She rolled her eyes and picked up her fork to take a bite out of her salad. “I never talked about it because you weren’t having it, and I didn’t want to make you jealous. I figured I would at least offer.”
“Well, thanks, but no. If and when I do that, I think I can figure it out.”
“It’s not called a job for nothing, Monroe. But whatever, I’m sure you’ll manage or maybe Miller can give you some pointers.”
“So anyway,” I said, desperate to change the topic away from my sex life, or the lack thereof. “Are you still planning on coming home with me for winter break?”
I had already talked to Miller about taking the holidays off, even though I wasn’t too happy about having to discuss it since I was literally just starting the job. He was more than willing to give me any amount of days off that I wanted. That man was way too giving, but this time, I would take him up on his offer. I missed my family like crazy. And I wouldn’t feel so guilty when I saw them because I wouldn’t have to lie about where I was working. On top of that, I had the news that I would be instructing at the dance studio.
I still couldn’t believe Miller had lined that up for me, especially after handing me a position at his company. That man was beyond thoughtful and I couldn’t get over it. First, the horseback riding, and the picnic, even the fishing was sweet in its own way. And then he took me to the dance studio. To work there. I was ready to marry him on the spot.
Okay, let’s not get ahead of yourself, Monroe. I had no idea if we had a status. Were we casually dating, seriously dating, seeing no one else, boyfriend and girlfriend? That seemed a little high school-ish to me, and Miller would probably look at me like I was crazy if I asked.
“No, I can’t,” Amelia answered sadly, drawing my attention back to her. “My parents decided that we were going to St. Barts, and they already bought my ticket, so I guess I have to go.”
“I feel so badly for you,” I deadpanned. “I mean, I would much rather go to Michigan than St. Barts.”
“Ugh, I know. I should be excited I’m going somewhere tropical, but you know my parents, especially my mama. I just don’t know if I can handle being around her for that long.”
“So go find some hot guy on the beach and hang out with him the whole time,” I suggested.
“That is an excellent idea,” she replied brightly. “I knew you were my best friend for a reason.”
We finished our lunches and hit up a few stores. With Amelia’s help, I found a few new outfits that I figured were appropriate for working in the office. Miller said he didn’t care what I showed up in, but I didn’t think my normal wardrobe, which mainly consisted of jeans, would work.
“So, have you talked to Franklin since Thursday?” I asked Amelia as we both got back into her car and headed for my apartment.
“No, I think he finally got the message. Thank goodness! Oh, I forgot to tell you that Carleton hunted me down at a party the other night, wanting me to pass an apology along to you? I told him right where he could shove that apology. I figured he would make some nasty comment or something, but he just walked away. Surprised the shit out of me. Hopefully that was just a one-time thing. He was pretty drunk. Maybe he’s not an asshole all the time. Not that I’m trying to defend what he tried to do or anything.”
“I don’t know, Amelia.” I sighed. “And I don’t really want to find out. I was thinking about taking some self-defense classes now that I have a little bit more free time. Do you want to take them with me?”
“Um…that would be amazing! A chance to kick some guy in the balls and get away with it? Yes, please!”
“All right.” I laughed as we pulled into the parking lot at my complex. “Let’s go kick some balls then.”
I CHECKED MYSELF in the mirror one more time before quickly exiting my apartment and heading for my car. I had finished up with classes for the day and was off to my first day working for Miller. I had carefully laid a few different outfit choices out last night and decided on one when I got home—a black ruffled skirt that landed just above my knees, a pair of ballet flats, and a button up, long-sleeve, sheer top that I layered over a tank. Business-y but casual at the same time.
Gah, Why was I so worried about what to wear? Miller didn’t care, I’m sure, as long as I didn’t show up in a pair of holey jeans. I really didn’t know why I had these crazy butterflies floating around in my stomach that wouldn’t calm down. I was definitely nervous about seeing Miller, so part of those were most likely due to that fact.
I had talked to him a few times since our date, but he didn’t have time to get together because he was busy teaching his cousin Luke the ins and outs of the club, since he was taking over Randy’s vacated spot. I was relieved that he would have someone he could completely trust managing Pure. He even said he would have more time for me then, but I didn’t want him to think I was one of those girls—the type that expected you to forget about everything in your own world so you could spend every second with them. I knew Miller had responsibilities and I was okay with that. He didn’t need to lose focus for some girl that he had just started dating.
I followed Miller’s directions to the office, and when I arrived, took a deep breath before opening the door to the main entrance. The office was modern and sleek, but with a few homey touches here and there that gave it that comforting feel that I would now always associate with Miller.
I tried not to smile when Miller walked out from a back room, dressed in a charcoal suit with a white dress shirt popping out from underneath, revealing just a little bit of his tanned chest. A light scruff covered his jaw and his hair was a little more tame than usual, only slightly messy, I assumed from him constantly running his hands through it when he concentrated on something. He did it all the time.
It was too hard not to grin, especially when he quickly closed the distance between us and gave me one of those earth-shattering kisses that made my knees wobble every single time. He ended it all too soon, grabbing my lip between his teeth before he dragged himself completely away.
“Well, that was a great way to start my first day.”
“I missed you,” he explained, brushing his thumb across my cheek and making my heart beat even faster. “But that’s all you’re getting from these lips for now.” He winked at me and then motioned to an L-shaped desk situated right near the main entrance. “This is where you’ll be working; you’ve got your computer, two different phone lines, client portfolios in that filing cabinet, invoices in that one.” I set my purse down on the chair and he directed me toward the hallway, placing a hand on the small of my back once I was in front of him.
He showed me a conference room, his office, and a break room for his workers, who sometimes popped in during the day to fill out paperwork. This was the Miller I was used to. The one so in control and focused on the task at hand, but I loved seeing the sweet side of Miller that peeked out occasionally. The side that I didn’t think many people saw too often. After showing me around, he started to go over the different tasks that I needed to do daily. I was surprised that this office was way more organized than the one at Pure, but he explained it’s because he was here all the time versus just being at Pure a few nights a week.
I glanced at the clock once Miller was finally finishing up with everything and I was shocked to see that it was almost six.
“The good thing about you being here is that now I won’t have to focus on the data entry and invoices all the much anymore. The bad thing is that I probably won’t be in the office as much. I’ll probably be out on the job sites more.”
“Oh.” I frowned. I thought working at Buchanan Builders would mean spending more time with Miller, but it didn’t sound like it. At least he thought it was a bad thing, too.
“I’m glad to see you’re not happy about that either.” He grinned before dropping down to sit in the chair behind my desk and pulling me onto his lap. “I’ll make time for you, don’t worry. As long as you want.”
“I want.” I licked my
lips, ready for his to be on mine again but the moment was quickly squashed when the front door opened, beeping once, and a low whistle sounded from behind my back. Miller rested his head against my neck, groaning as I stood up.
“Hey, Tanner. What are you doing back here? I thought you were heading home for the night.”
“Well, I figured we could go grab a beer at the club, but it looks like you’re a little preoccupied.”
“Yeah, I need to be heading in pretty soon. Monroe, this is Tanner. He heads up one of the crews that works for me, so you’ll probably see him in here from time to time, just not normally this late.” Miller glared at Tanner which he answered with a crooked smirk. Apparently, Tanner really didn’t care that he’d irritated Miller by showing up and interrupting us.
“Nice to meet you, Monroe. I’ve heard a little bit about you. Miller failed to mention that I’m also his best friend, well, probably his only friend since he’s such a jackass to everyone else.”
“Oh really?” I laughed, glancing at Miller who was still glaring at Tanner. I wasn’t too happy about Tanner interrupting us either, but Miller seemed pissed. Was he planning on taking things further than one of our heavy make out sessions? Maybe I should’ve been more annoyed, and trying to push Tanner straight back out the door he came in through.
Tanner grinned. I was surprised that this was Miller’s best friend. Miller tended to be on the quiet side most of the time and could be a little bit of a brooder. Tanner, on the other hand, looked to have a constant smile on his face, those crinkles at the corner of his eyes suggesting he was always laughing. His hair was a blond, shaggy mess that also gave him sort of a surfer vibe, but with a southern twang. Amelia and I must seem like an unlikely pair, too, but most of the time that was a good thing. We balanced each other out.
“Yup. In fact, we have plans Thursday night since Luke’s coming back into town so soon.”
“We do?” Miller’s eyebrows darted up. “Luke just left, and said he needed a few weeks in Atlanta before he could start running things at Pure. I don’t have time to go out right now.”
“Always so busy. But Luke and I had us a talk. You’re too busy. You need to have some fun. So he’s coming into town and you’re not going in to the club. He’s been running a bar for the past three years, he already has pretty much everything figured out. You in Monroe?”
“Um….” My eyes darted to Miller, who looked confused by the whole situation, but what Tanner was saying was true. Miller needed to have some fun and I didn’t mind having it with him. “Sure.”
“Good, bring some friends with you if you want. Preferably single,” Tanner tacked on at the end and Miller finally laughed.
“Getting yourself back out there?”
“Hell yeah.”
I HAD JUST pulled into the driveway after another long night at Pure and I was ecstatic about the fact that Luke would be there tomorrow night to handle things for me. I’m sure I would still be going in a lot until he completely got the hang of things, but I guess since him and Tanner decided that I didn’t have enough time for fun, I would take them up on the offer. I’d much rather spend the night alone with Monroe, but I didn’t want to tell Tanner that. He seemed like he was doing well considering his separation from Marissa, better than I expected, but Tanner was always good at covering stuff up by cracking jokes and laughing things off.
I was surprised as hell to see the lights on in my house since it was past two in the morning, and I knew that could only mean one thing. Mamaw was here. Normally, I didn’t mind. She would fix me something to eat if I’d missed dinner, and she would catch me up on what was happening at the restaurant. But I needed some serious sleep, and even if I went to bed right now, I would still only get about four hours before I had to be up and go back to the office. I was definitely looking forward to the night off tomorrow, or I guess today, if I thought about it.
“Miller, you’re finally home.” Mamaw yawned before giving me a hug and pinching my cheek. “You are gonna work yourself to the bone, boy. I’m so glad Luke is moving back home since Randy didn’t work out for ya.”
“Yeah, me too.” And I left it at that. I’d yet to tell her the real reason I fired Randy and really didn’t plan on it. I’m sure his bad side would catch up with him sooner or later anyway. I kicked off my shoes and rubbed my eyes. “I’ve got to head to bed. I’m beat. Did you need to talk to me about something? Was there a problem at the restaurant today?”
“No, no problems there. I do have one problem though and I’m pretty sure you’ve been avoiding me because of it.”
“I haven’t been—”
“Zip it, Miller. I need to talk to you about that girl. What exactly are your intentions with her? You seem to fancy her an awful lot for just starting to date. Do you think you should really be dating someone like her?”
“What in the hell is that supposed to mean? And since you decided to bring up Monroe, why don’t we talk about the fact that you were so damn rude to her the other day. Did you really need to mention Tara? We went on three dates, Mamaw. That was it.”
“Rude? Well, I wasn’t being…I guess I sort of was being rude, but I’m just looking out for you. Tara told me how you really met that girl. Did you really think you could lie to me? That’s another reason that girl is no good for you; you shouldn’t need to lie about where you met her. She’s one of your dancers!” She pressed a hand to her chest and I rolled my eyes.
“Firstly, Monroe worked for me as a waitress, and secondly, I didn’t tell you the truth because I knew you would judge her exactly how you are right now. Tara should’ve kept her big mouth shut.”
“Miller Buchanan!”
“I don’t care, Mamaw. I have to get some sleep. You can let yourself out.”
I left her standing there, heading toward my bedroom, and slammed the door before collapsing on my bed and passing out, pushing that whole argument and the guilt straight out of my head. I would deal with it tomorrow.
All too soon, my alarm went off and I had to force myself to get out of bed. I just had to remind myself that I was free for the night and it would be nice. Plus, I planned on getting all of the guys out to their job sites quickly this morning, handling the few things that I had on my to-do list, and then being back in the office by the time Monroe got there this afternoon.
Just like I told her the other day, it was sort of a bad thing that she was there now, because that meant I could be out of the office more, getting my hands dirty, which I loved. I knew I couldn’t screw around all of the time, my business would suffer because of it, but I decided that today, once Monroe got there, I was going to take a sick day and get an early start for my night off.
I grabbed a much-needed coffee on the way into the office and frowned when Tanner walked in right after me with a big grin on his face. “What in the hell are you so cheerful about this morning?”
Tanner slapped my back before I collapsed on the chair behind my desk and propped my head up on one hand. These long nights and early mornings were starting to catch up with me.
“What? Am I supposed to be in a shitty mood like you all the time? No thanks. Well, that isn’t totally true. I think the only time I see you crack a smile is when Monroe is around.”
At the mention of her name, I perked up a little bit, and Tanner must have noticed because he laughed. “See? You have tonight to look forward to, so quit being a jackass. And why don’t you take a nap or something? I plan on being out nice and late.”
“I’m not a two-year-old. I don’t take naps. What are we doing exactly?” I asked, pressing my hands against my eyes. Tanner’s nap idea actually sounded pretty good. “I don’t think you ever mentioned it.”
“Oh, don’t you worry about that. We’ll be having plenty of fun, you just need to show up. See ya, boss. I need to get to work.”
I don’t know how it happened, but I did end up falling asleep right at my desk, forgetting completely about everything I planned on doing that morning. I felt guilt
y when I woke up because I wasn’t the type of person to sleep in my office. That just wasn’t me. I must’ve really overworked myself lately.
I woke up, not quite ready to open my eyes yet, but heard a quiet tapping noise and smelled a familiar scent, one that I liked very much—a sweet, delicate blend of flowers with just a hint of vanilla.
Monroe.
I popped my lids open to find my chest covered by a jacket that I recognized as Monroe’s, and I inhaled deeply again, smelling her all over it. My eyes landed on the clock next and I was shocked as hell when I realized it was almost three in the afternoon. I ended up taking much more than a twenty minute nap.
I rubbed my eyes before standing up and walking out to the front office, grinning and feeling much more awake when I saw Monroe sitting there, typing away at her computer with the phone pressed to one ear. Her dark hair was piled on top of her head, revealing her slim neck that I loved to bury my nose against. The pair of glasses that she sometimes wore, and I think made her look even sexier, sat perched on the end of her nose, and her bare legs were peeking out from underneath her desk. She was shoeless too, I noticed, as she pointed her toes and flexed her feet back and forth while finishing up her conversation on the phone.
She turned and smiled when she spotted me, standing up quickly on her tiptoes to kiss my cheek, and I couldn’t help but look at the way her skirt bunched up high on her thighs when she sat back down and crossed her legs. Yeah, I decided right then that I was officially taking the rest of the day off, and so was Monroe. I knew I wouldn’t be able to concentrate on anything else but her. I ambled to the front and turned the sign over to closed.
“What are you doing?” Monroe asked, a puzzled look on her face when I turned around and walked over to her phone next, switching it to do not disturb, before turning off the screen to her computer.
“We’re taking the rest of the day off.”
“Oh, we are? Really?” Once I was standing in front of her, she reached up, pressing a hand to my forehead. “Nope, you don’t have a fever. Didn’t that sleep help you out?”
Midnight Ballerina Page 17
