Chapter 4
Chapter Four
G retchen stared into Theo’s coffee-brown eyes, trying to repress a shiver. And not one of fear, which had been her standard form of trembling lately.
Nope. This shiver was based on…
Shit.
Attraction.
She hastily pulled her hand from his, aware she’d let that handshake linger longer than was normal.
She also broke eye contact, glancing anywhere except his handsome face.
She feigned interest in his office, wondering how she could save this first impression.
There was no way Theo wasn’t regretting his decision to hire her, because could she be any more socially awkward?
Pull it together, Gretchen.
Taking a long, quiet breath, she slowly turned to face him again. It had been too long since she’d met new people, Briggs keeping her social circle very small and contained to people who were his friends, not hers.
At one point, she’d thought she had a girlfriend, Destiny, whose boyfriend, Darryl, was Briggs’s partner. The four of them did a lot of couple things, and while she and Destiny never spoke away from the men, she’d enjoyed her company, delighted to have a real friend.
Unfortunately, she’d found out the hard way that Destiny wasn’t as good a friend as she’d believed.
For the past few years, Gretchen had been relegated to the corners of rooms, watching others interact rather than seeking to join in. When out in public, she’d learned the best way to keep from angering Briggs was to simply look down and never establish eye contact.
She’d earned too many beatings from a jealous Briggs whenever he thought she was paying attention to another man.
He also didn’t like it when she laughed at someone else’s jokes or paid someone a compliment.
Fear of setting him off was why she’d waited in longer lines at stores, just to get a female clerk, and why she let him do all the talking whenever she found herself drawn into a conversation with his fellow cops and friends.
Briggs explained away her silence as if she was a weirdo, claiming she was socially awkward—the description his way of humiliating her in front of his friends. The truth was, when she was younger, she’d been quite the chatterbox, always getting in trouble at school for talking too much.
But the days of appeasing Briggs were over, so she needed to learn how to interact with people—well, mainly men—again.
She hadn’t struggled as much with Manny, because five minutes in his presence and she’d known he was as harmless as a puppy.
A big, goofy puppy. And it was virtually impossible to be uneasy around Edith, since the elderly woman did all the work, carrying the conversation.
As a single, attractive man, Theo was her first true test—and she was blowing it.
Lifting her eyes to his face, she sucked in another breath.
She’d seen Theo during her interview, of course, but she hadn’t really looked at him, too nervous to speak to a man, thanks to Briggs.
So instead, she’d spent most of the video chat looking at the square that contained Nora Storm’s face.
It was easier to talk to Nora because she was a woman and seemed closer to Gretchen’s age.
As such, she’d avoided looking at Theo the entire time. Something she could see now was a mistake, because she was wholly unprepared for how attractive he was.
He was exactly the kind of man she’d learned to give a wide berth while with Briggs.
Now, however, she not only could look, she should look. Establishing eye contact was the polite thing to do when in normal social situations.
Her heart started to race when she realized how tall Theo was. She’d been a tiny bit taller than Briggs, so she had taken to living in flats and slouching whenever they were standing next to each other. Even now, she resisted the urge to do the same, though Theo had at least four inches on her.
He wore his light brown hair longer, combing it back off his forehead, and while it was fairly straight, it curled slightly at the ends. He also sported a well-trimmed beard that framed his strong jawline perfectly.
However, it wasn’t even his handsome appearance that she found most attractive. It was the crinkled laugh lines by his eyes and the smile that hadn’t faltered once since she’d introduced herself.
Gretchen distrusted her instincts when it came to people because too many had let her down in the past. But when she looked at Theo, she saw a friendly, happy guy, and despite that little voice in the back of her head warning her to be careful, she couldn’t help being drawn to him.
She’d been painfully low on happiness in her life, and she was desperate to experience it.
Even if it was vicariously through Theo Storm and Edith Millholland.
After hiding out in her room the rest of yesterday, Gretchen was surprised when Edith managed to draw her downstairs bright and early today. The two of them had spent the better part of the morning in Edith’s kitchen, cooking a ridiculously large breakfast before eating together.
The older woman had succeeded in learning more than Gretchen had intended to share. Edith discovered that in addition to lasagna being Gretchen’s favorite food, her birthday cake every year—until she went into foster care—was chocolate.
Fortunately, Gretchen had managed to hold back the foster care tidbit, but only barely.
Edith was a master at conversation, sharing entertaining anecdotes about herself, then slipping in an unexpected question at the right moment, so Gretchen responded without even thinking about it. The CIA should hire the woman to interrogate spies.
Edith’s eyes kept drifting to her neck, despite Gretchen’s attempt to hide the bruises. Her wardrobe wasn’t large by any means, because she had traveled with just the essentials. As such, she only had two turtlenecks, and she’d already worn both in front of Edith.
So this morning, she’d gone the heavy concealer route, then put on a blouse.
The collar wasn’t as effective at hiding her injuries, and Edith’s eagle eyes had slid to her throat several times.
Mercifully, Edith didn’t ask about them.
Because while Gretchen had become a skilled liar when it came to her bruises, she didn’t want to be dishonest with Edith, who’d been nothing but kind and welcoming.
If Gracemont was truly going to be Gretchen’s fresh start, she wanted to live the life she’d imagined the past few years but had never managed to achieve.
This Gretchen was going to be honest, brave, self-confident, and not, as Briggs put it, socially awkward.
Unfortunately, she was none of those things now, and Gretchen wondered what the hell she was doing here in Theo’s office.
She hadn’t had a chance to mentally prepare to meet her new boss.
She’d only intended to see how long it took to walk from Edith’s to the brewery, so she could make sure to be on time on Monday.
Time to cut and run.
“I’m looking forward to working with you too, Mr. Storm.”
“Theo,” he interjected. “My dad is Mr. Storm, although twenty bucks says he’ll insist you call him Rex.”
“Right. Theo,” she said softly. “Well, I’ll go and get out of your ha?—”
“How about a tour of the place?” Theo interjected, before she could get the hell out of Dodge.
“Oh, no. I couldn’t pull you away from?—”
“I already decided to quit work early today. One of the perks of being the boss,” he said, wiggling his eyebrows. “I was thinking about heading to the brewery for a beer. Why don’t you join me?”
Crap. Hadn’t she told him she was excited to see the place? She’d been forced to come up with a reason for being here when Billy found her outside, leaning against the building in search of shade for a few moments before starting her journey back down the mountain.
“Um…okay,” she said, unable to come up with a reason why she couldn’t.
Theo’s smile returned, brighter than before, like her joining him was the greatest thing on earth.
“Come on. Let me give you a quick peek of your office, and then we’ll detour through the main floor of the brewhouse to meet Jace and Sam.”
The event coordinator position was the first job offer she’d gotten after sending out countless applications, so she’d readily accepted it without thinking about the fact she would be working in a building surrounded primarily by men. God help her if they were all as hot as Theo.
Gretchen followed Theo to the office right next to his, gasping when he threw open the door and gestured inside.
“This is mine?”
Theo nodded. “We cleared out an old storage closet to renovate it into a nice working space. My cousin Mila decorated it.”
The office was at least double the size of her previous one, and it had a large window with an amazing view from the side of the mountain. She could see for miles, down into the valley, and it was as breathtaking as Edith had described.
“Not a bad view, huh?” Theo joined her at the window.
“It’s beautiful.”
Theo gave her another one of those smiles that said her answer pleased him.
Then he turned back toward the room. “This will be your desk, and the computer is already set up and ready to go. My brother Everett is our IT guy, and he’ll be here on Monday to explain our network, scheduling programs, and to answer any questions you have.
I’ve loaded the desk drawers with basic office supplies.
” He slid one drawer open to reveal boxes of pens, new packs of Post-its, a stapler, and a variety of other things.
“If there’s anything you need that’s not here, let me know and I’ll order it for you. ”
She shook her head. “You don’t have to do that. I’m sure I can make do with what’s there.”
Theo pierced her with a look. “I don’t want you to ‘make do.’ If you need something that will make your job easier, you let me know and I’ll get it. Okay?”