Chapter 2

I didn’t see her do it, but I knew Heather was rolling her eyes. It was the way she sighed that clued me in. “I don’t even know why I talk to you. Don’t you keep up with office gossip?”

“I suppose I would, if anyone other than you and my boss spoke to me, unless forced to, or to make fun of something I did.”

“Please, you should be used to that by now. You’re the only non-Millennial in this department, except for me, and you have six years on me, even. You need to grow thicker skin, I keep telling you.” She huffed and went back to typing on her keyboard.

Whatever Heather said, thicker skin wouldn’t change the way things were. Jaiden Greyson, sumptuous specimen that he was and clearly out of my league, would learn all about “awkward Al” and run screaming in the other direction, like everyone else did.

Story of my life.

* * * *

“The Finance department needs assistance for a few weeks with a time-sensitive project, and I volunteered you for the task, Alister,” Mr. Watkins said to me a few days later as I tried and failed not to stare at the new assistant CFO standing next to the boss’s desk.

Did he have to look so good all the time? His hair was neat, as always, but I wondered what it would look like mussed after a sweaty night of sex. He was the same height as me, at six-foot-two, though a bit broader. What would it feel like having him in my arms, breathing in his scent, licking his skin all over…?

“You will be reporting directly to Jaiden, starting this afternoon,” Watkins continued as I caught my temporary supervisor’s eye and quickly looked away, willing myself not to blush. I really needed to get a hold of myself. “You’ll still work at your desk, but you may be required to work longer hours during this period.”

Watkins stood and walked to the door, opening it as he said, “I’ll leave you two to hash out the details.” As soon as we left the office, the door slammed behind us.

“Bit of a character, isn’t he?” Jaiden asked.

I was so stunned he spoke to me, I tripped over something invisible on the carpet and fell flat on my face.

“Are you all right?” Jaiden asked as he helped me to my feet. Naturally, this had happened in front of the entire HR department, and I didn’t hear the snickers, but I knew they were there, somewhere.

“I’m fine, thanks,” I said on a sigh as I led the way to my desk. When we got there, Heather chose that opportunity to introduce herself.

“Heather Antwerp, Senior Associate,” she practically purred, slowly releasing his hand. “I’ve heard wonderful things about you, Jaiden.” She flipped her long brown hair over a shoulder, arched her back, and gave him a smoldering glance from clear gray eyes. I wanted to punch her.

“We should do lunch sometime so I can tell you all about the little quirks in this company and get to know each other better.”

I’d seen Heather work her magic on other male coworkers. It hadn’t bothered me until today.

She glanced at me. “I hear you’ll be working with our Alister.” She winked. “Lookout, he can be a bit of a klutz, but he means well.”

Way to make me look good, Heather.

Jaiden smiled, though it seemed forced. “I’m a bit busy right now, getting to know the company and coming up to speed on projects. I’ll take a raincheck on that lunch, okay?” Then he turned his back on her. “Why don’t we go to my office and I’ll show you what I need help with?”

I saw Heather’s glower over Jaiden’s shoulder, but made no comment. I simply nodded and followed him to the elevator, then up two floors to the Finance department.

The layout was similar to that of HR, and I recognized a few of the staff, though they were all buried in spreadsheets and such, from what I could tell as I passed. Once we reached Jaiden’s office, he indicated a chair and I sat as he got comfortable behind his desk.

He immediately launched into the specifics of the project, and I did my best to follow what he was saying, instead of wondering how firm and full his lips might be when kissed, the resonance of this voice, the smell of his cologne, the way his long, thick fingers seemed to caress the monitor like a lover…

“Alister?”

I blinked and looked at Jaiden, noting the frown on his face. “Sorry?”

“Did you hear what I said?”

Er, no. “Sure. I’ll get access to the files from IT and get to work right away.”

Jaiden seemed exasperated. “Not that part. I asked you to have lunch with me so we could go over a few documents.”

“Oh.” I was blushing, I just knew it. Why a thirty-seven-year-old man still turned burgundy at the drop of a hat was beyond me. “My apologies. Sure, that’s fine. What time?”

Jaiden shook his head. “One o’clock. Sorry it isn’t earlier, but I have a meeting at twelve with the CFO.” He stared at me for a few seconds. “Are you always like this? Head in the clouds?”

No one had ever really described it that way. They usually saw the clumsy and the awkward and zeroed in on that. “Sometimes. I’ll try to keep that to a minimum, sir.” But it wouldn’t stop my dreams at night, though.