Rebound (11 page)

“I want to give you a bonus or something as well. I’m still working that out,” he said.

“No, Mr. Abbot, please. I was just doing my job and frankly just working here, this opportunity, is all the bonus I need. Honestly.”

Xander. Xander. Xander…Why can’t I remember to call him that?

That impressed him almost as much as her finding the error. He gave her an approving nod.

“Yes, right. I have those two meetings this afternoon and I will send you my schedule for this week and you can update and correct any conflicts.”

He sat silent for a moment, looked at his screen, and then continued, “Also there is a dinner meeting scheduled for tomorrow night. I know it is short notice but would you be able to attend? You made quite an impression on Saturday.”

“I’m glad to hear that. I thought it went better than I had expected. Well, not counting the emotional break down...It is nice to know the feeling was mutual. When and where?” she asked.

“I will get back to you when I have all of the details, it’s tentative for now.”

“Do you need me to do anything, make the reservations or call to get attendance confirmation?” she offered.

“No, I don’t believe so, but if anything comes up I will let you know. They are handling everything. I guess that is all for now.” 

“Ok, I will get to work.”

“And Xander...” She turned, and with all the sincerity she felt said, “Thank you again for what you did on Saturday. You have no idea what it meant to me.” She turned and left. 

Later that day Katrine was sitting at her desk going over all of the reports her boss would need for his meetings. She was humming to a song when a voice said, “Is that a ukulele?” with a gentle mocking. She was startled, but smoothly answered, “Yes it is, do you have a problem with that particular instrument?”

“No, I was just surprised.” He stayed where he was, leaning against the wall by her desk and listened to the rest of the song. 

“I liked that. What was that song called?”

“‘Without you’,” she said absent-mindedly, attempting to keep her focus on the work front of her, but he was still standing there. 

“The voice sounds familiar. Was that Pearl Jam?” he asked.

She paused her typing for a moment. “Yes that was the voice, but a solo album.” 

Why was he just standing there? He was making her nervous and uncomfortable, so she kept talking to bridge the silence. “My grandmother told me stories about how she would play the ukulele when she was a girl. I guess that is why I have a thing for that instrument. It makes me smile.” She shrugged her shoulders, then continued to type. Then she was kicking herself for over-sharing.

 
Too much information, blabber mouth!

 Xander grinned, “What else makes you smile, Katrine?”

That made her pause. The question seemed strange coming from him. The tone of his voice made  her stomach do a flip-flop. She guessed he was taking her up on her friendship offer after all.

She thought about his question and said, “That would take more than one conversation.”

“That many things?”

“I guess I never thought about it, but yes,” she said after a bit of contemplation.

“Is music one of them?” Xander said.

“Oh my god yes, I absolutely love music, almost obsessively so!”  

God, chill!! 

If she didn’t keep herself in check she would geek-out when it came to things she was passionate about. He was smiling at her as if he found her amusing, but in a good way.

“Well, I look forward to finding out what else is on that list of yours.” After that he turned and walked back into his office. She found the whole exchange very bizarre and she was curious as to why he was attempting to be charming all of the sudden
. 

Bi-polar anyone…

Tears sometimes had a funny affect on men. Despite her confusion, she liked this side of him. He was relaxed and almost sweet. She thought she might need to move him out of the raging a-hole category, but she wasn’t sure what category to move him into. Was he really interested in getting to know her? It seemed like it, but you never knew. It was too soon to tell. Or was he just used to flirting with women? That was more like it.  He probably had it down to an art form. She suspected he was quite the ladies man. 

She was glad they were being friendly, it might make this job much more enjoyable. Enjoyable, or totally torturous and confusing, the jury was still out on that one... 

Chapter 14

That night she was laying on her bed in a t-shirt and boxer shorts, once again watching the ceiling fan make its hypnotic rotations. She had already eaten and had her nightly conversation with Teddy, so she had plenty of time to overanalyze the interactions she and Xander had that day. His personality shift from one extreme to the other had been disorienting. She knew the shift was mostly, if not all due to her epic monetary save. She had graduated from random fill-in to someone to be taken seriously. Now that he didn’t see her as some subordinate temp, he felt he could condescend to have actual conversations with her. 

 
Doesn’t that make him a prick
?

And
why am I still thinking about it?

He probably hadn’t even had a second thought about it, and here Katrine was spending her whole night going over a few nothings. It didn’t help that she had come to an unnerving conclusion. She liked him. The least she could do was be honest with herself. He seemed like a cool guy, once he dropped the attitude. And that made her feel like a complete idiot. Just last week she despised him, and now? Women are fickle creatures sometimes. 

How easily she was won over with a few kind words and a baseball for Teddy. Was she that easily manipulated or was she just as naive as the characters in her books after all?  He did rescue her from an impending disaster. He could have sat there and relished in her public humiliation. If he was the masochist she had originally perceived him to be, he wouldn’t have helped her. She needed to give him credit for that. But which part was an act, the prick or the charming savior? 

Maybe she needed to look at this a different way. Her friends did say a rebound fling was a good way of putting the ghost of relationships past to rest. He was definitely hot, rebound sex material. He was gorgeous, charming and he was leaving in two months. But it was a big move from cantankerous oppressor to potential bedmate in less than a week. She wouldn’t dwell on that tidbit. It was almost too good to be true. 

You know what they say about things that seem too good to be true... And am I the love 'em and leave 'em type?

She wasn’t sure, but she could try.

What about Ian?

She thought he was as good as he seemed. You did not use guys like Ian. 

Ian was not rebound material. He was keeper material and he had feelings for her. 

Did she have feelings for him? She thought that maybe she could. She was attracted to him and enjoyed his company. When she thought about their kiss she got warm all over. So that qualified as feelings in her book. Katrine was not ready for that, not ready to be in love again. That might be possible with Ian.  She had to put him on the back burner until she was ready. She just hoped he would wait.

Now the real issue at hand: How to seduce her boss? She knew Xander Abbot was most likely the playboy type, a model on each arm. Stereotype yes, but probably spot on nonetheless. He was very rich and handsome. Beautiful women probably threw themselves at him all of the time. So maybe it wouldn’t be so hard. She was attractive and she felt like she could put her feminine wiles to good use when she needed. But there was that whole not fraternizing thing he mentioned. Maybe he would be willing to make an exception.

Probably not a good idea to sleep with a man you have to work with everyday. Not to mention need a good reference from… well, maybe that would help with the reference. 

You hooker! 

Ok, do not put the reference on the table. That just cheapens an already slutty situation.

She was just being silly.  “Just go to work and keep your wiles to yourself, Katrine!”  

Rebound sex, what was she thinking? She was a mother for Christ’s sake!

The next day she went into the office and decided she was going to chalk the whole idea up to hormones and bad advice from her tequila influenced friends. She kept their conversations professional. No flirtatious undertones from her sector. 

Xander must have noticed her stand-offish behavior, because towards the end of the day he asked, “Is there anything wrong, Katrine?”

“No, nothing at all. I’m just trying to get your contracts revised for tomorrow’s meeting with the lawyers. I want to make sure everything is accurate.”

“By the way what time is dinner tonight and where?” she asked,  keeping her eye on the screen in front of her.

“Dinner is at 8:00. I was going to send a driver for you if that is alright. I was told that there isn’t much parking. I can’t remember the name of the place, it starts with an ‘A’, I think.  I will provide the driver with the address before he picks you up.”

“Ok, that sounds great. Do you need my address for the service?” 

“Well, I have it on your resume, but you can give it to me so I don’t have to dig through my desk. Also your cell phone number please, in case there are any changes or problems.” 

She gave him what he requested and finished up the rest of the contracts. When Katrine was done she glanced at the clock, 5:45. She needed to get home and freshen up. She told Xander she was heading out and that she would see him at the restaurant.

 “Thank you for sending a driver. That will be nice. Do I need to prepare in any way for tonight’s dinner? Who will be there by the way?”

“You are welcome, and no, it is a typical schmooze affair. And the usual suspects will be in attendance. Don’t worry, it will be an informal dinner.” Xander assured her.

“Well alright, see you then,” Katrine said as she went for the door.

She decided to take a shower to wash the day off of her skin. She wasn’t sure when the driver would pick her up, but she decided to be ready by 7:30 just in case.

What to wear for an informal schmooze fest?

Knowing Xander and the people he did business with, the place would be fancy. But it was supposed to be informal, so she didn’t want to wear a business suit. She stood in front of her closet willing the right outfit to jump off of the hanger. She decided to do her hair and makeup first then revisit the outfit situation.

Okay, that didn’t take long.
 

And now she was back inside of the closet. Why was it when she couldn’t figure out what to wear, that she thought if she stared long enough something would magically appear and all her wardrobe dilemmas would be solved? That never happened.

She finally decided on a red silk top. It gathered at the neck and draped loosely, tastefully exposing her shoulders and arms. She paired the top with a pair of fitted black pants. She had an adorable pair of pumps with red, black and taupe print. They were perfect. Hair up, and as Katrine put on her jewelry, there was a knock at the front door.
She grabbed her red clutch and a black demi-sleeve cardigan and went to answer the door. The driver was right on time.

To say she was surprised to see Xander at her door, would have been like saying a hurricane was just a little drizzle. He chuckled, probably because she was gaping like a complete mental patient.

“I can tell by your expression that you weren’t expecting me.” 

He was enjoying this way too much.

“I’m sorry. You were the last person I expected to see at my door. But I guess it does make sense. Of course, you would be using the same driver. Ok, the shock has passed and I will now pretend to be a normal human being,” she teased.

“You look lovely by the way,” he said oozing charm, he was very skilled at delivering a compliment. That was the first real one he had ever given her. It was a nice change from all of the ‘thank you for dressing appropriately’ business.

After she closed and locked the door she turned to him and said, “You look pretty lovely yourself.” 

Ok, maybe that was the bigger understatement. Xander was wearing tan slacks with a light blue dress shirt, no tie, expensive watch, and Italian leather shoes. When coupled with his sparkling green eyes and light brown wavy hair, he looked good enough to have hot naughty rebound sex with.

 
Behave Katrine.
..

They made their way to the curb, where a sleek black town car awaited them. Xander waved off the driver as he started for Katrine’s door. Xander then opened the door for her and held her elbow lightly as she slid inside the car. She was starting to get anxious at the prospect of being in a confined space with the man she recently decided she wanted to bang senseless. Luckily for her, she was a woman, and she could fake like nothing was wrong all day long.

When Xander got into the car, Katrine turned to him, “So where is the dinner tonight? I hope I am dressy enough. I wasn’t given many details,” she said with mock reproach.

“Andiamo. See I told you it started with an ‘A’. I believe it is a very highly touted Italian restaurant. If they can do Italian around here.”

There is the old Abbot she knew and loathed. She was about to respond when he briefly patted her knee, “Relax, it was just a joke. I know how protective you are about your hometown. And you look perfect.”  He smiled at her,  she suddenly forgot what she was going to get upset about. 

She was in serious trouble. She was going to have to give an Oscar worthy performance tonight. 

Channelling my inner Meryl
...

Chapter 15

The driver pulled up in front of the restaurant. It was new and one of the hottest in town. Which meant you couldn’t get a reservation. That is unless you wanted to eat at 9:30 on a Monday night.

Oh, to be rich and connected... He probably gets into all the best restaurants in New York.