Chapter 21
21
KYLIE
T he lobby is bustling with its normal morning chaos, but the noise barely registers with me. I clutch my coffee in my hand as I take heavy steps toward the elevator. I’m running on little sleep after lying awake, willing myself not to shed a tear over my boss.
I keep trying to tell myself that it’s just another day in the office. But as I ride up the elevator, I know that’s not true. It’s not just another day in the office. Because now I know what his lips feel like against mine. I know what it feels like to have our naked bodies touch. We know the taste of each other.
But I have to pretend like none of it ever happened. I have to see him in the boardroom, dressed in a sharp suit that makes his ass look phenomenal, and pretend like it doesn’t affect me.
When I get to my desk, I place my stuff down and go straight to the break room to make his coffee. I keep thinking when he sees me, he’s going to apologize and tell me he overreacted. I’m sure there’s some simple explanation as to why he had a moment of panic.
I walk into his office and place his coffee on his desk. “Your coffee.”
“Thank you,” he replies as he keeps typing away on his keyboard without looking at me.
I hesitate, waiting for some moment of acknowledgment of what he did the other day, but nothing. I walk away, feeling smaller and more insignificant than I have in a long time.
“Kylie,” he calls when I’m halfway to the door.
“Yes?” I answer with my heart in my throat.
“Make sure to confirm that Mr. Clover got those contracts.”
The air leaves my lungs. That’s all he has to say. No apology. No explanation for his abrupt decision to end what we had.
“Of course. I’ll confirm and let you know.”
As I get to work for the day, I try to figure out where it all went wrong. But more importantly, why do I care so much? There were never any expectations for this to be anything but a fling. Am I just butthurt that he ended it sooner than I would have liked?
Who am I kidding? He’s one of the most eligible bachelors in the city. He can have any woman he wants. He got a taste of me, but that wasn’t going to last long. I’m still a virgin. I can’t expect him to hang around.
But why did it feel like there was something bigger between us? Each touch felt explosive. Does it feel like that with everybody? There’s no way.
Morgan marches up to my desk. “There you are,” she says, as if I haven’t been here all morning.
“Here I am.” I smile at her.
We’ve had lunch a couple of times together in the last month, along with Paris and Joey. I like them. Although I’ve been a bit distracted lately.
“I’ve got some gossip for you,” she says a bit too loudly as she leans over my desk.
I can see Lincoln watching us from the corner of my eye.
“What’s that?” I whisper, hoping she’ll catch on that she’s talking a little loud for gossip.
“Someone in the office has a crush on you.”
I swear she says it even louder this time. I can’t even manage to look over at Lincoln. I’m too humiliated.
“Oh, I see.”
“That’s all you have to say? Don’t you want to know who?”
“Shh,” I say as I hold a finger over my lips. “People can hear.”
She waves her hand like that doesn’t faze her. “Anyway, we are all going out for drinks tonight. He’s going to be there, and I told him I’d get you to go. It’s Brendon from marketing. He’s really hot, and apparently, he has been asking around about you.”
“I don’t think I know who that is,” I tell her.
This time, I steal enough courage to look over at Lincoln, who is watching with dark, angry eyes. Ugh, I don’t have time to deal with his mood swings right now.
“Well, you’ll find out tonight. Six o’clock. We’re all going to Daintree, the rooftop bar in Midtown.”
“I don’t know if I can get off in time,” I tell her, thinking that’ll be a good enough excuse. I’m not ready to date someone right now.
She takes several steps until she’s at the barrier of Lincoln’s office. My heart drops into my stomach. What in the world is she doing?
“Mr. Monroe. Roy, Marissa, and Carson are letting us off work on time today so we can go to happy hour with some colleagues. You wouldn’t mind letting Kylie off work on time for once to come with us, would you?”
My head falls into my hands. She’s going to get my ass fired. I knew she was outgoing and had an I don’t give a fuck attitude, but this is too far. I can’t bear to look. She’s told me many times that she has such a good relationship with the VPs that she knows they wouldn’t let Lincoln fire her, but I’m not so sure.
“It doesn’t sound like you’re giving me much choice. I imagine if I say no, Marissa will be in my office within minutes,” his deep voice says with disdain.
She laughs. “You know her too well. Thanks, Mr. Monroe. It’s good to let your staff mingle. Good for morale.”
As she walks away, she winks at me like she didn’t just throw a grenade into my boss’s office, leaving me to deal with the destruction.
To say Lincoln is in a bad mood for the rest of the day is an understatement. He barks orders at me like he’s some kind of tyrant. I’ve never seen him behave this way, even when I first started. I’d be concerned about him if I didn’t also want to slap him.
Morgan sends me an email fifteen minutes before we’re supposed to leave, telling me to freshen up my makeup and unbutton some of my top buttons on my blouse. Despite my not having any desire to do this, it does feel nice that someone else has interest in me.
If my boss is going to drop me like an old designer bag, I should give another man a chance.
I grab my purse and run over to the restroom, realizing how badly I need to pee as well. I’ve held it since lunch, but I’ve been too distracted with Lincoln to notice. All locks are red, signaling that they are being used. I hop from one heel to the other as my bladder threatens to embarrass me.
“Shit,” I mutter to myself as I shuffle back to my desk and run into Lincoln’s office.
He looks up at me and stands quickly, like he’s about to go to war for me.
“I have to pee. So bad. All the other restrooms are being used.”
His shoulders relax. “Fine. Use mine.”
“Thank you,” I call out as I run to the door.
Once I’ve relieved myself, I feel slightly embarrassed that I had to run into his bathroom like a toddler caught holding it too long. I wonder what it means that he was instantly on alert when I ran in here. It’s like the bastard cares about me but can’t admit it to himself.
I guess that would have to mean that I care about him, which I don’t. I don’t care about him at all. Not at all.
That’s exactly why I’m going out tonight to meet this coworker and see if we hit it off.
I wash my hands and fix my hair before applying some thick eyeliner and red lipstick. Then I unbutton three buttons until a hint of my cleavage is popping out. I think Morgan will be satisfied with that.
When I walk out of the bathroom, Lincoln is sitting on the other side of his desk with his arms crossed over his chest.
His eyes go right to my chest and turn dark before they meet mine. “Have fun tonight, Kylie.”
I straighten my back and walk tall and proud out his door. “I will. I’m sure it will be exactly what I need.”
He releases a bitter laugh behind me, but I don’t pay it any attention. I walk out of the office and take the elevator down to the lobby, where Morgan is waiting.
She whistles when she sees me. “I knew you were hiding some serious assets under that blouse. Look at those things.”
“Are you coming on to me?” I giggle.
She links our arms together. “If I swung the other way, I’d definitely pick you.”
Nerves settle in my stomach as we walk to the bar. The closer we get, the more my urge to turn around and leave grows. Although I would love to have dinner with Benny, he has basketball practice tonight. That was a new development over the last week since his confidence had spiked. He decided to sign up for the basketball team at his new school.
We walk into the bar, and the mood instantly takes over. It’s dark and trendy with windows that offer a beautiful view of the city. Morgan finds two tables, where I spot Joey and Paris, who are surrounded by some other people around the office that I’ve seen but never talked to.
The waitress appears instantly, and Morgan orders us some cosmos.
Joey and Paris join us.
“Girl, look at you,” Joey says as his eyes drag down my body.
I smile awkwardly, not sure what to make of this new attention. “Hi, guys.”
Paris leans in and whispers, “I’m so jealous. Brendon is so hot.”
They laugh like we are all in on some kind of secret. I glance across the table, and a tall, handsome man with dirty-blond hair winks at me. I’m going to go out on a limb and say that it’s Brendon. Objectively, he is very good-looking. I’m flattered that he’s interested in me, but my body doesn’t react at all to his attention.
It’s nothing compared to the absolute inferno Lincoln creates from a simple look, let alone a graze of his lips against mine.
Crap. How am I going to get out of this? I was too busy living in my misery of being rejected by Lincoln to realize how stupid of an idea this was.
Brendon backs away from the other side of the table and walks around it while my mouth goes dry.
“Excuse me. Can I squeeze in here?” he asks Paris and Morgan while his eyes hold mine.
“Of course you can.” Morgan laughs.
“Hi.” He smiles down at me with bright white teeth and dimples. “I’m Brendon.”
He lifts his hand to shake mine. I place mine in his, and the contact does nothing. No spark. No tingles.
“Hi, Brendon. I’m Kylie.”
“I know who you are. I’ve seen you around the office.”
He leans forward, and I get a whiff of his cologne. I don’t like it. It’s too strong—and it’s not Lincoln’s.
For the next half hour, my eyes remain on the door as I try to think of a good excuse on how to get out of this evening. Brendon is pretty handsy and keeps whispering in my ear.
I wonder if I can tell everyone I’m going to take off after this round. That sounds nice and casual. I’ve heard that line in movies before. It seems to go over well. No one questions it. Okay, just a couple more sips, and I can leave.
When my eyes move to the door, my heart skips a beat. Lincoln is standing there with his hands in his pockets, eyes on me and then Brendon. He looks like he wants to murder someone right now.