deal.
“What was that about?” Bruce asked, lifting an eyebrow.
“No idea,” I said, nonchalantly. Easton wasn’t in the habit of asking others to come to his office, so I had to quickly think of a reasonable explanation. “He probably has a message for me from Charlotte.”
Deanna snapped her fingers. “That’s right. You’re best friends with his sister.”
“Yep.”
“Why didn’t I know that?” Bruce asked.
I shrugged. “It never came up.”
“No wonder you’re the teacher’s pet.”
I frowned. “I am not, and he’s not a teacher. That’s silly.”
“Figure of speech,” he said. “And it explains a lot. I was starting to think he had a crush on you.”
“What?” My heart stopped, and it felt as if I was on the brink of having a second heart attack. Easton and I rarely talked in the office, so I had no idea where he’d come up with that idea.
“He kind of looks at you like…” He trailed off.
“Like what?” Deanna asked.
He shrugged. “I think I misunderstood now that I know she’s a friend of his sister.”
I looked away from them and started typing on my computer in an attempt to send a message. The conversation was over, and I had things to do. I cleared my throat. “I need to get back to work, guys. Can we talk about this another time?”
Deanna laughed. “Yeah, yeah. Don’t worry, we’ll return to this later. You have my word.”
Just what I needed. I should have phrased it differently.
“Aren’t you supposed to go talk to the boss,” Bruce asked.
If I left now, they’d insist on finding out what we talked about, and I didn’t feel like dealing with that today. It would be better to wait until after six when most people had already gone home. “He said to stop by when I have the chance. I’m a little busy, so it can wait.”
Deanna and Bruce stared at me, eyes wide as if they couldn’t believe I wasn’t jumping to go talk to Easton. To their credit, he was the boss, and in any other situation, I would have responded instantly.
“Okay…” Deanna chuckled. “Now I’m really curious.”
***
I didn’t go to Easton’s office for fear of having to answer to Deanna and Bruce, which was stupid and ridiculous, but I wanted to be extra careful. Sure, I could have told them it was none of their business, but that would have perked their interest even more. When six-thirty rolled around, I got a call from Easton, and, thankfully, Bruce had already gone home. I picked up the phone at my desk. “Hey.”
“You never came to see me.”
I lowered my voice. “I know. Can we talk about that later? I’m starving.”
“Of course. Meet me at the elevator. I’m leaving now.”
“Okay.”
I hung up and then grabbed my purse and headed down the hall. There were a few people still working in their offices, but they were occupied and didn’t pay much attention to me. When I reached the elevator, Easton was waiting for me, and he caught my eye. My heart fluttered, and I quickly glanced away.
“You made it,” he said. “I was starting to wonder if you were avoiding me.”
The elevator doors opened, and we both walked inside. I hit the ground floor button and waited until the doors closed before speaking. “I’m not avoiding you. Just busy. What kind of food are you in the mood for today?”
“Anything. What do you want?”
“Well, we’ve already had Mexican, Thai, and Greek. Chinese sounds good.”
“Chinese it is.”
I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye. “You’ve been very accommodating lately. Is everything okay?”
He belted out a laugh just as the elevator doors opened and we both stepped out. A couple of people were talking near the entrance of the building, and they waved when they saw Easton. He waved back, and we walked out of the double doors, stopping before we got to the parking lot. “I know it may not seem like it, but I can be quite accommodating when it’s in my best interest.”
I wasn’t sure how to take that, and I couldn’t tell if he was being serious or pulling my leg. “I think we should drive separately.” Figuring he’d connect the dots on his own, I didn’t give an explanation.
“All right. That’s fine. We can eat at my house. I’ll have the food delivered.”
“Sounds good.”
Forty-five minutes later, I was sitting on the floor of his living room with my legs crossed in front of me and a napkin on my lap. It was a good thing I’d worn comfortable