Chapter 3: Coffee and Coincidences

*Daphne*

“I just don’t understand why you chose Blackwood Inc. of all the other companies in the city,” Rowan said deterrently over the phone.

Daphne and Rowan had been on the phone for what felt like hours, even though the clock above the oven in her kitchen told her that it had only been twenty minutes. It was just a little over four-thirty when she had received the needed forms and files from Erica.

As soon as she finished signing them and sent them back, Daphne had immediately hopped on the phone with Rowan to tell him of her exciting news. A big part of her was hoping that he was going to share heavily in her enthusiasm that she would finally be getting a chance to work in her field.

Her mind filled with thoughts of celebrating and piecing together plans to go out and share in an evening together. However, the moment Daphne had told Rowan about her new position at Blackwood Inc. the man could not have sounded any more deflated and disinterested. Almost immediately after mentioning it, Daphne’s plans to go out and celebrate were tossed out the window.

Apparently, Rowan had an unexpected work-related trip out of the city for nearly a whole week. As much as it bothered her that she wasn’t going to see him, Daphne understood that things like that weren’t out of the ordinary for them. There had been other trips in the past couple of months where Rowan had to leave the city for work. Meanwhile, Daphne went about her own business.

It should have bothered her more that she wouldn’t be seeing her fiancé for such an extended period of time, but Daphne was more irritated over why Rowan was so against the company in the first place.

“And I don’t understand why you’re so against Blackwood in the first place,” she pointed out sharply. “I’ve told you before that there aren’t many companies that are wanting to hire anyone new at the moment. I was lucky to even stumble upon the open position when I did with this place.”

“Alistair Blackwood is not someone who you want to let into your life,” Rowan argued.

Daphne’s brows snatched together. “What the hell does that mean? You’re acting as if you know the man, personally.” There was a long pause that caused her stomach to dop. “Well, do you?”

She heard Rowan let out a long, withheld breath. “Look, sweetheart, I have to get going. I’ve got...a meeting I need to get to in the next few minutes.”

She took her lip between her teeth. “Fine. I guess I’ll talk to you later then,” she sighed.

“I’ll try and call later in the week once all of this work has died down,” he told her promisingly.

But Daphne knew well enough that Rowan probably wouldn’t be reaching out until after his business trip. A few months ago this sort of behavior rarely bothered her. Between her still being in school and him dedicating a majority of his time to his work, the two of them had their own separate lives to worry about. However with the wedding date just a short month away, Daphne wasn’t entirely sure what to make of Rowan’s dodginess.

It wasn’t enough to change her feelings towards him, but it certainly irritated her enough to where it led her to the kitchen and had her pulling out a bunch of metal sheet pans. Indeed, Daphne Sullivan was a stress baker.

In order to keep her mind from falling into a swirling mess, she’d immerse herself in cookie dough, cake batter, or some other pastry confection until her nerves would finally settle down. It may not have been an ethical coping mechanism, but her friends always did say that if she never made it as an established architect, she could sure as hell make it as a professional baker.

So, after numerous hours of flitting about the kitchen and several batches of chocolate chip cookies later, Daphne was able to suppress her feelings of agitation and worry. She pulled out her laptop and scrolled through her emails from Erica and slowly found her smile again.

Regardless of Rowan’s strange and biased opinion towards Alistair and his company, Daphne was immensely proud at the fact that she nailed the position down and was going to do her best to blend into the role as best as she could.

She poured herself a glass of wine that night and grabbed a handful of cookies.

Hell, she was still determined to celebrate one way or another.

. . .

Before she knew it, Daphne made it through her first week as Alistair’s new secretary with ease. Aside from answering the phones and setting up appointments with potential clients, there wasn’t much for her to focus on. Oh, well, minus the whole sitting ten feet away from one of the world’s most handsome bachelors.

The question as to how or why Alistair was still single sat at the forefront of her thoughts. It boggled her mind how someone like him could still remain single for so long. Then again, for all she knew, Blackwood had a different woman lying in his bed every night.

Daphne had to force herself to ignore those lecherous thoughts when she had no business thinking about them in the first place.

Nonetheless, every morning Alistair greeted her with a warm smile and asked her about her day thus far. And as always, Daphne kept her answers short and sweet while tightly clenching her thighs closed and nervously rolling her engagement ring on her finger.

Whether she was willing to admit out loud or not, Alistair was unearthly gorgeous. And it was obvious that she wasn’t the only person who thought so. Word had spread quickly around the company of Daphne’s position as Blackwood’s new secretary. Women from all over the building had stopped by to either check her out personally, or to try and catch a glimpse of Alistair.

It was both bothersome and exceedingly unprofessional. It was no wonder why Blackwood was so put off by the other interviewees before. Although, Daphne knew she had no right to judge when she, herself, was constantly stealing secret glances across the room at the man.

Alistair made the simplest things unknowingly attractive. Like taking off his jacket once he settled into his work. Or the way his muscles flexed under his clothes whenever he leaned over his desk. No matter what he was looking at, the man’s gaze was always heated and intense.

Other than that, the work was easy and fairly light in her opinion and the two were able to co-exist quite easily in the same space without any clashes.

Although, there have been one or two instances in which Daphne had a hard time wrapping her mind around.

During her first few days, she had prepared a fresh pot of coffee out in the reception area. And in the midst of preparing her own cup, she had instinctively made one up for Alistair. She poured the coffee black and unconsciously put two sugars in it before placing it on his desk.

Just as she turned to leave, Blackwood had spoken out to her. His voice was filled with unbridled wonderment.

“Miss Sullivan, how did you know this is exactly how I take my coffee?” he asked.

It was like waking up from a complete trance. Daphne hadn’t even fully realized what she had done until she blinked back the blurriness from her eyes and tensed her shoulders.

“Black with two sugars?” He nodded his head and she let out a nervous giggle. “Honestly, I had no idea. I mean, I was just in the middle of making up a cup myself and I guess my mind had wandered over to my fiancé.”

“So, he takes his coffee exactly like this, as well?” he prompted.

Daphne weakly nodded her head while Alistair chuckled.

“Well, that is certainly a notable coincidence,” he mused with a smirk. A heavy shade of pink touched her cheeks. “What’s he like? Your fiancé.”

A noticeable, heavy tension slipped into the room between them. That same confidence she possessed during her first interview, when she was defending her case as an engaged woman was nowhere to be found.

“Um, well... he’s very into his work,” she said.

“Oh.” He noted with feigned interest. “And what exactly ‘is’ his work?”

Daphne couldn’t make out the discernable expression on Alistair’s face. Why had her fiancé, all of a sudden, become a top interest of his?

“He works in trade.” She let out a long, deflated breath. “In fact, he’s currently on a business trip and will be back in a day or two.”

The corner of his eye twitched. Blackwood sat back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest. “Really, he’s on a business trip?”

His bitter tone of skepticism caused her jaw to clench.

“Mr. Blackwood, I really need to get back to work,” she pressed eagerly.

His lips twisted into a devious yet playful smirk. “Of course. I’ll let you know if I need anything. Miss Sullivan.”

Daphne quickly turned to head back towards her desk while continuing to bite down on her bottom lip. She really needed to get a hold of herself. Every time he said her name it felt like her entire body was caressed by a pair of strong, warm hands.

‘Jesus, pull yourself together,’ she thought.

Having spoken about Rowan filled her with both frustration and rising anxiety. The two hadn't spoken to each other in nearly five days. Not since she had told him about her working at Alistair’s company. It made her wonder if Rowan was genuinely mad that she had interviewed for the position in the first place.

She had made the mistake of glancing down at her phone, thinking that she was going to see a message from Rowan. But nothing. Not even a missed call.

Daphne never considered herself as someone who was clingy. But was it really normal to go days without hearing from the person you were meant to marry within just a couple of weeks?

In a fit of frustration, she tossed her phone into her bag. Her breath caught in her lungs when she glanced up to find one of the women from marketing hovering at the end of her desk.

Estelle.

Daphne groaned inwardly. The woman was just a few years older than her and insisted upon dowsing herself in a heavy spray of perfume that lingered wherever she went. She purposely wore clothes that were just a hair too revealing and a smile that always made Daphne want to sneer in disdain.

This had to have been the third time she had snuck her way up to Alistair’s floor since Daphne had begun working there. Estelle was not on Blackwood’s meeting schedule for the day—which clearly meant that she was there for a whole other reason aside from work.

Daphne forms her best, fake smile. “Hello, Estelle. Can I help you with something?”

The older woman clicked her acrylic nails on top of the desk. “Oh, just wanted to check in and see how you were fairing here,” she said through pursed lips.

“That’s very nice of you. I’m doing just f—”

“Don’t you think you’re a little young for him?” Estelle asked bluntly. Her tone was full of artificial innocence while her eyes told a whole different story.

Daphne’s brows lifted in shock. “Excuse me?”

“I’ve been working for Alistair Blackwood for almost a decade,” she said with a snide tilt of her head. “I know for fact that you are the last type of girl he would ever go for.”

Daphne felt as though her inner Brianna was on the verge of coming out to verbally tear this woman to shreds. Just who in the hell did she think she was, storming all the way up here and insulting her like this? Had that been her plan all along? To insult her?

As much as she wanted to go off on Estelle for her wild presumptions, Daphne took in a deep breath and allowed a moment for her nerves to cool down.

“Estelle, believe me when I tell you that I have absolutely zero intentions of wanting to get with Alistair,” she explained. “He is my boss and I am here to do a job. Nothing more.”

Estelle glared at her as though she were standing there with smeared makeup all over her face. Her eyes narrowed as her mouth pulled to one side. Just as she was about to open her mouth, a deep baritone broke through the silence.

“That will be quite enough, Miss Parker,” Alistair demanded sharply.