“Ms. O’Shaughnessy?”

“Kate, please.”

“Hello, Kate. Mr. Boudreaux is in his office. Follow me.” She smiles and offers to take my suitcase, but I shake my head and follow her into the elevator. She doesn’t ask me any questions, and I’m thankful. I’ve learned to lie well in this business, but I don’t know what she’s already been told. I’m led past an office area and into the largest office I’ve ever seen. The massive black desk sits before a wall of floor-to-ceiling windows. The furniture is big and expensive. Comfortable. There are two doors, each on opposite sides of the room, and I can’t help but wonder what they lead to.

“Ms. O’Shaughnessy is here, sir.”

“Kate,” I add without thinking, and then any hope of being able to think at all is tossed right out of those spectacular windows, when the tall man standing before them turns to look at me. The photos didn’t do him justice.

Yum.

The door closes behind me and I take a deep breath and walk toward him, hiding the fact that my knees have officially turned to mush.

“Kate,” I repeat, and hold my hand out to shake his over his desk. His lips twitch as he watches me, his whiskey-colored eyes sharp and assessing as they take a slow stroll down my body, then back up to my face. Jeez, he’s taller than I expected. And broader. And he wears a suit like he was born to it.

Which, I suppose he was. Bayou Enterprises has been around for five generations, and Eli Boudreaux is the sharpest CEO it’s seen in years.

He moves around his desk and takes my hand in his, but rather than shake it, he raises it to his lips and places a soft kiss on my knuckles.

“Pleasure,” he says in a slow New Orleans drawl. Dear God, I might explode right here. “I’m Eli.”

“I know.” He raises a brow in question. “I’ve seen photos over the years.”

He nods once, but doesn’t let go. His thumb is circling softly over the back of my hand, sending my body into a tailspin. My nipples have tightened, pressing against my white blouse, and now I wish with all my might that I hadn’t taken off my jacket.

“Please, have a seat,” he says, and motions to the black chair behind me. Rather than sit behind his desk, he sits in the chair next to mine and watches me with those amazing eyes of his.

A lock of dark hair has fallen over his forehead and my fingers itch to brush it back for him.

Calm the eff down, Mary Katherine. You’d think I’d never seen a hot man before.

Because I have.

Declan, the youngest of the Boudreaux brothers, is no slouch in the looks department, and he’s one of my best friends. But being near him never made my knees weak or made me yearn for a tall glass of ice water. Or a bed. Or to rip his clothes off his body.

Whoa.

“Did Savannah fill you in on what’s happening?” Eli asks calmly, his face revealing nothing. He crosses an ankle over the opposite knee and steeples his fingers, watching me.

“Yes, she and I have talked extensively, and she’s emailed me all of the new-hire paperwork, as well as the NDA’s, which I’ve printed and signed.” I pull the papers out of my briefcase and pass them to Eli. Our fingers brush, making my thighs clench, but he seems unaffected.

Typical. I don’t usually inspire hot lust from the opposite sex. Especially not men who look like Eli. Which is fine, because he’s my boss and my best friends’ brother and I’m here to work.

I clear my throat and push my auburn hair behind my ear. With all of this humidity, it’s going to be a curly mess in no time.

“That’s a beautiful ring,” he says unexpectedly, nodding toward my right hand, still raised near my ear.

“Thank you.”

“Gift?”

He’s a man of few words.

“Yes, from my grandmother,” I reply, and tuck my hands in my lap. He simply nods once and glances down at the papers in his hand. He frowns and glances up at me, but before he can say anything, his office door swings open and Declan walks in with a wide smile on his handsome face.

“There’s my superstar.” I squeal and leap up and into his arms, and Dec squeezes me tight and turns a circle in the middle of the wide office. He finally sets me on my feet, cups my face in his hands, and kisses me square on the mouth, then hugs me again, more gently this time. “You okay?” he whispers in my ear.

“I’m great.” I gaze up into Dec’s sweet face and years of memories and emotion fall around me. Laughter and tears, love, sadness, affection. “It’s so good to see you.”

“Have you done anything fun since you got to town?”

“I almost lost my life in a cab,” I reply with a laugh. “I came straight here.”

“I’ll take you out tonight. Show you the French Quarter. I know this great restaurant—”

“That won’t be necessary,” Eli interrupts. His voice is calm. He’s standing now, his hands shoved in his pockets, his wide shoulders making the large office feel small. “You have a gig tonight,” he reminds Declan.

“I can take you out before.”

“Don’t worry about Kate this evening,” Eli replies, still perfectly calm, but his jaw ticks.

I feel like I’m watching a tennis match as my head swivels back and forth, watching them both with curiosity.

“You know what Savannah told you,” Declan says softly to Eli.

No response.

Declan glances back down to me. “I really don’t mind calling the gig off tonight and settling you in.”