Page 4 of Getting Down to Business

“Suit yourself.”

“I’ve had sex on the first date before, and it’s generally kind of stressful because you don’t know what to expect from the other person. Last night wasn’t like that. I was completely relaxed. Maybe because I knew you weren’t expecting anything,” he shared.

“I was expecting one thing.” She laughed and licked foam from her upper lip. He wanted to do it for her. “You delivered, which is impressive because, like you, I’m usually not able to relax enough to get to point B.”

“Nice,” he said as she stopped walking at the same time he did. They were standing in front of his building.

“This is me,” she said.

“Seriously?” he choked.

“Yeah.”

“This is me too. Hasher Borne, twenty-ninth floor.”

“Hasher Borne, twenty-third,” she said, eyes wide.

“Oh, shit. Do you believe in fate?”

“No way,” she said firmly.

“Okay, good, because this could easily be misconstrued as fate interceding.”

She laughed.

“What department do you work in?” he asked.

“I’m an account rep, but I’ve been trying to move up for years.” She sounded irritated, but stopped herself from continuing what he was sure was going to be a rant. “What department do you work in?”

“Senior accountant.”

“Oh.” Her eyes flared and she looked away.

“What is it?”

“Nothing. Have a great day.” She moved toward the front doors, but he stepped in front of her to keep her from getting away.

“There’s obviously something. Even if you don’t want to be friends, we are coworkers, and apparently, we both work for the number-crunching side of the business. What’s wrong?”

“Have you ever had any family members work here?”

“No. None.”

She seemed relieved, and explained.

“I’ve been passed over for a promotion to account manager three times because people up in your office have brought in their unqualified family members.”

“Ouch.”

“Yeah. I’m doing many of the account manager functions, but I’m not getting paid for it. And I don’t have the fancy office up on twenty-nine.”

“I think I might know who’s responsible for that.” Randy Taber had also filled their department with people from his large family. “It wasn’t me. My family is in Connecticut.”

“Why are you telling me about your family? You’re sharing personal information.” Yes, he was breaking the rules from the evening before. But in his defense, the rules should be null and void at this point.

“Are we really going back to the original plan now? We work together.”

“No more so than we did before and never saw each other.”