“He does. But mostly consulting work now, and investments. He offered me six months of his time and expertise, and I’d be a fool not to take it.” Cullen sat back in his chair with a satisfied smile. “It’s going to be great. The three of us together are going to take this business from the red back into the black in no time.”

The room went quiet as the ramifications of what he was saying sank in.

“What’s wrong? Why are you two acting so weird?” Cullen asked with a frown.

No matter how much I’d teased Evie, the last thing I wanted was for Cullen to sense what had happened between us and that things had shifted.

I pasted on a smile and shook my head. “Nothing wrong here. Just took me by surprise, is all. When we crunched the numbers last night, I didn’t see her salary as a line item.”

“Yeah, I was still working through that, so I just plugged in a marketing consultant with a flat rate, remember?”

Now that he mentioned it, I did remember. Damn me for not asking more questions.

“Evie, this cool with you?” Cullen asked, turning toward his sister.

“Of course,” she said with a snort. “Super cool. Like, so cool, the coolest.”

She was babbling. And Evie never babbled.

Cullen let out a confused chuckle and rubbed his hands together. “Glad to hear it. So, I just got a call about the new line from the distributor. What say we get to work?”

My mind was still reeling as he chattered on, pulling out swatches and advertising mock-ups from his bag. I’d managed to keep my cool about what happened in my hotel room and joke around with her about it because it was fleeting. A moment in time. One I’d look back on and fondly remember. And sure, I’d have to see her for a few days while we were in Paris, but then? It would be back to seeing her at the occasional holiday party.

Now? Seeing Evie all day, every day?

I sure as hell wasn’t laughing anymore. This woman was going to be the death of me.

Chapter Seven

Could this Monday suck any harder?

Scrubbing at the coffee stain on my cream silk blouse with a wet wipe, I muttered a curse under my breath. Today should have been a super-exciting one—after four years of busting my ass in college, it was my first day of work at my first job, finally contributing in a meaningful way. I would be embracing my spot in the family empire, as the right hand to my brother who was at the helm.

Instead I’d just spent fifteen minutes looking for the freaking door to this mammoth building, having to walk all the way around the block twice.

Who can’t find a door? Me, apparently.

After stuffing the wipes back into my oversized purse, I sipped the now cooled coffee where it had pooled after overflowing on the mouthpiece of the lid.

I pulled open the glass door to our suite and spotted my brother straight away. The office was hardly more than a large open room—complete with a concrete floor and exposed ductwork overhead. Cullen had told me it was nothing fancy, but this was bare bones.

“Did you find it okay?” my brother asked, glancing up from his laptop with a smile.

I shot a death glare his way.

He chuckled under his breath. “Sorry, I meant to tell you. It’s weird right now with the remodel going on. You have to enter where it says Billy’s Bagels and then go up one flight of stairs.” He waved his hand. “Never mind. You obviously figured it out. You’re here.”

Smith wasn’t here yet. At least I’d beat him here, and I could take a moment to get my bearings.

“I would give you a tour, but—” Cullen gestured to the office around us. “This is it. Copy room’s over there. Bathrooms are down the hall.”

The room was large, and one entire wall was windows that provided a view of a construction site below. It was basic, but had a certain charm to it.

In many ways, we were still functioning as a start-up company. We didn’t need anything fancy. When my brother took over a couple of years ago, the company was barely turning a profit, just enough for him to survive on. Now it was poised to do a couple million in sales this year—if we could get our inventory issues sorted out, and the big accounts came through on their promised orders. It was an exciting time for everyone.

“You’ll be right here. Between me and Smith.” Cullen gestured to a center desk wedged between two others.

They weren’t large or glamorous, but still they were nice—white Formica with chrome legs, and white leather swivel chairs. A gray rug cushioned the concrete floor beneath our feet, and a little steel trash can was tucked beneath each of the three desks. On top of each desk, a bright orange pencil holder sat next to a laptop computer. It felt organized and neat, and I liked that.

There was also a large work table under the windows on which sat piles of bras, camisoles, and books and books of fabric swatches.

“Thanks, Cullen. For believing in me.” I smiled as I lowered myself into my seat next to him.

“Of course, sis.” He returned my easy smile. “If you want to start by getting set up on our network, I e-mailed you the instructions.”

“Network?” I took another sip of my coffee.

“Yeah, so we all have access to shared files and company documents. And it gives you access to the fax machine and printer.” He tipped his head toward the back corner of the room, where a doorway led to a little copy room.

“Cool. I can’t wait to dig in and get to work.”

But just then my mojo was thrown off when Smith walked in, looking so strikingly sexy in his suit that I almost swallowed my tongue.