls.
"You have beautiful hair," he said.
"Thank you," she said trying to hold it back up.
"Leave it," Lance said, his voice husky.
Something intense passed between them as their gazes held. Lance's glance dropped to Corrine’s lips. How would it feel to cover her mouth with his? Her scent enveloped him. Strawberry and cinnamon. Sweet and spicy.
His heart pounded hard against his chest as he found himself moving closer, angling his mouth over hers. All he could think about was how much he wanted to kiss her. She moved back and the moment was broken.
Lance brought himself up with a mental slap. He let out a sharp breath. He had come so close to kissing her!
Disgusted with himself, Lance stepped back, putting a safe distance between them. He inhaled deeply and filled his lungs with air. Calming air. "Please go on. What did you want me to help you with?”
She looked at him blankly before understanding dawned. "Oh yeah."
She seemed just as flustered as he was. Had she thought about kissing him too? Had she wanted him to kiss her? Why was he thinking about that? It didn't matter whether Corrine had wanted him to kiss her.
Lance would never forget the humiliation that had come over him as he faced Dean and Beatrice Nelson, the HR manager, to defend himself. Beatrice had worn a look of skepticism and his own brother had stared at him in disbelief.
No, he wasn’t going back there again, no matter how attracted he was to Corrine. He wasn’t going to give in to it.
"Forget about it," Corrine said.
"No, please tell me. I’d be happy to," Lance said.
"Okay," she said and let out a cute laugh. "This is going to sound weird and if you can’t or don't want to, please don’t feel obliged to."
"Can you just get on with it?" Lance said.
"Okay," she said. "My aunt is an artist at the gallery and she teaches art on Saturday mornings. Her last student cancelled and I signed up for a class so she wouldn’t have to stay home. Except it would be even more awesome if there was one other person."
Her breath came out fast, as though she had come from running a marathon.
"I love painting," Lance said. "Consider it done!"
Corrine’s face lit up and she gave him a wide gorgeous smile. He would never say no to her if it meant that he got to see such open joy.
"Really?" she said.
"Yes, really."
Chapter Five
"I'VE NEVER HAD SO MANY people sign up at once," her aunt fussed as they arranged the studio.
Corrine frowned. "How many people?"
She hadn’t told her aunt about Lance attending art class. She'd wanted it to be a surprise. She couldn’t imagine who else had signed up for the classes.
"Five people and that’s not counting you, Corrine," her aunt said. "You're like a waterfall of blessings."
Corrine smiled. "You deserve it. So, we should set up five easels and five everythings?"
"Yes please," her aunt said.
Her aunt was uncharacteristically nervous as they arranged the easels and art supplies. Corrine distracted her by engaging in mindless conversation. When they were finished, she looked around in satisfaction. It looked neat and welcoming.
Footsteps sounded on the stairs and moments later, Lance walked in. Corrine’s mouth went dry. He looked so different away from work. He wore a casual button-down white shirt and brown chinos and sandals. He looked like he’d stepped off of a men’s sexy magazine cover.
Asking him to come for art class had been a mistake. How was she ever going to concentrate with him looking like that?
She was glad she had made a little effort. She’d worn a pale-yellow bohemian style sundress, that looked casual and sexy at the same time.
Lance’s gaze rippled down the lines of her body before returning to her face.
She felt the heat of a blush on her cheeks. “Hi,” she said softly.
“Hello,” Lance said and then turned to her aunt. “I’m your new student. My name is Lance.”
Her aunt hobbled over to him and struck out her hand. “It’s nice to meet you. My name is Maureen Roberts.”
“Sorry about your leg. Must be a bummer not to be able to run.”
Aunt Maureen laughed. “That happened even before I broke my leg. Old age comes with a lot of limitations.”
Lance frowned. “You’re not old. You’re beautiful.”
Aunt Maureen chuckled. “And you, young man, are a flirt. But I like it. So, do you have a surname?”
“Lance Cohan,” he said almost reluctantly as if he hadn’t wanted Aunt Maureen to know who he was.
Her eyes widened and she shifted her glance to Corrine. Corrine shrugged.
“Why do I sense a conspiracy here?”
Before they could answer, a man who looked like a wrestler with shoulders as wide as a house, walked in. A curvy dark-haired beauty hung on to his arm, clinging to it as if she was going to fall.
&n
bsp; “Max,” Lance said. They man-hugged. “Welcome to class.”
“Now we’re even,” Max growled.
“Meet out teacher,” Lance said and introduced Max to Aunt Maureen and then to Corrine.
“This is Addison Wallace,” Max said, pushing the girl forward.
“Your girlfriend,” she said to him pointedly.
Corrine covered her mouth with her hand and fought the urge to laugh.
“Welcome everyone, please take a seat,” Aunt Maureen said.
They sat down just as more footsteps sounded. It was Dean and he had a lady with him. Corrine knew she was staring but she couldn’t help it. She’d never seen such a gorgeous, chic woman. She wore a pair of skinny jeans that fit her like a second pair, tucked into knee length suede boots.
“Dean, what are you doing here?” Aunt Maureen said. “I didn’t know you were interested in art.”
“He’s not but I am,” the curly-haired beauty said and offered her hand to Aunt Maureen. “My name is Ruby Cohan.”
“My beautiful wife,” Dean said.
They were like a perfectly in sync chorus, finishing each other’s sentences.
“It’s so nice to meet you finally. Your husband is a good friend of mine,” Aunt Maureen said. “I’m glad you’re here.”
“He wanted to leave me at home. No way,” Ruby said.
“You know why,” Dean said.
“I’m not an egg Dean,” Ruby said sweetly.
“Clearly not,” Dean responded in a dry tone.
Corrine could have listened to them all day. They were funny and the love between them was almost tangible. Would she ever meet someone who would love her for her and not care about her scarring?
She turned her gaze to Lance and to her horror found him staring at her. She quickly averted her gaze.
“Am I late?” a voice at the door said.
“Another Cohan?” Aunt Maureen said.
Sean grinned and nodded. “Yes ma’am. My name is Sean and I’m looking forward to being a student again. But I must warn you, my fingers are stiff.”
