Danny watched triumphantly as the shocked expression stayed on Lacey's face for several moments. He felt like he had really gotten to her and won that round.
"I am not thinking about sharing a room with you." Lacey answers impassively.
Danny lightly chuckles. "Are you sure about that?" Danny questions slyly.
"Yes, I'm sure." Lacey responds surely.
"I wouldn't blame you if you were though." Danny replies calmly as he strokes his goatee seductively.
"Why wouldn't you blame me, Mr. Desai?" Lacey ponders as she stares at Danny while he stokes the hair on his face.
"Because I'm irresistible." Danny says as he smirks.
Lacey scoffs as the elevator finally stops on their floor. "You are not irresistible. I can resist you just fine. You are so cocky and conceited, that I find it a little off-putting, honestly." Lacey answers blithely. She steps off the elevator and waits for him to exit before she speaks again. "Where do you want to do this?"
"I'd say my office since mine is bigger. We'd be on top of each other in yours." Danny says smartly.
Lacey chooses to ignore his last statement. The Senior Analysts do have bigger offices, though Lacey knows that's not what he meant. "Ok. I have to get a few things from mine. I'll see you in 5." Lacey says as she walks away and doesn't even wait for his response. He may not have been able to speak anyway because he was too busy watching her walk away.
Lacey again marched to her office and shut the door. She leaned against the back of it and took a deep breath. Danny was migrating on her nerves. And this is only the first day. She has to spend the next two weeks with this cocky asshole. She wondered how she would make it through. Two whole weeks. It maddened her.
Lacey walked over to her desk and sat down. She massaged her temples and sighed heavily. She reached into her desk and got her bottle of Excedrin out. She had a damn headache and needed to do something about it before she headed to Danny's office. She took out a pill and grabbed what she needed before she left her office and went to the water cooler. She got her water and swallowed the pill and said a silent prayer that these next two weeks went smoothly. Then she tried to take it back and decided to take it one day at a time, starting with now. She would put away her animosity towards Danny for the sake of her job and that project. While she was standing with her eyes closed, Phoebe walked up to her.
"Lacey are you alright?" Phoebe asked as she put water into her bottle.
Lacey opened her eyes slowly and was silently thankful that it wasn't Whitney. She wasn't in the mood for her picking with her. "I'm fine. I just have a headache. Thanks for asking." Lacey says as she smiles at her quirky friend.
"You're already stressed about working with Danny, aren't you?" Phoebe asks in concern.
"Yes. And I'm trying not to be." Lacey admits.
Phoebe rubs her on her shoulder and smiles. "It'll be ok, Lacey. Don't worry." Phoebe says as she tries to assure her friend.
Lacey smiles back at her. "Thanks, Phoebe. I'll see you later. Duty calls." Lacey says as she walks away. She heads towards Danny's office and stops to take a deep breath before she knocks on his door even though it's already open. Danny was sitting at his desk and seemed to be lost in thought. He leered at Lacey and never spoke, causing Lacey to speak to him. "Can I come in? You seem preoccupied." Lacey offers.
"Of course. Sorry about that." Danny says as he stands. He nervously puts his hands in the pockets of his pants and again just looks at Lacey longingly.
Lacey just looks at him and wonders why he suddenly seems so nervous and timid. It's not like the ridiculously cocky Danny Desai to be nervous. "Are you ok?" Lacey questions although she has convinced herself she doesn't really care. He's prolonging things and she doesn't have time for that.
God, she's beautiful. I just wish we didn't hate each other. Danny thinks until Lacey's question interrupts him. He takes his hands out of his pockets and nervously runs his hand through his hair. "Yes. I just got a little lost in thought. Come over and have a seat. As you can see, I cleared off my desk to give us room to work. I hope you approve." Danny says.
"Thanks." Lacey says as she comes and sits in the chair adjacent to his. "Where do we start?" Lacey asks.
Danny walks over and shuts his office door and that causes Lacey to raise her eyebrow at his actions. "Anywhere you'd like." Danny says almost seductively.
Lacey ignores his suggestion. "I guess we should start on their financial reports. Do you think it will be easier to start with one company and then we combine notes, or we each take one and combine?" Lacey asks inquisitively.
"I say we focus on one. That way we're on the same page." Danny replies.
"I think you're right." Lacey says.
"Of course I am." Danny replies with a smirk.
Lacey gets up from her seat and walks over to the boxes that are still on the cart. She removes the lid and reaches in to pull out a stack of papers. Danny intentionally walked over and reached in at the same time and his hand again purposely brushed hers. Lacey pretended not to feel the heat radiating through her body when their hands touched. She just took her stack and walked back over to her seat. Danny was a little disappointed that their exchange didn't do anything for her, but it was still early in the game. They still had two weeks together. Danny felt optimistic that she would at least not hate his guts at the end of this project.
Danny went and sat in his seat in silence. He watched as Lacey pulled her glasses from the case and put them on. They were an oversized pair with black frames that looked adorable on her. They seemed to make her look vulnerable and innocent.
"I didn't know you wore glasses." Danny says to try and make nice with the beautiful monster.
"I don't. But going over papers with tiny print is a little heavy on the eyes." Lacey says.
"They look good on you. They make you look younger." Danny admits.
Lacey smiles nervously. "Are you saying I look old? Because I'm only 26." Lacey answers to try to keep the peace.
"No, not at all. I'm just saying they look good on you and make you look younger." Danny says.
Danny slowly started to roll up his sleeves and Lacey pretended she didn't notice how strong his forearms looked or the veins that ran through them. Danny reached into his desk drawer and pulled out a hairtie. "Do you need any highlighters or anything?" Danny asked as he coyly placed his hair into a bun and stared into Lacey's eyes.
Lacey swallowed. "Nope, I've got some." Lacey says as she pulls one from her small bag she placed on the floor beside her foot.
Danny smiled to toy with her. "Great. Let's do this." Danny says with enthusiasm. They slowly started to get into their groove of going over the many, many data sheets they had to go through. Danny tried not to focus on Lacey's full lips as she unconsciously put her highlighter into her mouth while she was reading. It was no use though. Her lips were seriously turning him on. He watched in silence as she took the highlighter from her mouth and placed it on the desk. She then started to unbutton her suit jacket while never taking her eyes off the paper she was reading. Danny noticed that she was wearing a white silk camisole under her suit jacket. He zeroed in on her breasts as she put the jacket on the back of the chair. He wanted to put them in the palm of his hands. Danny absently licked his lips and looked up to see Lacey looking at him strangely. Danny cleared his throat and looked back down at his papers. They continued to work in a sexually tense filled silence until there's a knock on Danny's door. Danny gets up to go and answer it and Valerie, the company slut, walks straight in and stops dead in her tracks when she spots Lacey.
"Am I imposing?" Valerie asks as she looks from Danny to Lacey.
"Not at all." Lacey says as she stands. She gathers her things and prepares to leave. "I'll leave you two alone. I'm heading to lunch, Mr. Desai. I'll be back after I finish." Lacey says as she leaves without a response from Danny.
Danny was disappointed that Valerie interrupted them and had no intention of hiding his discomfort. Valerie noticed how disappointed Danny looked when Lacey left. She wasn't at all jealous because she didn't care about Danny. She cared about his money. She and everybody else already knew he was rich before he started working there. At the least, she just wanted to sleep with him. His wallet and his penis were her only concerns. Maybe the hair. She already noticed the way he forgot about her earlier when Lacey walked past while they were talking. And now, the way he looked at Lacey leave and the way he looked like a sad little boy being dropped off at school for the first time.
"Why did you tell me to meet you for lunch if you were busy with her?" Valerie asks in annoyance. There are other guys in the building she could be spending time with, and he's wasting hers.
"I didn't know I'd be busy with her. We just got put on a project together this morning." Danny says in his own annoyed tone. He now realized that he wanted Valerie out of his face and his office. He was making progress with Lacey and she ruined it.
"From the looks and sounds of things, you don't want me here. Am I right?" Valerie asks sourly.
Danny avoids her question. "What are you talking about, Valerie?" Danny asks. He's still annoyed that she interrupted him and Lacey.
"Nothing, Danny. See you around." Valerie says as she leaves Danny's office. Danny didn't care at all.
He wanted Lacey to come back.
Lacey went to Phoebe's office and found her and Whitney getting ready to head to the eatery on the first floor of the building.
"Oh, there you are. We thought you'd be having lunch with Danny." Whitney says comically.
"He's having sex with Valerie. What do you guys have in mind for lunch?" Lacey asks as she avoids dwelling on Whitney's need to continue to tease her.
"What? He's having sex with Valerie?" Whitney asks in amazement.
"Probably. That's what she's good at. I didn't want to watch or intrude on that." Lacey says flippantly.
"You're not jealous, are you?" Whiney inquires.
"No, I'm not jealous. Are you kidding me Whitney?" Lacey asks incredulously.
Phoebe decides to change the subject. "I want a cheeseburger." Phoebe says. "I'm dying for one, actually."
"What about you, Whitney?" Lacey asks as she cuts her eyes at her animated friend.
"The same." Whitney says.
"Then I guess it'll be a cheeseburger day. We can share fries." Lacey suggests.
"Off to lunch we go." Phoebe says happily. The three exit Phoebe's office and head to the elevator. They make their way downstairs and head to Five Guys and get their cheeseburgers. They sit at a table and Whitney immediately starts drilling Lacey.
"So, how is it going working with your work boyfriend?" Whitney asks as she takes a bite of her burger.
"As good as can be expected. And he is NOT my work boyfriend." Lacey says as she bites into a fry.
"So I guess your headache went away." Phoebe says as she sips her Diet Coke.
"Yup. That Excedrin I took really did its job." Lacey says.
"I don't want to talk about your headache. I want to talk about why you two were in his office with the door closed for hours. Were you two really working?" Whitney asks accusingly.
Lacey takes a bite of her burger to deflect answering. She then hears Whitney start to talk again.
"Look who just walked in." Whitney says as her eyes focus on Danny as he walks by. Phoebe and Lacey turn to look in the same direction as Whitney. "Danny! Over here!" Whitney says as she waves him over.
Lacey almost chokes on her food. "What in the hell are you doing, Whitney?" Lacey asks through almost a mouth full of food. She normally wouldn't talk with her mouth full, but this moment called for it.
"Inviting De-Dreamy over to join us for lunch." Whitney says and actually smiles at Lacey.
"Don't invite him over here!" Lacey whispers loudly.
Danny has made his way over to their table. "Hello ladies." Danny says as he smiles at them. Phoebe actually started to blush although she really didn't mean to. Lacey took a forceful sip of her iced tea.
"We were wondering if you'd join us for lunch, right Lacey?" Whitney asks as she playfully winks at Lacey.
"You were. I didn't want him to join us." Lacey says in aggravation.
Danny smirks at Lacey's comment. "In that case, I insist on joining you." Danny says as he sits down next to Whitney and directly across from Lacey.
"How was your quickie?" Lacey asks as she glowered at him.
Phoebe eyes widen in either shock or surprise. Or both. "Lacey! How could you ask him something like that?" Phoebe questions as she practically scolds Lacey.
"What? I was just asking a question." Lacey replies innocently.
Danny winks and reaches to grab a fry from Lacey's container just to irritate her. "It was great." Danny asks. Lacey frowns at either him taking her fry or his admission to having a quickie with Valerie. Phoebe starts coughing loudly. None of them expected him to say that.
"Wow." Is all Whitney can say.
Lacey got a bad taste in her mouth. "I just lost my appetite." Lacey says as she takes another sip of her iced tea and swished it around before swallowing as if it would somehow remove the bad taste from her mouth.
"Great. More for me." Danny says as he takes her container of fries and finishes them. He then takes her burger and finishes it.
Lacey gives him a slack-jawed expression. "How can you just eat behind me like that? I could have a disease for all you know." Lacey questions as she drinks more of her iced tea.
"What? I doubt you have anything. It won't matter when we start sleeping together anyway. I'd be doing more than eating behind you." Danny says as he stares straight into her eyes with an insolent expression on his face.
Lacey exhales sharply and stands to leave without a word.
"Lacey, wait!" Phoebe says though it's useless. Lacey is too miffed to stay.
Whitney thought that exchange was hilarious. She could cut the sexual tension with a knife.
Danny just hunched his shoulders and winked at Whitney as he grabbed Lacey's drink to finish it.
Lacey got onto the elevator with fury in her eyes. How dare he? Lacey wondered as she pressed her floor. She rode up in the elevator mad as hell at Danny and Whitney. She went to her office to cool off before she returned to Danny's. Her headache was back in full force. She sat at her desk in the dark and took deep breaths as she massaged her temples. She didn't want to take another pill, but she knew that she would more than likely need a drink that night when she got home. She decided she wasn't going to let Danny and his bull stress her out any more. After sitting alone with her thoughts, she begrudgingly made her way back to Danny's office. When she stepped into the doorway, he appeared to be waiting for her. Lacey just walked in quietly and sat in her seat. Danny got up and again closed his office door. He walked back over to his desk and sat down and glanced at Lacey. He could tell she was mad, even though she always seemed to be mad at him. He approached the topic cautiously.
"Lacey, I was just kidding. I didn't have a quickie with Valerie." Danny says.
Lacey looks up with a doe eyed expression on her face. "Oh, you think I care. I'm so not sorry, but I really do not care what you did or didn't do with Valerie. What you do with your penis is your business." Lacey says as she returns to focusing on the papers in front of her.
"But what I want to do with my penis has to do with you. So it is your business." Danny says.
Lacey stops what she's doing and eyes him dead on with a dour expression on her face. He stares back at her, neither one of them backing down. "I'm going to pretend you didn't say that." Lacey says as she goes back to her work.
"But I did say it. And you're wondering what I want to do with my penis." Danny says smugly.
"I am not." Lacey says without looking up.
"Whatever Lacey. You and I both know that is not true. But keep trying to convince yourself that it is. Maybe it will come true one day." Danny says as he starts working on their project.
Danny and Lacey finished their first day working together in relative silence. Lacey was happy when their day was finally over and she could get away from Danny and go home. She put on some classical music in her car to relax her. She didn't want to enter her house stressed. She wanted to leave it all behind and deal with it again when she got to work the next day. A smile appeared on her face as she pulled into her driveway. She entered her house and heard the tv blaring. He was sitting on the couch watching a basketball game. Lacey went over and sat next to him and put her head on her boyfriend's shoulder.
"Hey babe. Rough day?" Archie asks as he kisses her forehead.
Lacey sighed. "Rough isn't even the word." Lacey says as she feels him wrap his arm around her.