He’d learned the hard way that office romances usually led to disaster, and he knew damn good and well that toying with emotions was the fastest way to earn an express ticket to hell.
“I’m sure you’ll have a great time at Cowboy Country, but I have a lot of work to get done and a very short amount of time to accomplish it. So, thanks, but I’ll have to decline.”
“We’ll see about that.” Steffi-Anne’s smile was out of context with the edge in her voice.
“Stop pushing him,” Zoe said. “If he doesn’t want to go, he doesn’t have to.”
Clutching the clipboard to her chest, Steffi-Anne put her free hand on her thin hip. “Look, Mr. Robinson wants every employee in the executive office to go on this Cowboy Country retreat. If it makes you feel any better, Joaquin, it’s for work. It’s not for fun. Heaven forbid anyone ever force you to have fun. I think you’ll want to clear your schedule.”
His gaze snared Zoe’s. Despite the way she’d defended him, there seemed to be something hopeful in her eyes. She’d be there, of course. Suddenly, the thought of attending the retreat seemed a lot more palatable.
The next afternoon Zoe positioned two cappuccinos, red plastic stirrers and various packets of sugar and artificial sweetener on the corner of her desk. She turned the cups just so, then walked over to her office door and looked at them from the angle of someone just entering the room.
“That looks too posed,” she murmured under her breath as she walked back to her desk.
Well, of course it did. “It is posed. Just be cool and casual about it.”
She picked up one of the paper cups and took a sip, making sure to leave a bright red lipstick imprint before setting it closer to her computer keyboard. That way it would look less formal. Not as if she was waiting for Joaquin to drink her coffee.
For good measure she returned the other cup and the condiments to the beverage carrier on the credenza behind her desk.
What if he didn’t like cappuccino? What if it looked too presumptuous that she’d bought him a coffee? What if she drove herself crazy with all this second-guessing?
She placed her hand on her breastbone. Her heart was thudding. She took in a steadying deep breath—going in through her nose, releasing it through her mouth.
This wasn’t a date, and it wasn’t as if she was delivering a coffee to his office out of the blue. He was helping her with the website. It was a nice gesture. Of course it didn’t seem presumptuous.
If he didn’t like coffee, she would simply give it to someone else.
“What are you looking at?” The sound of Joaquin’s deep voice made her jump. He was standing behind her, following her gaze with his own.
She turned to him with a sudden feeling of clarity. “You want to know the truth?”
“Of course.”
“I got you a cappuccino when I went out to get myself one, and I just realized I have no idea if you even like coffee. Do you?”
“I love it,” he said. “And, actually, I could use a shot of caffeine right now.”
Zoe gestured toward the credenza. “Well, there you go. At your service.”
As Joaquin helped himself to the lone cup in the holder, Zoe made a mental note that he didn’t add any sweeteners to his coffee.
Good to know. For future reference.
“Thanks for this.”
Joaquin took a long sip of his drink, set it on her desk and then proceeded to move one of her office chairs around to the other side of the desk so the two of them would be sitting side by side. She couldn’t help but notice how his biceps flexed and bunched under the short sleeve of his white polo shirt. The light color showcased the deep, bronzy tan of his skin and she had a sudden mental picture of him on South Beach in Miami in a pair of board shorts and nothing else. She’d gone there for spring break when she was in college. Too bad she hadn’t known him then.
It made her wonder about his life before coming to Robinson Tech. Had he dated a lot of women or did he have someone special?
“Shall we get started?” Joaquin gestured for her to sit. After she slid into her seat, he settled in next to her. He was close enough that she could smell the soap he’d used and the subtle herbal scent of his aftershave. She propped her elbow on the chair’s armrest and leaned closer, breathing in a little deeper, savoring the scent of him as he pulled the wireless keyboard toward him.
Obviously he was oblivious because he was all business. With a few keystrokes he’d called up the page they needed and had signed in to a screen that looked utterly foreign to Zoe.
She centered herself in her chair, prepared to act like the consummate professional and not some lovesick puppy fawning all over him. That was the opposite of the tactics Steffi-Anne used. Zoe knew the woman had it bad for Joaquin. She and every other female in the office. But where Zoe tended to go all starry and wistful around him, Steffi-Anne became a dominatrix.
It was interesting how Joaquin didn’t seem to be partial to either of them.
Professionalism was Zoe’s safety net, her comfort zone. She’d gotten her job because of her ability and not simply because her father owned the company.
Steffi-Anne had made a few passive-aggressive digs about nepotism and, if Zoe were completely honest, it used to bother her, but she’d learned to let her job performance speak for itself.
That’s why she needed this website to be top-notch. That’s why she’d asked for Joaquin to lend his expertise.
She’d emailed him the specs and design ideas for the new site, as well as some images she’d procured for the project. Since she’d already turned in her homework and had no idea what all the numbers, letters and symbols he was keying in meant, she knew she would be no help right now.
What was the harm in making a little small talk?
“So, you like coffee,” Zoe said. “What else don’t I know about you?”
“What do you mean?” He kept his gaze trained on the computer monitor as his fingers tapped on the keyboard.
“I mean, I realized that we’ve been working together for three months and I barely know anything about you.”
“I’m a private person,” he said.
“So, does that mean that you won’t even share basics with me? You know, the niceties that people share when they’re getting to know each other? Even if it’s just to make conversation?”
“Is that what we’re doing? Getting to know each other? Or making conversation?”
“I’d like to get to know you.”
When he didn’t protest, she took it a step further.
“How about if I ask you one question and then you can ask me one after you answer mine?”
“Why do you get to go first?” he asked drily.
“If you feel strongly about it, you can go first. By all means. Please.”
His hands stopped typing and he slanted a glance in her direction. So, he was going to humor her, after all. For the first time since Joaquin had walked through the Robinson Tech doors Zoe felt a glimmer of hope where he was concerned.
Casually, she shifted her weight to her right elbow and discreetly inhaled another deep breath.
“Ladies first. By all means.”
“You’re such a gentleman.”