Zach arrived early on Monday morning with two lattes. He placed one on Lilli's desk. He didn't know why he expected her to be early. She was always running late, but not as much since she stopped getting Ann's coffee. He replayed their conversation from Saturday night over and over. Why had he kissed her forehead? It was because of the book which he was becoming obsessed with. Could an office romance happen in his life? Maybe he should ask his uncle for pointers.

Zach had been too young to understand romantic love, but he remembered the day Kurt brought Anita to his house to meet his mother. It was the day he met Livvy and Gilly. Lilli kept referring to Olivia as his date, but to him, she was just Livvy. Even when he lived in his uncle's home while at school in New York, he and Olivia were never more than best friends. They both dated other people. Along with his brother, they were the Three Musketeers.

Lilli walked into his office and dropped a folder on his desk. When he looked up, his eyes found her graceful neck. Her long hair was down on Saturday night. He had resisted the urge to reach out and touch it.

"What's this?'

"Nancy's edits you gave me to review. I hope you don't mind. I made a few notes."

Zach smiled. "I gave them to you so you could get exposure to my edits."

Lilli bit her lips. "I meant on a few things. I thought maybe you missed."

Zach felt slighted. Leave it to Lilli. He smiled, but felt guilty. "You worked over the weekend?"

She shrugged. "Unlike you, I didn't go out until late on Saturday night."

He smiled. "But I might have gotten home before you."

"With Olivia?" She pivoted and walked away.

He called after her. "Lilli, come back. If you ask a question, you need to wait for the answer."

She appeared at his door with her hand on her hip. She looked hot even if she was mad at him for pulling the boss card. Everything he said to her came out wrong. He should have said he enjoyed talking to her, but no.

He smiled and pointed to the chair across from his desk. "Please have a seat."

She plopped into the seat and crossed her ankles as an afterthought. Unfortunately, she was wearing dress slacks.

"I went home alone for your information. My friend Olivia went to the home where she was staying for the weekend." His parents' home. "Your roommate is Violet's sister?"

She nodded. "And you are friends with James Sumner? Poor Ainsley is just a worker bee at Roche-Sumner and her sister is marrying the crowned prince." He smirked. "I'm glad I don't work there anymore. Did you like socializing with Dwyer?"

He didn't want to lie. "I've done it before."

"Right, at Ann's party."

Her phone rang, and she reached over and picked up her extension from his desk.

"Good morning, Zachary Steele's office. Lilli speaking."

He felt a reaction to her professional voice in his pants, or was it to her laugh and smile for the person on the other end?

"Hold a moment. He's available." Once she pressed the hold button, she looked at him. "It's Ethan."

He should have known she was charming a client. She disappeared while he greeted Ethan.

Later, he reviewed her comments. Damn, she had some valid critiques. Lilli had scheduled a lunch with Nancy on Wednesday. Disappointed, because he had not received the call he really wanted, but he kept hoping he would have a response on Novelpost or a phone call.

Lilli stood at his desk. "I'm going to go through the submissions Chelsea rejected while she worked for you. I think she might have missed a couple of stories with great potential. And while we're talking about stories, did you ever hear from that Rejectedwriter?" Zach frowned. "I'll find a new prospect and you'll stop chasing her." Lilli smiled a drop-dead smile. The smile he wished she had after he kissed her forehead.

He didn't want to admit that it was a dead end. "No, not yet. Maybe she'll respond. Most authors would jump at the chance of being represented. So who knows, maybe we'll get lucky."

She groaned and walked away. Why did her exasperation make him smile?

He had made no promises to Lilli and tried to think of a way to convince Ree. Why was the internet so anonymous?

He left work just after five, hoping that Lilli would be ready to walk to the station with him, but she had her head bent over a pile of submissions. "Go home, Lilli. It will be here waiting tomorrow." She waved him off without a goodbye. Maybe she found an intriguing summary.

After his workout, he sat in sweats and ate leftovers from his dinner at his parents. He scrolled through Rejectedwriter's profile page again. She had other social media. He started first with Twitter. He looked through a year's tweets in about ten minutes. She was not very active, and worse, gave away no personal information.

Zach didn't have a Tumblr account. Troy had mentioned it as a good place for naked women. Zach wasn't interested in porn. He quickly discovered it was a great place for Twilight. He never had any interest in the books or the movies, but Rejectedwriter did. Besides the Twilight threads, she announced new chapters as she published them on Novelpost. Her fanfiction was popular, but there were very few references to Office Secrets and nothing personal. Maybe it was time to let it go.

Ready to give up, he tried one last ditch effort and sent her a personal message using the Tumblr app. Zach rinsed his plate and sat down with Lilli's comments on Nancy's novel. He liked how thorough she was. Some suggestions Nancy wouldn't like, but his job was to sell her manuscript to a publisher. He and Lilli needed to discuss a few areas of concern. He looked forward to meeting with Nancy in person. The older woman made him laugh, and she already loved Lilli.

He was reading when his phone buzzed. He expected a text from Olivia, but it was a Tumblr message.

💬R: I'm flattered, but I'm not interested.

💬Z: Really?

💬R: Are you always so pushy?

💬Z: No. Most people consider me a nice guy.

💬R: I consider you persistent.

💬Z: I'm just glad you are considering me at all.

💬R: Tell me one thing about you.

💬Z: I loved your book.

💬R: All of them?

💬Z: Office Secrets. The other one needs some work.

💬R: I have a job. I'm not interested in more work. Goodbye.

Zach considered responding, but didn't want to be a jerk. Smiling, he planned to contact her again, but he couldn't tell Lilli. Although he hated keeping secrets, she didn't believe in Ree the way he did. Her recent book didn't hold a candle to Office Secrets. He considered reading some of her fanfiction. Olivia would tease him if she found out. It was bad enough she knew he lusted after Lilli. He put his phone down before he read the sex on the desk scene again. When it buzzed, he jumped. It wasn't Ree.

He answered, "Hey, shouldn't you be saving lives or sleeping?" He smiled as his brother laughed. Zach missed him.

🤣🤣Zach, Zach, Zach.

Vote for poor Zach 🌟