I was stopped maybe at least a dozen times on my way back to my desk after lunch.

Many commented that it was a good idea I went home and changed into something more presentable before the industry update this afternoon. Since they came up with the excuse themselves, I decided to go along with it, grinning and bearing it until my teeth felt like they were about to fall out of my mouth. 

Seriously. I didn't personally know a lot of these people but apparently, my little spotlight moment seemed to have hurtled me into acquaintance-status with everyone. As if I already didn't have enough of other people's unsolicited opinion about me to last me a lifetime. 

Theodora, who would have plenty of not-so-nice-things to say about me, was already waiting at my desk, looking hostile, her eyes narrowing even further when she saw my new outfit.

"That's an extra fifteen minutes you're late from lunch, Maxine," she said curtly as I stepped around her to get to my chair. "Do you think today's slack-off-at-work day?"

For you that's every day, isn't it, I almost blurted out if I didn't bite the inside of my cheek. 

Instead, I forced a smile. "I was actually held up in a short, informal engagement interview with Mr. Hedenby on my way back from lunch. He said he was going to email you. Maybe you haven't checked your inbox yet."

I sure hoped to God that Luke didn't forget about that email to Theodora or I'd have disaster in my hands.

"I thought you already met with him earlier. He came all the way down to tell you."

Oh, crap. How do I explain that one?

I pursed my lips in thought as a delaying tactic. "Oh, he just wanted to ask why I wasn't included in that general meeting earlier when he'd extended the invite to all the employees and I was obviously in the office today to do so. I explained my little incident about getting caught in the rain and he totally understood."

I didn't mean to alarm Theodora with that excuse I just spewed out but her eyes widened  anxiously all of a sudden and she straightened and backed away.

"Anyway, I've really got to get back to my tasks if I'm going to be gone for an hour for the industry update later," I told her cheerfully as she nodded and turned back to return to her desk.

I let out a small, quiet sigh as I logged back into my computer. 

I needed to tell Luke the excuse I gave Theodora about the meeting he called me into before lunch but despite the lunch hour we spent and all that, I didn't have any of his contact information and I was pretty sure I just couldn't look up his name in Outlook.

I reopened my conversation window with Jillian. 

Maxine Moss: Hey, J. Do you have the number to Mr. H's office? Or his email? Is it the same format as everyone?

Jillian Dane: How's lunch?

Maxine Moss: It was great. But I forget to get his contact info. I need to email him about something.

Jillian Dane: His email is a bit different. It's not in the general Outlook directory. You need at least level-3 manager access to email him.

Maxine Moss: Crap. How about Peggy Bernardson? She's his secretary.

Jillian Dane: Ext. 3401 [email protected]

Maxine moss: Thanks! I owe you a coffee.

Jillian Dane: You owe me yours and Mr. H's firstborn. 

My throat closed up as soon as I read Jill's words that a dry but loud choking sound croaked out of me. A few people glanced my way. I smiled and rubbed my throat a little, hoping that an appearance of coming down with some kind of cold would explain my inability to speak at the moment and the fact that my face was as hot as red as someone with a fever.

Jillian's statement was ludicrous but even worse was the sudden image that flashed in my mind when I read what she wrote.

Despite my limited experience with relationships, I knew how babies were made and considering what he had on display this morning, my brain had no trouble demonstrating Luke performing such procreational activities with me. 

Maxine Moss: You're evil.

Jillian Dane: Pfft. You're the one dancing with the devil.

I decided to end the conversation there because I didn't know how to respond to Jillian's declaration. She may or may not be right and honestly, I didn't want to analyze it. I had other more urgent things to worry about.

With nearly superhuman speed, I dialled Peggy's extension and held my breath while I waited for her to pick up. 

"Peggy Bernardson speaking. How may I help you?" she said after the third ring.

"Hi, Peggy, it's Maxine Moss," I said. "You probably won't remember me but—"

"Ms. Moss, of course I remember you," she interjected warmly, a smile in her voice. "Thank you so much for those eclairs. I love them even if they mean an extra hour not the treadmill this week. Luke told me to blame you for them."

My fingers tightened around the phone. "I told him not to tell you!"

Peggy laughed. "Oh, Luke will happily direct the blame to someone else if it means avoiding my wrath. But don't worry, I'm not mad at you. I took two and shared the rest with other people."

I grinned. "I'm glad. I had one myself and I completely understand what the fuss is all about."

"I'm glad the three of you had a good lunch," Peggy said. "Luke and Terrence came bouncing in through the door. Terrence is ecstatic to have found another reader for his stories and Luke is, well, like an excited little boy."

With a brand new toy.

I shook the thought away as soon as it popped in my head. From her statement, I would almost suspect that Peggy was playing matchmaker. Doubtful though because there already must be an array of amazing women vying for Luke Hedenby's attention that Peggy could pick from.

"Well, I hope he doesn't mind me calling," I said with a sigh. "I need to talk to him about this whole engagement interview thing he planned out and I don't know how to get a hold of him."

"Need to get your stories straight, huh?" Peggy teased with a chuckle. I didn't even bother asking how she knew. I had a feeling very little got past Peggy.

"Something like that," I admitted. "Can I email him or call him? Or are you okay to give him a message from me?"

"Any of those options would work but I'm sure he'll want to talk to you directly," Peggy said. "Hang on. I'll transfer you, okay?"

"Thanks, Peggy."

I waited as the line hummed and clicked after a few seconds.

"Miss me already?" was the first thing he said and he already sounded like he was grinning.

I rolled my eyes. "This will be quick as I'm on company time—your company. Did you send that email you promised me?"

"Sent a minute ago," he answered smoothly. "I only promise women things I can carry through."

"Which means you're stingy with those promises," I replied although I couldn't help smiling.

I glanced around the office and didn't notice anyone paying attention to me but still, I lowered my voice. "Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that if you get asked what your meeting with me before lunch was about, I'd said that it was just to ask why I didn't ask the general meeting earlier because you'd send the invite to every employee. I kind of panicked and that was the first thing I could think of."

"Okay, that works," he said. "And?"

"And what?"

"What are you calling me for?" he asked. "It can't be just that."

"It's exactly just that," I said. "I was just going to email you but only those with level-3 manager access or higher can access your email address and I didn't know your extension so I called Peggy."

He paused. "Really?  Not everyone has access to email me?"

"Nope."

"Huh," he said after a beat. "Well, that's going to change right away. And write down my extension, okay?"

I grabbed a post-it and was surprised when he rattled off more than just his extension—his office chat ID (which I couldn't access until he sent me an invite himself), his home and cell numbers and his personal email address.

"Um, what am I supposed to do with these?" I asked.

"Well, contact me through them if you need to," he answered and I could almost picture him out rolling his eyes. "Don't worry, I'll make them change the access restrictions to my email at the very least. People should be able to come to me if they need to. I don't think people are going to abuse that access but I want it to be there if they need it."

I smiled. "That's good to hear actually. I'm glad you're doing that."

"Just don't start handing out my information to women because you're annoyed at me or something," he teased.

I laughed. "Now that you've mentioned it..."

Theodora suddenly gasped from her desk, her eyes wide with happy panic.

"I think someone just read your email," I murmured into the phone, watching Theodora turn to Shelby and squeal something in excitement until they were both squealing in chorus.

"Either that or she got a notice saying she won a date with you," I added in a hushed tone, smiling despite my sudden annoyance.

"You just made it sound as if it's such a pathetic prize," he said with a laugh. "Some women don't mind my company so much, you know?"

"I'm sure they don't. Who doesn't like their fifteen minutes of fame?" I muttered as I continued to watch Theodora who turned around and looked at me with a smug smile on her face.

"I'm thinking you don't," he said with a snort before letting out a long sigh. "I just got an email back from the lovely Ms. Graves saying she's on her way up so I guess I better let you go."

"Yeah, I better get back to doing what you're actually paying me for," I said with a similar-sounding sigh. "Good luck with your meeting. Try to survive it."

"I'll do my best," he said. "And Max?"

"Yeah?"

"You have all my numbers. Call me."

Then he hung up just in time for Theodora to make her way to my desk. 

"I guess you're not that special anymore," she said, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "I got an email from Mr. Hedenby for a meeting, too. I'm sure he needs it from the top people, you know?"

"Hmm, good for you," I said noncommittally as I tried to ignore the chat window that just opened from Luke with a row of winking smiley emoticons. "Have fun, Theodora."

Her eyes narrowed at my flat response. "I'll make sure to bring up ideas on how we can better improve the competency and efficiency in our employees to ensure we only have the best of the best in this company."

My lips pressed into a tight line which I then attempted to curve at the corners so it could at least resemble something close to a smile. "Knock yourself out. I'm sure you'd want to be on your way now. Mr. Hedenby is very particular about tardiness."

"If he is, then I don't know what you're still doing here," she snapped.

My smile widened, my eyes trained on Theodora even though my fingers were firing off smileys sticking their tongues out back to Luke. "Oh, he's pondering on the idea that employee performance strongly relies on competent management from the leadership team. I'm sure he'll want to talk to you about it. Have fun!"

After a moment of deliberation, Theodora turned to go.

When she was gone, I returned my attention to Luke's chat window.

Maxine Moss: Ms. G's on her way.

Luke Hedenby: Do I really have to do this? I can pull anyone I want into a meeting, you know? I don't have to prove anything.

Maxine Moss: You promised!

Luke Hedenby: *sigh* Alright. Stop bothering me now. I have to concentrate.

Maxine Moss: OK. Although I must mention that you were the one who messaged me first.

Luke Hedenby: Never really used the chat tool before. It's kinda cool. I feel like we're one of those kids passing notes around class without the teacher's notice.

Maxine Moss: Well, I don't want detention so I should stop playing along with you on this.

Luke Hedenby: Aw, Max! Don't be such a party-pooper. =P

Maxine Moss: Party-pooper is my middle name.

Luke Hedenby: Mine is Party-master.

Maxine Moss: I have a few more creative ones that that but nothing work-appropriate.

I followed it up with a row of unique and funny emoticons.

Luke Hedenby: Show off. =P =P =P

Maxine Moss: Only to you, Mr. H. Now, can I go back to work, please? You've probably been amused enough.

Luke Hedenby: OK. Talk to you later. I'll probably need another dose of amusement after I live through this meeting with Ms. G.

I resisted the urge to reply anymore although I probably spent another few minutes just rereading our chat window.

Really, the max like a six-year-old sometimes.

With a sigh, I closed the chat window and focused on my work. Before I knew it, it was almost two-thirty and my calendar reminder for the industry update popped up on my screen. 

I picked up my water bottle and locked my computer.

"Have a good meeting," Theodora said unexpectedly as I passed her.

Since she got back from her very short, ten-minute meeting with Luke, she'd been subdued—almost friendly.

While I wondered what went down in their very short talk, I resisted the urge to ask Luke about it. He'd messaged me before Theodora even made her way back to the office, sounding both simple and a bit cryptic.

Luke Hedenby: Had a good chat with Ms. G. Worked out some issues. See ya later. =P

He'd been offline since then because the marathon of industry updates he was hosting started.

"Thanks," I told Theodora before continuing on my way.

The employee grouping was random. The company wanted people from different department to mingle so I wasn't sure who else was coming into my session. Jill already had hers with the first group. 

As I filed in with the rest of the employees into the small auditorium, I spotted a few recognizable faces but with the random seating arrangement, I ended up sitting between Rick from building maintenance and Tori from accounting. 

"Hello, everyone!" Luke's voice boomed in the room and I glanced up at the small stage and found him walking to the center of it, his arms spread out in welcome, his smile broad and friendly. 

He was speaking through a lapel microphone, the logo for Hedenby Holdings on the projected screen behind him.

I flashed him a smile as he caught my eye and his own deepened. 

"I'm happy to have all of you join me this afternoon," he stated on a more serious tone. "As you all know, many new, exciting things are coming to our company. With our recent partnership with Global Airlines, we have created a new project that will truly utilize the many companies within our group."

"Hedenby Holdings, for the longest time, has been simply just a holding company but this new direction will hopefully take us to new heights," he continued. "We have within our reach, incomparable access to plenty of resources that will allow us to design an outlet that will benefit the many consumers who already are loyal to the different businesses we own. It will synergize the products and services our portfolio already provides and promote better customer loyalty which we know always equates to increased profits, a better, more stable position in this unpredictable market and an ambitious but enviable opportunity to execute brand marketing like we've never really seen before."

I was piqued by the pitch even though I was absently noting other more interesting things about Luke like his thick dark brows, the size and shape of his ears which were perfect, and the bobbing of his Adam's apple that somehow looked disturbingly sexy.

Concentrate, Max. You have a job you really need to be good at, not a boss you can impress with your emoticon prowess.

I took a deep breath and shook my head, trying to follow what Luke was now saying.

"I'm proud to announce the Hedenby Lifestyle and Loyalty initiative. We're finally taking advantage of an opportunity that we haven't really maximized in the past. While a lot of it is still in a conceptual stage, our business strategists and marketing teams are building options for us right now and hopefully we can get them out in the market within the next six months or so. We welcome your ideas and encourage you to approach them with us. You all know how our business works and your varied areas of expertise could really offer a lot in terms of creativity."

While I had no real right to be, I was proud of Luke as I continued to listen to the rest of his speech.

He was no question a confident, charismatic speaker but he didn't come across as arrogant.  He smiled warmly and laughed easily like a man who didn't take himself seriously. People listened because he seemed like a man who had your best interest at heart and who would never let you down. It was an immensely powerful and useful skill to have—one that Luke wielded outside of the boardroom too as evidenced by my evolution from absolutely hating him this morning to reluctantly liking him by the end of the day.

Either he's really good or I'm just weak.

Half an hour later, I filed out of the auditorium along with everyone else.

"Ms. Moss!"

I turned around and found Luke bounding up the steps of the aisle.

I stepped out of the stream of people and waited for him for the side. I couldn't help my extra-wide grin watching him rush toward me. 

"Great speech, by the way," I told him when he finally stopped in front of me. "I'm glad we're finally taking initiative in packaging all our products and services into an experience—a lifestyle. It makes a lot of sense."

He smiled and raked a hand through his hair, making it more disheveled that it already was. This man couldn't keep a hair in place but his thick, dark mop still looked sexy as hell.

"I expect ideas from you, Max," he teased. "You seem like the opinionated type."

I smiled. "Only in certain things. You don't really want my opinion on everything."

"I don't know about that," he said. "I'll be meeting up with the marketing team and since you're part of it, I'll be seeing you in some of those sessions. We're taking this project to all levels because you never know who might have a great idea."

"Hmm. Now you've got me thinking," I teased back. "I'll brainstorm for some ideas. Just don't say I didn't warn you."

"And don't say I'm not being serious because I am," he answered with a wink just before someone called his name. An older gentleman in a sharp suit was nodding at him as he escorted another man toward Luke's direction. The light-hearted look on his face slipped a little and he sighed. "I guess we both have to get back to work. I'll see you later, Max."

"See you, Mr. Hedenby," I responded politely just as the other executives came over.

I smiled at them briefly and turned to go.

It had only been a day but Luke Hedenby had already managed to surprise me at every turn today.

That made him dangerous to me.