But now, with time to cool down, he realized that his only course of action was to return home—to return to Italy. His gut knotted as he thought of the expectations that he’d failed to fulfill. Back in Monte Calanetti he wasn’t viewed as someone successful—someone influential. Back home he was Giovanni’s son—the son who’d fled his family and their way of life, unlike his younger brother who took great pride in their heritage.
With the meeting concluded, Angelo made his way back to his office. With the decision made to leave first thing in the morning, he had to figure out how to handle his current workload. His clients would never accept having their accounts turned over to anyone else. They paid top dollar for one-on-one attention, and they would accept nothing less.
In order for him to stay on top of everything while traveling abroad, he needed someone who was good in a crisis, levelheaded and an independent worker. Kayla’s beautiful face immediately sprang to mind. Could she be the answer?
He hesitated. She did have a habit of being a bit too chatty at times. But this was an emergency. Allowances would have to be made.
More importantly, he was impressed with her work ethic and her attention to details. She was hungry and eager—two elements that would serve her well. And best of all, she had an easy way with people—something that might come in handy on this trip.
He stopped next to her desk. “Ms. Hill.” She glanced up. Her green eyes widened. How had he missed their striking shade of jade until now? He cleared his throat, focusing back on the business at hand. “How’s the Van Holsen account coming?”
Color pinked her cheeks. “Mr. Amatucci, I...I haven’t gotten to it yet. The phone has been ringing and I’ve been sending out information for some other accounts.”
She looked worried as though she’d done something wrong. For the first time, Angelo wondered if everyone who worked for him was intimidated by him. He didn’t like the thought of Ms. Hill being uncomfortable around him. He knew he wasn’t an easy man to get to know, but he didn’t like the thought of striking fear in the hearts of his employees.
“Relax. That’s fine. Besides you’ll have plenty of time to brainstorm on the flight.”
“Excuse me. The flight?”
Since when did he speak without thinking it through first? It had to be this mess with Marianna. It had him off-kilter. “Something urgent has come up. I need to travel to Italy. And I need a competent person to accompany me.”
“Me?” Excitement lit up her whole face. Before today, he’d never noticed that behind those black-rimmed reading glasses were not only mesmerizing green eyes but also a beautiful face—not that he was interested in her, or anyone. Ms. Hill clasped her hands together. “I’ve never been to Italy. I’d love it.”
“Good. That’s what I was hoping you’d say.” But suddenly he wasn’t sure spending so much time alone with her was such a good idea, especially now that he’d noticed the unique color of her mesmerizing eyes and her intoxicating scent. He swallowed hard. But it was too late to back out now. “You need to understand this trip will be business only, not a holiday.”
“Understood.”
“If you go, you’ll need to be committed to your work 24/7. We can’t afford to miss any deadlines. Is that acceptable?”
She hesitated and, for a moment, he worried that she would back out.
But then Ms. Hill’s head bobbed. “I can do it.”
“Make sure you are ready to go first thing in the morning.”
“As in tomorrow morning?”
He nodded. “And expect to be gone for at least a week—maybe two.” Her mouth gaped and her eyes widened. It was obvious that he’d caught her off guard. But she wasn’t the only one to be surprised today—by so many things.
When he’d approved her transfer to be his temporary PA, he’d made it perfectly clear that he demanded 100 percent focus and commitment from his employees. It was that extra push and attention to detail that put Amatucci & Associates head and shoulders above the competition.
If you wanted to be the best, you had to give it your all. And that is what he expected from all of his employees, even if it meant dropping family, hobbies and extracurricular activities in order to focus on the job. What he was asking of Kayla was no different than he’d ask of anyone.
When she didn’t jump to accept his offer, he had no patience to wait for an answer. “That won’t be a problem, will it?”
From the little he knew about his assistant, she didn’t have a family. At least not in the city. And he hadn’t seen or heard any hints of a man in her life. Maybe she was more like him than he’d originally thought.
Or was there something else bothering her? Was it the incident with the perfume? Perhaps that hadn’t been one of his better moves. He was used to following his instincts when it came to his creative process, but there was something about his assistant that had him leaning a little closer to her slender neck and, for the briefest second, he’d forgotten the reason. His mind had spiraled in a totally inappropriate direction. That wouldn’t happen again. He’d see to it.
After all, she wasn’t his type. Her nondescript business suits, the way she pulled back her hair and the way she hid her luminous green eyes behind a pair of black-rimmed glasses gave off a very prim, old-fashioned persona. So why was he letting one unexplainable moment bother him?
“I could make arrangements to go, but I have so much work to do on the Van Holsen account—”
“If that’s your only objection, then don’t worry. The account can wait one day. In fact, take the rest of the day off. I expect to see you at the airport at 6:00 a.m.. Unless you’d like me to pick you up on the way.”
“Uh, no.” She shook her head vehemently. “I’ll find my own way there.”
He felt a bit obligated. He was, after all, asking her to drop everything on a moment’s notice to help him out. He needed to make a concerted effort to be a little friendlier. “Are you sure? It’s really no problem to swing by your place.”
“You don’t even know where I live.”
“True. But since you’re going out of your way to help me, I wouldn’t mind going out of my way for you.”
“Thank you. I appreciate it.” She smiled, easing the stress lines from around her mouth.
Angelo found his attention straying to her kissable lips coated with a shimmery light pink gloss. Okay, so not every aspect of her was prim and proper. A fantasy of her pulling off her glasses and letting down her hair played in his mind. Realizing the direction of his wayward thoughts, he halted them.
With effort, his gaze rose over the light splattering of freckles on her pert nose to her intense green eyes. How had he failed to notice her beauty up until today? Had he been that absorbed in his work that he’d failed to see what was standing right in front of him?
He cleared his throat. “I’ll pick you up at say five-thirty?”
“Mr. Amatucci—”
“If we’re going to travel together, we should at least be on a first name basis. Please, call me Angelo.” Now where in the world had that come from? He made a point of keeping his distance from his employees. But then again, he was taking her home with him, where she would meet his family, and that broke all of his professional rules. He reconciled himself with the fact that Kayla’s time working for him was limited—soon his regular PA would be back. So maybe he could afford to bend the rules a bit.
“And please call me Kayla.” She smiled again, and this time it reached her eyes, making them sparkle like fine jewels.
“We’re