him an asshole to his face. "And we're never doing that again, obviously. And now it's weird."
"Obviously," he repeats, and my heart sinks even though he's repeating my own words back to me. So he agrees? That it's never happening again? Well, good. We're on the same page then. That'll keep this from being messier then needed.
Except I suddenly feel like crying, which is ridiculous. I don't even like him.
"Right," I agree.
"Right."
Okay then. I guess all Nick has to add to this conversation is repeating whatever I say. I stare out the window and watch the landscape pass. I hate to admit it, but foreign gas stations and supermarkets and the like are still charming to me, even in the midst of my angst. Esso, Rewe, Aldi. Okay, yeah, we have Aldi at home. Not in Reindeer Falls, but there's a couple in Saginaw.
"I can't believe I slept with you. You're my boss. My hot Grinch, amazing-at-sex boss."
"Twice," he points out, after a short pause. "You slept with me twice. And you came four times."
Well. That was a humblebrag if I've ever heard one. True, but still. I wonder if he'll think about it in the office. During the Monday meetings when I'm on the hot seat being grilled about profit margins, will his mind flash to memories of me asking him to make me come? Begging him for more? Demanding it faster and harder and deeper.
Just kill me now.
Because even if he's not remembering it, I will be. And then I'll wonder if he's wondering if I'm remembering.
"Well, don't worry about it. The night is over and today it's like nothing ever happened. Okay?" I slice my hand through the air like that's some kind of clean slate. "We're good. I'm good. I'm cool. I'm a professional. I realize this can't happen again. We were temporarily insane. We'll never mention it again. What happens in Nuremberg stays in Nuremberg."
Nick shifts in his seat, his left hand moving to straighten his tie, trapped under the seat belt, before he speaks.
"Holly." He pauses and I think he's not going to say more but then he does and it's worse than anything else he's said. Probably in the history of my knowing him. "You should talk to human resources if I've made you uncomfortable." His tone is calm. Resigned even, as if I'm some kind of an issue to be dealt with.
"You mean your aunt, Nick? You want me to tell your aunt that I've seen your penis? Because that's who runs the human resource department. At your uncle's company. Where you're my boss. Or would you prefer I discuss this with the other employee in our personnel department? Which just happens to be"—I pause here for dramatic effect even though we both know exactly who I'm referring to—"your sister."
"Technically you report to Sam," he points out. As if this is the time or place.
"Technically that makes you my boss’s boss."
"Yeah, Holly, it does." He sounds peevish now. "Reindeer Falls isn't exactly a big city. Sorry we happen to work at the same place," he adds dryly.
Oh, my word. Did he just imply there's not enough women to choose from in Reindeer Falls? Am I a default lay? I may not be European sophisticated but I am a former Miss Candy Cane Princess, and that's a very big deal.
Also, yes. That sounded ridiculous even to me in my own head. I cross my arms across my chest. Peevish with Nick. Peevish with myself.
He could have just hooked up with an old naked friend in Nuremberg last night if he's so particular about his selection pool. Jackal.
The rest of the ride—and the day for that matter—doesn't go much better. We're both more irritable than two people who had that much great sex the night before have any right to be. Nick is back to his Scrooge-like self. He spends the rest of the ride leaving voicemails for people back in the States, where it's barely morning. Once we arrive at the meeting, I feel sort of useless because the Friedrich Trains account isn't one of mine so there's no point in my being at the meeting. Not really. I'm only along for the ride because I came to Germany for the Bavarian Bear meetings and it's not like Nick was going to leave me in the hotel to relax all day. A fact he confirms when we arrive at Friedrich Trains and he tells me I can take notes to pass along to