Her Unexpected Admirer Page 0,33
to apply it now better than she ever had. Perhaps there was something about being in her father’s office, surrounded by others that were much more proficient at accounting, that made her too nervous to actually do a good job. But that implied that she might actually be good at accounting, or that she might like accounting. And that definitely wasn’t the case. In fact, her hands were itching to grab a paintbrush or find some sort of item to be recycled onto her canvas and painted around.
Kate worked hard throughout the rest of the afternoon and into the early evening. When she realized it was almost six-thirty in the evening, she stopped and forced herself to put away her work. Picking up the phone, she dialed Tom’s extension. She felt a little bit guilty when she heard the enthusiasm and excitement in his voice when she told him she was ready to go.
It occurred to her that Davis might have plans for them tonight, but he hadn’t contacted her and she wasn’t going to check in with him either. Last night’s dinner had been too tense and awkward. She kept thinking back to his words in the elevator. “Do it,” he’d told her. She hadn’t. But what if she had?
Tom’s voice broke through her thoughts about last night’s elevator ride and she shook her head, trying to focus on the present.
“Okay. That’s great. I’ll be down to get you in just a moment.” Kate heard something fall to the floor through the phone lines but she wasn’t exactly sure what it might be. She could picture Tom tripping over his chair or his desk but she certainly hoped that it wasn’t him that had fallen.
She hung up the phone and grabbed her purse, leaving her coat because it was much warmer here in Denver than it was in Boston. The fall hadn’t quite hit the Midwest yet.
She was standing outside of her doorway when Tom hurried down the hall towards her, a grin on his handsome face.
“You didn’t have to rush to come down here. I’m not in any hurry.” And then it occurred to her. “Is everyone else at the bar?
Thomas was quick to reassure her. “No no. I don’t know who might be there but even if they are there already, we don’t need to rush. Like I said earlier, this is very casual.”
Kate smiled at him, feeling better knowing that she hadn’t kept people waiting. “Okay then, let’s go.” It occurred to her that perhaps she shouldn’t be socializing with other team members. One of them could be the person she was investigating. But she didn’t feel like sitting alone in a hotel room tonight and she was too afraid of searching out Davis for company either. He’d been on her mind all day today and she couldn’t seem to banish him.
They walked out of the building and across the street again, the warm atmosphere of the bar wrapping around her like a welcoming sweater. She already knew where the rest of the group would be tonight and the familiarity was comforting. In the same corner of the bar, Tom found two of the other staff members who already had drinks in front of them. They both greeted Tom and Kate with enthusiasm, raising their glasses in the air in greeting. They weren’t the same people from the previous night, but they were both friendly and welcoming.
“Here you go,” Tom said as he put a glass of white wine in front of her, then took a long swig of his beer. “Oh, goodness, I didn’t introduce you to anyone. This is Dave,” he gestured to the man on Kate’s right, “and this is Greg,” waving his hand to the other man at the table. “We all work in the accounting department, although Greg is trying to get his degree in engineering.”
Kate thought that was fascinating and their conversation moved into a discussion on accounting procedures and accounting classes versus the math required for an engineering degree. Kate had to admire Greg for his perseverance because engineering was a difficult subject to study.
After about an hour, the three men seemed to be having their own conversation, one in which she couldn’t participate. And Kate was getting tired, she’d been up since early this morning trying to figure out what she was doing in relation to Davis, trying to figure out what he might want from her or how to avoid him, because she wanted a whole lot