He looked at his watch again. It was much too late to go back over there. This was just something that was going to have to wait until tomorrow. Right now, Ed needed to get some rest. Preparation would start tomorrow on a proposal that could be big for BBH. It would be good to have Darcy by his side on this.

Ed shook his head. No, it would be good to get a decent night sleep and stop obsessing over his new assistant.

Ed looked up from his desk as his uncle walked through the door.

“Your assistant’s desk is very tidy,” he said on a laugh as he crossed the room and sat in a chair in front of Ed’s desk.

“She’s very efficient. Thank goodness.”

“Heard you ran her over in a Starbucks.”

Ed shook his head. “She ran into me. My luck.”

“I suppose so.” Zach looked down at his phone and grinned. “Had a woman fall into my lap on a bus once. Just my luck.”

Ed leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. “Is that why you’re in here? You’ve come to tease me over the similarities?”

Zach chuckled. “It’s just funny how things happen.”

“I suppose.”

It was then he could hear the familiar noise of the desk drawer opening just beyond his office door. A moment later, he could smell her perfume.

“Darcy?” he called out. “Come on in here when you get a moment.”

Zach leaned in toward the desk and whispered, “You sound bossy.”

Ed let out a groan when his uncle laughed under his breath and sat back in his chair.

A moment later, Darcy walked through the door, a legal notepad already in her hand—just in case.

“Darcy, I wanted you to meet my Uncle Zach.”

Darcy walked fully into the office as Zach stood up and turned to meet her.

She held out her hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir.”

But Zach’s reaction wasn’t what Ed had expected. He’d expected professional. He’d expected an easy smile, a joke, a comforting word to her at Ed’s expense.

Zach’s mouth had actually fallen open as he shook the woman’s hand. “Darcy, it’s nice to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Likewise. I’ve met a great deal of your family already, and I just want to thank you all for your generosity.”

Zach nodded, still keeping Darcy’s hand in his.

She glanced at Ed and then back to Zach. “Is everything okay? I didn’t interrupt, did I?”

Zach shook his head. “No. Not at all.” His voice had lightened. “It’s just that you look so familiar to me. Where are you from?”

“Kentucky. I just came to Nashville a few weeks ago to try out the big city.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re here to take care of this slob.” Now that was more like it, Ed thought.

“He doesn’t give me too much trouble.”

Zach leaned in closer to her. “Yet. But my money is on you.”

Ed stood from his seat. “Okay, I’m sure you have a meeting to get ready for, and I have to prep Darcy for it.”

Zach laughed and finally let go of Darcy’s hand. “I’ll see you in the conference room in an hour.”

Zach walked out of the office, whistling a tune.

Ed wrinkled up his nose. “Sorry. I don’t know what came over him.”

“No worries. So tell me about this meeting.”

Darcy listened as Ed went over what would happen in the meeting they were headed to, but her mind kept wandering to Zach’s reaction when he’d seen her. It might have been a genuine reaction of mistaken identity, but then again, maybe it wasn’t.

Zach was an original fixture at BBH. He’d have known everyone that came through the door. Even if it had been before he’d taken over, he was still ingrained in the makings of the company.

Uncle Zach was about to become Darcy’s best friend.

Darcy had been briefed on the meeting they were about to attend. It was the first time she’d seen Charlie since she started, and it gave her some satisfaction to see the busty blonde take the cold shoulder from Ed. With the exception of Zach Benson, the other men were having a hard time focusing.

The meeting had already started when another woman walked through the door, quietly as if not to disrupt. She carried a notebook and tucked herself into a chair at the right of Zach.

Business went on as normal, and the woman simply melded in.

Darcy did her best to keep track of numbers and lists, but Zach Benson’s reaction to her still had her itching for more information.

During the meeting, Zach would often lean in to the woman who had sat down next to him. There was great comfort between them, but by Ed’s reaction when she’d walked into the room, this wasn’t his aunt. Perhaps this was his uncle’s assistant, whom she hadn’t met yet. The woman was in her late fifties, at least. When Zach would quietly make a comment to her, it was returned with a nod and a note written on the pad.

Comfort between two, like she was seeing, was something built over time. Zach and his assistant had a history.

It was then Darcy’s mind began to spin. What kind of history did they have? Had they simply worked together for a very long time—or was there a secret buried between them?

Darcy’s hands began to shake. As she bore down on her pen to make a note, she pressed to hard and broke the tip off the pen. Blue ink instantly pooled on the paper she’d been diligently keeping notes on.

All eyes were on her, and the woman to Zach’s side was quick to grab a stack of napkins from the coffee credenza and head her way.

“That isn’t the first time I’ve see that happen,” the woman said as she scooped the pen out of Darcy’s hands and quickly disposed of it with minimal damage from dripping ink.

She gave Darcy a napkin for her hands and then retrieved another notepad from a cabinet in the corner. With a quick smile she was back, sitting next to Zach, and the meeting continued.

Darcy could feel the sting of tears threatening to let loose, but this wasn’t the place to lose her composure. Accidents happened, though she’d had her fair share this week.

Ed leaned over to her and pushed his engraved pen toward her. “Here, this one will hold up.”

Darcy pursed her lips and took the pen. “Thank you.”

Ed touched her hand and then retracted his, quickly but calmly, as if it was second nature to touch someone so gently in a meeting. No one had noticed the exchange, but it had done a number on Darcy’s insides.