“They’re fired,” he growled back. But he pulled his head back, his hands sliding out from underneath her sweater.
He looked up at the ceiling, his eyes closed as he worked to gain a bit of control. When he looked back down at her, he shook his head. “As soon as I let you go, you’re going to start thinking and we’re not going to finish this.”
She opened her mouth to deny it, but then her mind clicked into action. She realized that she was in his office, in the bright light of day and she was exactly where she shouldn’t be, in his arms and kissing him like there was no tomorrow. “You’re probably right.”
He sighed and put his forehead against hers. “We’re going to have to do this when there’s no worry about interruptions Zoe. I can’t take much more of this. I want you. And if you’d stop fooling yourself, you’d admit that you want me too.”
She took an unsteady breath, but couldn’t reply.
Marco stepped back and sighed. “Okay, for now, we step back and enjoy your good news. But soon Zoe, very soon, we’re going to finish this.”
He pushed away from the wall and walked over to his office door. Several people were standing outside waiting for their time with Marco and Zoe slipped out of the office, her worried expression giving him more information than if she’d actually spoken.
Marco watched her walk away and gritted his teeth in frustration. No woman had ever been able to get to him so quickly and so powerfully as this one. He tried to take it slow, but as soon as she stepped into his arms, they seemed to just light each other on fire. Something was going to have to give he thought as he sat down behind his desk and tried to concentrate on his next meeting. It was tough, but eventually he was able to get her response out of his head. Or at least calm his body down enough to focus on what was being said.
Chapter 6
Zoe looked around at the chaos of her office and felt as if she were coming apart at the seams. “Debbie!” she called out, picking up papers and fabric swatches, desperately looking for the order forms that she’d put somewhere in this mess.
Debbie stuck her head in Zoe’s door, but looked just as frazzled as Zoe was feeling.
Zoe picked up another stack, and then slapped the papers back down on her desk since they hadn’t revealed the documents she was looking for. “Do you know where the orders are for the Cleo stores? I thought I put them over on this stack, but I can’t find them.”
Debbie shook her head. “I thought they were there as well.” She stepped into the office, dropping her own pile of paperwork to help her search for them.
They looked for over thirty minutes before Zoe found them in her design basket – not a good place for orders to be placed.
They both sat down with a sigh of relief and shook their heads. “It’s been two weeks since Marco started helping us and now I don’t know how we’re going to deal with all this craziness. The orders are coming in faster than we can fill them.”
Zoe nodded, so exhausted she couldn’t figure out what day it was. She’d been working seven days a week trying to get through all the work but she was drowning in paperwork. Each night, Marco took her out to some function or dinner party and he worked the room like a pro, introducing her to all the right people, moving around the room and gaining as much attention to whatever outfit she was wearing. They were generally out until eleven o’clock or later, while Zoe woke up early each morning trying to keep up with the additional orders that had come through since the publicity had started. It was absolutely insane how many people saw her photos and wanted more information on the spring or fall line.
“I’d love to sleep for the next three days,” Zoe said, sighing heavily and leaning her head back against the wall. “You’ve had just as much sleep as I’ve had.”
“Yes, but you’ve been out partying it up and having a blast while I’ve been here, slaving away, working on creating more paperwork so when you come in each morning, you know what I’ve been doing while you were hob-knobbing with the elite.”
Zoe laughed because Debbie wouldn’t go to those functions if her life depended on it. She hated social functions and parties, was always the one who got into fights with her husband about his work obligations. Besides, Debbie abhorred shoes with any heel higher than one inch while Zoe wouldn’t be caught dead in a cocktail dress with less than a three inch heel.
“So why haven’t you gotten this all organized while I’m boozing it up?’ she teased.
“Because I sit back here hiding and eating bon bons, don’t you know?”
Zoe giggled and shook her head. “I think we need help.”
“What was your first clue? The fact that you haven’t started designing the next line and you’re normally up to at least a hundred options by this point? Or the fact that you can’t even find your work bench anymore because it’s covered with papers? Or maybe it’s the stack of resumes piling up that will be staffing the second shift. Or it would be if we could find the stack of resumes.”
“Resumes. Ugh!”
“I know.” Debbie sighed and pulled herself up. “I need a secretary. And a customer service representative. And a data entry clerk. That’s just for starters.”
“With that kind of staff, we need a whole new office space.” Zoe leaned forward and put her head in her hands. “I don’t know what to do!”
Debbie put a hand to Zoe’s back. “You know exactly what you need to do. But maybe you should do it after a nice, long nap.”
Zoe looked up, seeing the concern in Debbie’s face and sighed, admitting defeat now that the evidence was overwhelming. Quality was going to suffer if they didn’t get some help but Zoe didn’t know how to keep up with everything. “I know. I’ll ask Marco for advice.”
“It’s not a sign of weakness,” Debbie said softly.
“I’m sure it’s not.”
The phone started ringing and their five minute break was finished. Debbie stood up and put a hand to Zoe’s shoulder. “Just go upstairs and sleep for two hours. I’ll come get you if you go longer, don’t worry. Once you’ve had a bit of a break, you’ll feel much better and will be able to think this through with better perspective.”
Zoe nodded and walked out of the office, taking the back stairs. Her legs were so tired, they were barely able to carry her up to her loft. She was so tired, and not just from the work and social calendar she’d been dealing with. It was so much more. And it all centered around Marco. When he picked her up in the evening, she was nervous and excited to see him again. And when he walked into the room, she felt as if electricity had suddenly bolted through her. He revived her and excited her and kept her going throughout the evening with his small touches and teasing remarks whispered in her ear that had her laughing throughout the whole event. She loved being with him but each moment she spent in his company was making the job harder. When he drove her home each night, she wanted so desperately to ask him to come up to her loft, to have his arms wrap around her and feel his strength as he wrapped her up in his heat.