After All by Kristen Proby Page 0,15
just hate the idea of being the topic of office gossip.” She bites her lip. “I stay away from office drama.”
“That’s one of the many things I like about you.”
She chews that lip as she watches me for a long moment. Just when I think she’s going to tell me to go fuck myself, she says, “Okay, if we’re going to do this, there has to be rules.”
“Should we make another list?”
“Excellent idea.” She grabs a pad of scratch paper and pen from my desk for notes. “First, we have to act like nothing personal is happening between us when we’re here. No hanky-panky. No coming and going together.”
“There is so much innuendo in that statement, I don’t even know where to start.”
She raises a brow like I’m an insolent child and makes me laugh.
“Focus here, Carter.”
“Fine. No, how did you put it? Hanky-panky.”
She makes a note.
“No more giving me lists of women to date,” I say. “That’s an important rule.”
She chuckles and makes the note. “I can live with that. I didn’t love making that list. I thought I was being helpful. Okay, I guess we can start there and add to it if we think of other things.”
“I have another rule,” I add.
“Okay, shoot.”
She’s looking down at the paper, pen poised to jot down what I’m about to say.
God, she’s amazing.
“You have to wear those black shoes with the red bows on the heels at least once a week.”
Her gaze whips up to mine.
“You like those?”
“I like you in all your heels, but the red bows are an extraspecial touch.”
She smiles and tilts her head to the side, watching me.
“I’ll be happy to wear them. You know, I have a thing for the new navy slacks you bought not long ago.”
I arch a brow. “Is that so?”
“Oh yeah. They . . . fit nicely.”
“I’ll remember that.” We sit, smiling at each other. “Are we flirting with each other right now?”
“It seems we are, and that’s against rule number one.”
“Meh, we can bend the rules a bit. I like flirting with you.”
She sets the paper and pad aside.
“Dinner,” I continue. “Tomorrow night. I would say tonight, but I promised Gabby we’d go to the movies.”
“I can do that, but I can’t leave the office early again.”
“We’ll go from here.”
“Okay.” She nods. “But what about Gabby?”
“Tomorrow’s Friday. She’s staying with Maggie. She’s been spending extra time with her grandmother lately.”
“Okay, then. Is there anything else you need right now?”
Yes. I need to pull you against me and kiss you until you can’t breathe.
But that would be blurring rule number one too much, especially for the first day.
“I think that’s all.”
“Well, then, I’ll be expecting another bouquet of flowers the next time you need to see me in your office.”
She winks as she stands, lifts her flowers, and sashays out of my office, closing the door behind her.
And I begin counting the hours until I can get her alone.
“That was so good,” Gabby says as we walk out of the theater to my car.
“I’m glad you’re not too old for animated movies,” I say as I buckle my seat belt. “Because I like them, too.”
“The funny ones are great,” she says. “Also, we should get a dog.”
I stare at her in surprise. “How did we go from movies to dogs?”
“I’m just saying,” she says calmly, making me smile. My daughter is smart, way smarter than I sometimes give her credit for. And now that her behavior issues from last year seem to be resolved, she’s fun to be around again.
She’s the best.
“Gabs, you know we’re not home enough to have a dog. They need constant care. I wish we could make it work, but it just doesn’t seem fair.”
“I’m home way more than you are,” she reminds me. “And besides, it can stay with Grandma when we’re not home. I’m at Grandma’s a lot anyway.”
“We are not saddling your grandmother with a dog she doesn’t want.” My voice is firm, the one that says this is not up for discussion.
“Dad, I talked to Grandma about it, and she said she’d be up for it. A dog would be a great companion for her when she’s alone.”
I sigh and rub my hand over my mouth as I drive us home. “I’ll have to talk with her about it, Gabs.”
“Oh my gosh, does this mean you’ll think about it?”
“It means I’m going to talk to Maggie about it. Don’t get your hopes up because I do not think this is the best idea.”
“Okay.