Kiss A Ginger Day: A steamy workplace romantic comedy

Chapter 20

Suzy cocked her head, pursed her lips. “Theodore. You know I love you as much as my late Callum, but … Alice?”

“Evoking your Westie, God rest his beautiful, stubborn soul? Whatever is on your mind about Alice and me must be serious.” Theodore sighed and sat down. “What about her?” As if he didn’t know.

Theodore should have seen it coming. He’d gotten too caught up in Alice. But who could blame him?

Like any man, Theodore spent a lot of time thinking about sex. He’d had his fair share—some rough and fast, other times long and slow. But none of his lovers had ever been so all in like Alice. She was fearless once she made up her mind about something—like getting nailed in a supply closet—and it had him pitch caution in the dust bin.

Now, as penance, he’d endure yet another ten-minute lecture from Suzy about his love life. Then he”d find Alice. She was obviously hurt, given how she shuffled out; her beautiful hazel eyes were stunned at learning about her wanker boss. He knew that one was coming, too. But what could he do? He was sworn to secrecy.

Suzy studied him. “Are you playing her?”

“Excuse me?” He loved women and let nature take its course there, but playing someone wasn’t in his repertoire. Surely, Suzy knew that after all those years.

She crossed her arms. “I see how she looks at you. It’s …”

“What?”

“Familiar. Women fall in love with you, and then …” She cocked her head a little to the right.

“Why don’t you just spell it out.” They’d known each other for years, so speaking plainly wasn’t out of the question.

“You move on, and she’s left here.” Suzy stepped forward. “She doesn’t need the reputation of being the woman who screwed the hot consultant. Oh, yes, I know all about your work breaks with her.”

He knew right then he’d made more than a mistake. The two of them having a little fun during the day wasn’t his biggest one. Because so, what, truly? Suzy and Samuel weren’t prudes. Far from it.

“The only women I meet are through work. And I didn’t realize dating someone I worked with was against policy.”

“It’s not,” she said carefully. “Alice is smart, Theo. Don’t hurt her.”

Pricks broke out across his skin. “You know me better than that. I care about her. A lot.”

He’d been thinking a lot about Alice and what she meant to him. How she was different from all the other women he’d been interested in over the years. Even Beatrice.

Suzy arched an eyebrow. “You care?”

“Okay, more than. But with me in a different place every six months, it’s not exactly conducive to a steady thing.”

“Conducive.”

Irritation bubbled up inside him like a volcano. He was getting tired of her repeating his words. “Yes. Convenient. Propitious. Possible. Pick a word.”

“Anything is possible.” Her voice was irritatingly calm.

Of course, he knew anything was. But not everything. Having it all wasn’t in the cards for anyone. For some reason, he’d thrown that bit of wisdom into the wind when he’d met Alice. She was as ambitious as he was, and honestly, he believed maybe their significant pull to each other would make something work.

But the closer they came to solving the unraveling puzzle of Edison Tech’s failure, the closer he came to a trip to the next gig. But doing the long-distance thing? Who was he kidding? He’d tried that with Beatrice and look how that turned out.

“You know there’s such a thing as a traveling CFO,” Suzy said.

“Oh? You’re offering her that? I thought with Roger and his hiding things…” He stopped. He wouldn’t be the one to plant a negative idea of Alice in her head. He was, however, a little flummoxed she hadn’t caught on to Roger sooner. Her blindness to his moves didn’t make sense.

“Roger was clever. He kept her busy as hell in this office. Giving her the office manager and accounting roles in absence of an actual CFO.”

“He’s a prick and never deserved her.”

Suzy’s brow furrowed. “What? Tell me she wasn’t ….”

Shit, that cat leaped from the bag. Suzy didn’t know Alice was one of his attempted dalliances.

Suzy shook her head. “My God. Alice with Roger?” She gave off a soft laugh. “I’d have never believed it.”

“It’s not what you think. Alice was never receptive to Roger’s advances.” He scrubbed his hair. It didn’t remove the image in his head about Roger being near Alice, trying to touch her.

“I see. Well, if she’s into you as much as you’re clearly into her? Her taste has improved.”

Suzy always did know how to slap on the healing salve in the nick of time. “Her taste maybe, but that doesn’t mean she’ll put up with my schedule.”

“Hmm, you may be right. Want to stay here?”

Staying at Edison? He couldn’t even imagine what he’d do all day. His skill set required things to be “off.” Once they were righted, he moved on.

He shook his head. “Not quitting. Unless you’re firing me.” He worked damned hard to get where he was. Plus, he rather enjoyed bringing justice to the workplace.

“Wouldn’t dream of it. But if you are serious about her, then …” She shrugged and got that look in her eye that told him she had an idea in mind. Whatever it was, he couldn’t imagine.

The problem was his imagination wasn’t any help, either. They’d committed to exploring each other. See where it led. He never imagined they’d fit so well together or that it’d get so serious so fast. Chemistry, in his experience, generally fizzled out after a month or two. But with Alice, the scent of her, her laughter, and her smart mouth only enflamed his interest like gasoline on a fire.

Dwrn uffern. He more than cared for her. He couldn’t get enough of her. And it wasn’t because of her spectacular physical assets—she hadn’t been wrong about the perfection of her breasts.

It was more the way her face lit up at seeing him, the way she rolled her eyes when he brought up a day to celebrate. It did something inside his chest. He tried to not dwell on it because Suzy had one thing right. He always left town. His job demanded it—the only job that ever fit him.