Read Online Lost and Found by Bernadette Marie - Free Book Online Page A

then Darcy’s mind began to
spin. What kind of history did they have? Had they simply worked
together for a very long time—or was there a secret buried between
them?
    Darcy’s hands began to shake. As she
bore down on her pen to make a note, she pressed to hard and broke
the tip off the pen. Blue ink instantly pooled on the paper she’d
been diligently keeping notes on.
    All eyes were on her, and the woman to
Zach’s side was quick to grab a stack of napkins from the coffee
credenza and head her way.
    “ That isn’t the first time
I’ve see that happen,” the woman said as she scooped the pen out of
Darcy’s hands and quickly disposed of it with minimal damage from
dripping ink.
    She gave Darcy a napkin for her hands
and then retrieved another notepad from a cabinet in the corner.
With a quick smile she was back, sitting next to Zach, and the
meeting continued.
    Darcy could feel the sting of tears
threatening to let loose, but this wasn’t the place to lose her
composure. Accidents happened, though she’d had her fair share this
week.
    Ed leaned over to her and pushed his
engraved pen toward her. “Here, this one will hold up.”
    Darcy pursed her lips and took the
pen. “Thank you.”
    Ed touched her hand and then retracted
his, quickly but calmly, as if it was second nature to touch
someone so gently in a meeting. No one had noticed the exchange,
but it had done a number on Darcy’s insides.
    She willed her heart to stop pounding
and her breath to slow. Lord, she hoped she wasn’t
sweating.
    Busting open a pen during an important
meeting had been bad enough, but this giddy feeling she got when Ed
touched her was ridiculous.
    Could she be so in need of personal
attention that the slightest caring reaction from her boss could
keep sending her into shock?
    “ Okay, I like how this is
all laying out. Let’s break for lunch and meet back here at two,”
Zach announced as he stood from his chair.
    Darcy gathered her notes and the
ruined pad, as well. Perhaps she could decipher what had been
written before her mind caused her to make a fool of
herself.
    Ed gently touched her shoulder. “I’m
going to run down to the deli and get us some lunch. I want to go
over some other projects before we have to be back in here. Do you
like pastrami?”
    The amount of information buzzing in
her head was a bit overwhelming. She’d have liked to have sat out
by the river for a bit and calm down, but she only nodded at Ed’s
offer.
    “ Great. I’ll be back up in
a half hour.”
    As he hurried away, the woman who had
helped her clean up her mess was walking toward her. They were the
only two left in the large room.
    Darcy tried to compose herself, and
she could only hope she looked half as professional as the woman
walking toward her.
    “ You must be Darcy. I’ve
been hearing good things about you.” The woman stuck out her hand.
“I’m Mary Ellen.”
    “ Nice to meet
you.”
    “ I’m Mr. Benson’s
assistant. He couldn’t do anything without me,” she said on a
laugh, and Darcy choked one out as well, realizing the woman was
trying to keep the mood light.
    “ Thank you for coming to my
rescue.”
    “ Oh, I’ve had that happen
to me a million times. I blame it on the shoddy manufacturing of
your basic stick pen, but really, sometimes these meetings get so
bogged down with number writing that my hand just crushes the
pen.”
    Darcy laughed again. Whoever this
woman was—aside from Zach Benson’s assistant—she was easy to
like.
    “ Why don’t you come up with
me, and we’ll type these notes up quickly. I know you probably
can’t read too much of what’s left on your page.”
    Darcy looked down at the paper that
now looked like kindergarten art. “Thank you.”
    They both gathered their things, and
Darcy followed Mary Ellen out of the office. Her desk was only
around the corner, and she set her notebook down and pulled an
extra chair around the desk for Darcy.
    “ Have a seat. It won’t take
me long to