I squirmed in my seat. We had only been on one date. It wasn’t as if we were exclusive. But I felt a twinge of guilt about coffee with Hot Ian.
“My moment is kind of an exclusive event,” I replied.
Emmett smiled, reached into a drawer and pulled out a box of my granola clusters. “I flirted with your assistant and snagged some granola,” he said.
“You flirted with Mae?” I laughed. “You probably made her week. I’ll bet you ten dollars she’s calling all of the blue hairs in her bridge club to brag it up.”
“Hmmm. Yes. It was all fun and innocent until she offered to trade me your granola clusters for a make-out session.”
I gaped at him. “Shut up. You lie.”
He smiled and shrugged. “Okay, maybe make-out session isn’t the word. More like a peck on the cheek. But she did warn me that you are her bestie and if I beefed with you, she’d get all up in my grill. I have no idea what any of that means, but she was scary.”
“Tell me about it. Mae makes me feel old and she’s got nearly 40 years on me. I can’t understand half of the stuff coming out of her mouth!” I laughed and reached forward for the granola.
Emmett lifted it out of my reach. “Uh-unh!” he shook his head. “You can’t have any unless you spend your moment with me.”
I scowled and sank back into the chair. “Fine. But I can’t have granola without coffee.”
“Of course.” Emmett turned to his phone and dialed out to his receptionist. “Penny, would you please bring coffee for two? Thank you.”
The door swung open almost immediately and Penny wheeled a coffee cart in, her protruding belly bouncing against the edge. “I brought in a pot of decaf as well, Ms. Jennings, just in case you were at your caffeine peak after coffee this morning.”
I blushed and cut my eyes to Emmett, who had tilted his head curiously. “Thank you, Penny. That was thoughtful.”
She beamed down at me and rested her hands on her stomach. “You’ll have to tell me all about it!” she exclaimed. “Half the women in the building have flirted shamelessly with Hot Ian, hoping he’d ask them out.”
I could feel my cheeks burning. “It really wasn’t a big deal,” I replied. Her smile began to droop. “But I’ll make sure to stop by on my way out and fill you in on all the deets,” I finished. The smile returned in full bloom and she half-waddled, half-danced out the door.
I sighed and turned to face Emmett, surprised to find him staring at his computer monitor and clicking away at his keyboard. He finished his typing and pushed back from his desk before standing. He didn’t look upset. He looked… pleasant. He crossed to the cart and poured a cup of coffee. He set that cup on his desk and met my gaze. “Regular or decaf?” he asked.
“Regular,” I croaked. “Thank you.”
Emmett smiled and took both of our cups and the granola to the large seating area. He set the coffee down and sat on the loveseat, smiling politely at me. “Anna, are you going to join me or would you rather stand for your moment?” he asked.
I cleared my throat and walked over to sit next to him. We sipped at our coffee for a moment, saying nothing. After a few awkward beats, I reached for the box of granola clusters, broke it open and sat it on the couch between us. Again, we sipped at our coffee, munched on granola clusters and still, said nothing. After ten minutes, my nerves were shot. I snapped down my coffee cup and turned to Emmett. “Why aren’t you talking?”
Emmett smiled politely and took a sip of his coffee before responding. “I was told your moment is a quiet time. I’m merely respecting your routine.”
I didn’t know what to say to that. It was weird sitting there, pretending like I didn’t have anything to hide. But really, did I have anything to hide? I just went out for a nice coffee with a friend. An incredibly attractive friend, yes, but a friend who made me contemplate pouring my piping hot coffee into my lap just to end the date early. A friend who let his hand linger on my lower back a little longer than necessary. Add in that it felt kinda tingly … But tons of guys make me feel tingly. Emmett does more than make me feel tingly. Ugh. Yep. I felt bad. I figured the best route to take would be to casually slip it into our normal conversation. Because, you know, I’m super good about being casual and subtle.
“I actually had planned on skipping my moment today,” I began, chewing my bottom lip. “I went to coffee with Ian, so I’m already a bit behind schedule.” There. I said it. It was out there. I held my breath and attempted to read his expression, which disappointingly was quite neutral.
“Ian drinks coffee? Interesting. I figured he only drank raw, organic eggs and kale smoothies,” mused Emmett.
Really? All that worrying and that’s the point he focused on? Shouldn’t he have been jealous? He didn’t know it wasn’t a date. For all he knew, I could have sipped my latte out of Ian’s belly button. (Ooo… Save that idea for later!)
“Yes, he drinks coffee,” I replied. “Or at least he did today … Maybe he has a cheat day.”
Emmett raised an eyebrow. “I suppose we all have our vices. Well, I hate to cut this short, but I have a conference call in five minutes.”
I tried to hide any disappointment I felt. “No problem. Thank you for the coffee.” I stood and bent to give him a quick peck on the cheek.
“Have a good day, Anna,” Emmett murmured before standing and crossing to his desk without giving me a second glance.
I made my way to the elevator, trying not to dwell on Emmett’s strange behavior. When I reached my floor, I found Eric Blake lounging at my desk, looking crisp and cool in a navy suit, white button-up and an orange and navy polka dot tie, eating a box of granola clusters.
I took a moment to appreciate Blake’s colorful tie and that I was no longer surrounded by fifty shades of lame before I realized what he was eating.
“Hey! Those are my granola clusters! Give them back!”
Eric merely poured the rest in his mouth and crunched away. “So,” he mumbled, still chewing. “How was coffee with Hot Ian?”
I sighed and walked around my desk to sit. I thought about complaining about my granola again, but my steam had run out.
“Ugh!” I huffed. “Honestly, I have no idea why God would create such a beautiful person and forget to insert a brain! The man is ridiculous. Get this – He named his biceps Zeus and Thor.”
Blake didn’t look surprised at all as he closed his eyes and shook his head slowly. “So this coffee date … Was it a date-date, or just coffee?”
“Just coffee,” I stated firmly. “I tried to leave it casually with Ian. I don’t want to lead him on. I may have had a momentary lapse of reason when I accepted the coffee. For a moment I almost thought he might be okay if he just didn’t talk much. I was wrong. And to top it all off, I felt so guilty about going that I ended up telling Emmett about it, which makes it look like a bigger deal than it was.”
“And Vance is just fine with that?”
“Well … yes,” I replied, then frowned. “He seemed totally fine with it. Too fine. God, what does that say about me? I’m either not worth it or I totally misread his interest.”
Eric leaned forward and caught my gaze. “First off,” he began, “you are worth it. Second, he probably hates it that you went to coffee with “Hot” Ian. Vance is an egotistical prick. You bruised his ego by asking another man out for coffee. Personally, I’d just kill Ian. Vance is different. He’s playing it cool and pretending not to care.”
I closed my eyes and thought about it for a second before replying. “You could be right. Or he could seriously not care.”
“Well, then he’s a dumbass.”
I opened my eyes and met his gaze. “Since when do you dislike Emmett?” I asked. “I thought you two were buds.”
“Part of being someone’s friend is knowing their quirks and their faults,” Blake said. “Because I know Emmett well, I know his dating habits and history. I don’t want you to get hurt.”
He paused and regarded me with warm eyes. After a
moment, he stood and smiled as he bent over and gave my hair a light tug. “Who would’ve thought - Little Anna Jennings spending the night with the CFO and turning around the next morning to ask Hot Ian out for coffee. Wow.” He turned and walked over to my filing cabinet.
“First off, I didn’t mean to ask Ian out for coffee. It slipped. And second, Emmett didn’t stay the night,” I said, as he reached for a brown paper bag on top of the cabinet. “He left. He didn’t even try to stay the night. I’m not a total dog, am I?”
Eric brought the paper bag over and sat back down. “You know you’re not,” he replied simply. “Your pity party is getting old. Now, open this mysterious package that’s been waiting for you. I thought to take a peak myself, but I didn’t want to mess with you if you didn’t have your moment.”
Written in black magic marker on the front of the bag was: “To Anna. From Carl. SUPER excited for our adventures!” Immediately, I jumped up to grab the bag from Eric, raced back behind my desk and shoved the bag behind my back. I didn’t know what was in that bag, but there was no way it was something I wanted Eric Blake to see.
“Anna … Open it.” Blake taunted.
“No. No, I think I’ll save it. It’s probably baked goods and you know I only eat enriched flour on Saturdays.”
“Anna … I can make you open it.” Blake’s voice took on a wolfish tone and his eyes sparkled with humor.
I dropped into a defensive stance behind my desk and frantically searched for anything I could use as a barricade. “Eric. Stop. Seriously. It’s no big deal. Just some brownies that I’ll save for Saturday. I’ll even save you one if it’s that big of a deal.”
For a moment, that seemed to satisfy him. Then, as soon as I let my guard down, he made a sharp move like he was going to vault my desk. Instincts took over as I planted a foot on top of my desk and pushed off, sailing over my guest chairs and slamming into Eric.
Blake landed first, flat on his back with a big, “Whoosh” of air. I landed belly first on top of him with much less grace. The brown paper bag landed on my butt with a crinkly splat.
After an extremely awkward moment, Blake cleared his throat and rolled to the side, toppling me over. I purposely jabbed him hard with my elbow as I rose to my feet. However, before I had the chance, he grabbed the paper bag and tore it open.
Blake’s face split into a giant grin as he held up my very own pink and orange spandex super suit, complete with a cape, eye mask, tights and shiny spandex briefs. (Presumably to be worn outside of the tights.)
“Oh God …” I groaned, burying my face in my hands. I did some deep breathing as I tried to block out the coughing fit Eric was having. At some point his coughs turned into laughter and when I looked up, he was holding his stomach and his eyes were watering.
“Where the hell do you even find stuff like this?!” he exclaimed. “This is seriously the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever seen. Go put it on. Now.”
I shot him a death glare. “Do you honestly think I fashioned this myself? For the love of all that is holy …” I just couldn’t get my mind around it.
I made an attempt at grabbing the spandex monstrosity from Eric, but he just held it out of my reach.
“Blake. Give it back. NOW!” I demanded.
Eric just held it even higher as his laughter dwindled down to a mild chuckle. With his free hand, he plucked the bright pink briefs from the collection and wiggled his eyebrows at me. I wasn’t going to make an even bigger mess of the situation and wrestle them away. And actually, the thought of Eric wearing my shiny pink spandex briefs wasn’t that bad of a picture. I tilted my head and tried to visualize it.
Blake’s eyes bulged as he launched into a coughing fit and finally relinquished the getup to my eager hands.
“What’s the symbol for?” Eric asked as he recovered and smoothed away the wrinkles on his slacks.
I looked down at the outfit and noticed an odd symbol on the chest that looked like some sort of abstract bird.
“I haven’t the foggiest. Carl’s has an S for ‘Stealth’” I explained.
“You guys came up with super hero names?” Eric exclaimed. “This is seriously the most messed up shit I’ve heard of in a very, very long time, Jennings.”
“Gah!” I screeched. “There is no ‘you guys’! It’s Carl! It’s not me! Holy Mary … I need to breathe. Get out of my office. And I swear to God, if you tell anyone about this, I’ll tie you up with my cape!”
Eric just shook his head, gave me one last grin turned to leave.
As I watched his retreating form, I couldn’t help but pick up where I had left off with my reverie of Blake in head to toe spandex. I wondered if he’d have to pack a sock in his briefs like Carl … I doubted it. I imagined he was more of a salami verses a ‘lil smokey. Wait, was I hungry or horny? Were they really that different? I didn’t know … but a bite of Eric’s salami …
Blake tripped over something on the floor and narrowly avoided colliding with my still shut door. He shook his head, cleared his throat and left without a backward glance.
And he calls me a clutz?
8
My knight in spandex armor, riding in on his noble Vespa.
Thankfully, the rest of the morning wasn’t nearly as dramatic as the first few hours. My schedule wasn’t quite as crazy as the previous two days and I was able to focus on my job. Okay, maybe I wasn’t one hundred percent focused. I kept replaying the events from the morning, wondering how I could have handled things differently.
Throughout the day, I periodically checked my cell phone and email inbox, hoping to hear from Emmett. What was his deal that morning? The night before, he told me I was his. It was a little bit assuming of him, but it was also kind of sweet in a caveman way. But that morning, he was just friendly, cordial, aloof Emmett Vance. At least if he was jealous of me having coffee with Ian, he would have acted angry or annoyed. Maybe I had read too much into the previous day. Maybe this is what Eric was trying to warn me about.
Ugh. Men are so not my forte.
I made it until almost four o’clock without caving outwardly. Maybe inside I was feeling a bit paranoid, but nobody had to know that except me. But when four o’clock came around, it was physically painful to keep my neuroticism internal. Either that or it was gas. I decided that sending a quick email to Emmett would be acceptable, just to see how his day was going.
Mr. Vance,
I just wanted to drop a line and see how your day is going.
Yours,
Anna
It was simple. It was sweet. I included a subtle reminder at the end that I was ‘his’. I nodded and gave myself a mental pat on the back, then attempted to not stare at my Inbox for the rest of the work day. Mae bustled in at five to give me a fist bump and remind me she was taking the next day off for an all-day World of Warcraft tournament with Connor the Shit. I had no idea what that was so I just returned the fist bump and smiled.
By seven o’clock, I still hadn’t received a response from Emmett. I had a lump in my throat and a chocolate stain on my blouse. (I may have dove head-first into my emotional chocolate stash.) I decided to call it a night and pack up. As I slung my briefcase strap over my shoulder, my phone pinged. I checked the screen and Emmett Vance’s name appeared.
Did I mention you look beautiful today? Even with the chocolate stain on your shirt. ~E
I re-read the message a couple times, trying to remember if Emmett could have possibly seen me in the past couple of hours to notice the stain.
“You really are quite adorable when you’re confused,” came a familiar masculine voice.
I looked up to see Emmett in my office doorway, suit jacket over his forearm and tie loosened at his neck. He looked good enough to eat.
I tried to be calm and not let on that the site of him made my lady bits sizzle like hot bacon. I don’t think it worked, though, because before I knew it, I was across the room with my hands in his hair and my tongue in his mouth. He must not have minded because his
hands were gripping my ass and his man parts were searing me through his expensive tailored slacks.
By the time we came up for air, I had two buttons undone on my blouse and he had lipstick smudges from ear to ear. I exercise six days a week, yet I sounded like Darth Vader attempting to catch my breath. Emmett wasn’t much better off.
“That was some welcome,” he murmured as he attempted to tame his appearance.
I blushed and smoothed out my skirt. “Sorry about that … It’s been a long day and seeing you leaning against my doorjamb was a little more than I could handle.” I gave him a sheepish smile and attempted to finger comb my hair.
“Anna, I’m heading out for the …” Eric Blake stood in my doorway, eyebrows arched high on his forehead. His gaze shifted from me to Emmett and then to the lipstick smudged all over Emmett’s face. His jaw clenched as he cut his eyes back to me. “Seriously, Anna? Here?” He paused and took a deep breath. “Keep your personal life out of the office, Jennings. I shouldn’t have to tell you that. I’m heading out for the night. I’ll see you tomorrow.” He delivered one last searing look to Emmett and stormed out.
I let out a breath I didn’t know I had been holding. My heart was racing. Emmett looked a little too calm.
“Breathe, hon,” he soothed. “It’s fine. It’s after hours. We didn’t do anything. It’s fine.”
I appreciated that he was trying his best to calm me down, but Eric was right. Since when had I become this wanton hussy, making out and practically dry humping my pseudo-boyfriend in my office?
I took a moment to calm my pounding heart and tried to smile up at Emmett. “You’re right. It’s fine. But I do need to watch myself. I haven’t really been on my A game this week.”
Emmett slung his arm over my shoulders, grabbed my purse and clicked off my office light. “Everyone has rough weeks, Anna. You’ll snap out of it.”
Power Surge (Anna Jennings Super Novel Book 1) Page 8
