Lacey felt like screaming on her way back to her office. She wanted to kill Mr. Wheeler for putting her with Danny. And then he had the nerve to wink at her. All she could think of was how he was indeed a bastard, and him constantly getting under her skin would most likely only get worse. She was now propelled in to interacting with him on a constant, daily basis. She hated that more than she hated anything in her life. She was thinking of a way to get out of it, but she knew she couldn't. It would look really bad and not work in her favor to refuse to do this project with him. That could potentially set her up to never be handed big or important projects ever again. The more she thought about it, the more she hated it. She had the nonsensical feeling that he somehow had a hand in them being put together on this assignment. She knew that was bogus and highly unlikely because she knew her bosses did what they felt was best. They were extremely fair and practical men that cared about their business and employees, but they did what they wanted with their company.
Lacey was practically fuming as she stepped into her office with Whitney right on her heels. Lacey walked over and sat in her seat as Whitney walked in and shut her door. She laughed almost loudly as she sat in the same chair she was seated in earlier.
"You're working with Danny. This is too rich for words." Whitney says as she grips the sides of the chair and taps her feet on the floor animatedly.
Lacey gave her an evil look. "I'm glad you're enjoying this." Lacey says and she almost sounds angry.
"I really am. Mr. Wheeler just put you with the man you "hate". This will be epic to see. I'll be your assistant so I can see this first hand." Whitney chirps while again putting major emphasis on the word hate just like she did before.
"Well since you're so excited, how about you take my place?" Lacey suggests as she places her arms on table and sort of squares up with Whitney.
"You know I can't do that, Lacey." Whitney explains.
"I know you can't. That's why this sucks and blows." Lacey says as she sighs heavily.
Whitney giggles. "Is there some particular reason you used those words to describe the situation at hand?" Whitney asks.
"What?" Lacey asks.
"You just said that it sucks and blows. Is that what you're planning on doing?" Whitney questions.
Lacey gives Whitney the death look. "Get out of my office." Lacey says in a serious tone.
Whitney laughs and stands and walks over to the door. She pauses and turns as she puts her hand on the doorknob. "Are we having lunch together, or will you be having Danny instead?" Whitney asks with a straight face.
"Get out." Lacey says through clenched teeth.
Danny was having a similar conversation in his office with Cole Farrell. Although Danny wasn't taking it as hard as Lacey was at the moment, he was a little apprehensive about working with her.
"So, you and Lacey Porter are going to work together." Cole says as he sits in one of the chairs across from Danny.
"It appears to be that way." Danny says a little uneasily.
"Why don't you sound happier? She is smoking hot." Cole says as he looks at Danny with unsure eyes.
"Yeah, she's hot. But you know we don't like each other. Well, she hates me more than I dislike her." Danny says.
"What's up with her hating you anyway?" Cole asks.
"I don't know." Danny says and just leaves it at that.
"You don't know? Did you two have a romance that went sour?" Cole asks.
"No. She just doesn't like me." Danny says.
"Then why don't you like her?" Cole asks.
"Because she doesn't like me." Danny says and both men laugh.
"I think you're holding out on me. There has to be more to it than that." Cole says as he gives Danny a little something to think about.
"Like what?" Danny wonders.
"Maybe you both are pretending to hate each other because you really like each other." Cole responds.
"That's not it. I don't like Lacey Porter." Danny says.
"So you really wouldn't sleep with her if you could?" Cole asks skeptically.
"Of course I would. I think that's what she needs any way." Danny says as he grins at Cole.
"Do you really think a woman that hot isn't sleeping with someone? Did you see her in that red suit?" Cole asks.
"Of course I saw her. It riled me up when we were downstairs. I forgot I was talking to Valerie when she walked past. I don't know. I would think men would be lining up to sleep with her. I would if she wasn't such a bitch to me. But sometimes her being such a bitch turns me on. It makes me think she must be a tiger in bed." Danny says as he looks off and really wonders about what he just said. He gets a little lost in thought just wondering how good in bed Lacey might be.
"Yeah, I really believe you don't like Lacey after all of that." Cole says as he stands to leave Danny's office.
Danny finally starts to pay attention to Cole leaving. "What?" Danny asks as he looks over at Cole standing at his door.
Cole snickers. "Man, you have it bad and you don't even know it. Catch you later." Cole says before he leaves and again gives Danny something to think about.
Lacey was feeling lots of trepidation when faced with the reality of working with Danny. She didn't like it. She didn't like it at all. She started beating herself up about wishing her bosses would pick her for a huge project just that morning. She got what she wanted. She really thought she should be more careful about what she wishes for in the future, because she just might get it. Maybe wearing that red suit and appearing to be energetic and driven might not have been such a good idea.
Lacey reluctantly got up from her seat and walked out of her office to head to the elevator. She prayed that she didn't run into Danny. And as luck would have it, he was coming from the opposite direction heading to the elevator as well. Danny pressed the button and actually turned and smiled at her. Lacey just looked at him. The elevator arrived with a ding and Danny put out his hand to let her enter first. Lacey pressed 15 almost with force and the door shut. She stood on one side while Danny leaned against the wall, just looking at her.
How can someone so beautiful be so evil? Danny thought. He decided to somehow try to break the ice. "I think we should have an interesting experience working together." Danny says as he again straightens out his tie.
Lacey glared over at him. "I think saying this will be an interesting experience is putting it mildly. I actually think it will be a disaster, but what do I know?" Lacey says candidly.
"Disaster? That's a pretty strong word." Danny says.
Lacey looks at him a minute before answering. "That's the only word I can think of at the moment." Lacey says without apology.
Danny hits the stop button on the elevator and stands right in front of her, startling her. "You know, you could be a little nicer to me and more optimistic about this." Danny says.
"Nicer? I'm perfectly nice to you." Lacey lies.
Danny starts to laugh and Lacey revolts and folds her arms across her chest. "Cut the bull, Lacey. You and I both know you treat me like crap." Danny says before continuing. "I just want to know why."
Lacey steps forward and reaches around him to pull the stop button and the elevator starts to move again. When she reached forward, she accidentally brushed up against him and started to feel warm inside. She noticed how hard his body was and that made her a little mad because she liked it. She pushes that out of her mind before she starts to speak. "We have to get going before we're late. Mr. Wheeler is a stickler for punctuality." Lacey says as the elevator arrives to their floor and Lacey steps off. Danny steps off the elevator and follows closely behind. He doesn't take his eyes off her butt as she walks in front of him.
They enter the small reception area outside of their bosses offices, and have a seat in the chairs in that area. Lacey crossed her legs and shifted slightly away from Danny. He just sat there and stared at the wall. Mr. Wheeler's secretary, April just sat there and smiled at the two. It was obvious that there was a lot of sexual tension between them. She sat and looked at them and noticed what an awfully nice looking couple they would make. After they all sat in silence for a few minutes, April interrupted Lacey and Danny's thinking when she spoke.
"You two can go in now." April says as she again smiles at them.
Danny and Lacey entered Mr. Wheeler's huge office and immediately noticed several boxes of what could only be files and papers that they had to go through. They both approached his desk and waited for clearance to sit down.
"Mr. Desai and Ms. Porter. Have a seat." Mr. Wheeler says as he smiles at both of his employees. He waits for them to sit down before he continues. "So, are you two excited about this project?" Mr. Wheeler asks hopefully.
Lacey puts on her award-winning smile. "Of course, Mr. Wheeler. I'm very excited about this." Lacey says enthusiastically because she really is excited though she isn't that thrilled about working with Danny.
"So am I. I have a feeling this will go smoothly. In fact, I think Ms. Porter and I should work on more projects together." Danny says as he looks over at Lacey and smiles and then looks at Mr. Wheeler.
"Wonderful. I love that attitude, Danny. I'll keep that under consideration when we decide teams for other huge projects. Now, on to the matter at hand. Both Biometrics and Deputy Instruments are interested in merging their companies. They both have several branches of services that they provide for the medical community. They provide medical implants and devices for all sorts of surgeries ranging from traumas to ordinary fractures that need repair to total and partial joint replacements." Mr. Wheeler says as he hands both of them two thick folders. "As you can see, there's a truck load of data you two will have to go through to come up with the best options or options for both companies." Mr. Wheeler pauses to take a slight break. "I already arranged for you two to fly out to their headquarters in Minnesota and West Virginia next week. You'll spend the rest of this week going over the data to present both companies with the best possible outcome. We all want this marriage to go smoothly. Any questions?" Mr. Wheeler asks.
Lacey really wanted to ask him why in the hell he would arrange for her to go out of town on not one, but two business trips with Danny. To two different states no less. That meant flights and hotel rooms. She was so not in the mood for this. But she had to put on her game face and be a trooper. She knew it would not benefit her in the long run to mess this up or she could kiss her job and her future at the company goodbye. "I just want to know when we leave and how long we'll be staying at both company's headquarters?" Lacey asks. She's dreading and hating the prospect of leaving the state with Danny Desai. This truly sucks.
"Well, I planned to have you spend two days at both companies and you'll be leaving Monday to help you get settled before your meetings on Tuesday and Thursday. If you need more time at either place, I'll make arrangements to have your needs accommodated. Your itineraries are in those folders I gave you along with your plane tickets. And don't worry, you'll be flying First Class all the way." Mr. Wheeler says as he smiles at both of them. Suddenly, there's a knock at the door. "Come in." Mr. Wheeler says and April enters with a cart they assume is for the boxes they need to log downstairs. "Any other questions?" Mr. Wheeler asks as he looks at Danny and Lacey.
"None for me. If I have any, I'll shoot you a line." Danny says as he smiles briskly.
"No more questions from me." Lacey says as she smiles to hide her pain.
"Ok. I wish you guys good luck on this project. I have faith in both of you." Mr. Wheeler says and Danny and Lacey stand and head over to the boxes.
Lacey reaches for one and sees that it's too heavy for her to pick up. She just looks at Danny and he gives her that smirk she hates. "I've got it." Danny says as he picks up the boxes with ease like they only weigh a feather. She saw his muscles rippling under his white shirt and she felt a little flushed. Danny finished with the boxes and they headed out of Mr. Wheeler's office and headed for the elevator.
Once they were inside the elevator, Lacey decided to speak to Danny without being forced to. She looked over at him and his smug, self satisfactory smirk still planted on his face. "That was a low blow telling Mr. Wheeler you think we should work on more projects together." Lacey says smartly.
Danny grins and feign innocence. "I think we should work on more projects together. I also think we should share a hotel room when we leave town." Danny says in a serious tone.
Lacey looks at him with wide eyes. "Have you lost your mind?" Lacey asks.
"Maybe." Danny says as he again licks his lips and smirks at her.
"We are NOT sharing a hotel room when we leave here." Lacey replies sardonically.
"I guess you're right." Danny says. "You're thinking about it though." Danny deadpans as he stares at the shocked expression on Lacey's face.