To My Arrogant Boss (The Inappropriate Bachelors #2) - J. S. Cooper Page 0,6
he stood tall and he had the lean muscular build of someone who swam a lot. He was normally clean-shaven, but today there was a faint shadow of a beard on his face, and it somehow made him look more masculine and sexy.
“Oh, well,” I said at the same time as Birdy spilled the beans. “We’re going out dancing tonight.” She giggled innocently. “To a classy joint.”
I looked over at Birdy and tried not to roll my eyes. I was often confused when I had a conversation with her. She seemed so ditzy and slow at times that it was hard to believe that she was in sales—and that she was killer at her job. I still wasn’t sure if this was an act she put on or if this was her normal personality.
“Dancing?” He raised an eyebrow. “Wow, four hot women on the prowl, huh?”
“Four?” Magnolia shook her head. “You mean five.”
“Five.” He looked at her thoughtfully. “I thought you were taking a pottery class tonight with Jagger.”
“Just canceled.” She grinned. “Can’t miss a hang out with my girls.”
“Hmm.” He looked back at me. “You’re going as well, Jane?”
“Yes.”
“I guess you do like dancing.” He smirked, and I looked away without answering him, my cheeks getting warm. I knew that he was never going to let me forget the hot mess that had been my first day. I thought about it often enough even without his subtle references. “Maybe I’ll come as well.”
“You can’t come!” I snapped. Then, remembering that he was my boss, I tried for a polite smile. “It’s a girls’ night.”
“So Jagger’s not going?” He raised an eyebrow and looked over at Magnolia. I bit down on my lower lip hoping that Magnolia didn’t invite Jagger. I was happy that Magnolia had found love, but it did kinda suck that her fiancé was friends with our boss.
“Well, he hasn’t responded …” Magnolia sounded uncertain. I could feel her eyes on me, but I didn’t want to give her a signal in case Tate saw me shaking my head or something. “But I think if he does join, it won’t be until the club. We’re going to go to dinner first, just us girls.”
“I suppose Jagger and I can go to dinner ourselves as well.” He grinned. “In fact, that sounds like a great idea. Let me go and give him a call now.” Without further ado, he left the room.
“Sorry.” Magnolia shrugged helplessly. “I wasn’t sure what to say to him.”
“No worries.” I shook my head. “It could have been worse.”
“So you’re going to tell us your story at dinner, then?” Millie’s blue eyes were bright and eager. “I need to hear this story.”
“Fine. I’ll tell you guys at dinner,” I said with a laugh. “But we should get to work before Tate comes back and has our heads.” I grabbed my coffee cup, gave the other girls a wave, and headed to my desk.
As I passed Tate’s office, I looked inside and I saw him sitting at his desk playing with his watch. I nodded a greeting at him and he winked in response. I turned sharply and hurried to my desk.
The other girls followed behind me and we all sat down at our desks. I pulled up my email but I couldn’t concentrate. Had Tate had seen my note in his gym bag? If he had read it, did he have any clue it was from me? I looked back towards his office. His gym bag was sitting in its normal spot outside of his door. I could easily go over there and check to see if the note was gone. But then there was a chance he would catch me going through his bag, and that would be even worse. Then he would either know it was me or he would think I was a thief, and neither of those were acceptable outcomes.
I sat back in my chair and tapped my fingers on my desk. I knew I was going to find it very hard to work if I kept wondering about the note. I had to think of a way to find out if he’d seen it. I looked around the office and stood up casually. Magnolia glanced up at me.
I just smiled at her. “Going to get something in the kitchen,” I said, avoiding her eyes. “I'm going to see if there are any bagels or doughnuts or something.”