Page 23 of Office Intrigue (Office Intrigue Duet 1)
He shook his head. “No. It’s just…”
Lifting one eyebrow, I waited for him to continue.
“I just thought you…”
“I what?”
“You had a higher-level position.”
I smiled to myself and dropped my eyes to the menu. Apparently being a secretary was beneath this guy. Lord only knew what he’d think if I told him I had worked at various retailers in the past few years. The guy would probably have a coronary if he knew I’d worked at Hooters. Totally beneath him.
Now, it wasn’t as though I hadn’t known that Will was shallow. However, I had grossly underestimated how much.
“So, what is it that you do?” I already knew, but I figured what the hell. Might as well have a little fun.
“I’m a lawyer.”
“Oh, really?” I pretended to be intrigued by the notion. “They make good money, huh?”
His eyes narrowed. It was what he’d expected me to say, obviously. As a secretary, I couldn’t possibly make enough to support myself, nor could I enjoy being financially independent without raking in the dough. That was exactly the way this guy would think.
The waitress walked up and we both placed our orders. He went first, ordering a BLT while I opted for a salad. Water for both. Fast and easy.
“And you say you’ve only been with… What company did you say you worked for?” he probed.
I smiled. “I didn’t, but it’s a PR firm downtown.”
That seemed to pique his interest. “Which one?”
I rattled off the name as though it didn’t really matter.
Will leaned back and regarded me for a moment. I had no idea what he knew about the company, nor did I really care. I knew there’d been something I wasn’t attracted to about him, and within the first few minutes of our dinner conversation, he had reminded me of what that was.
I wasn’t good enough for this guy. Not working as a secretary. Had I mentioned my accounting degree, he might’ve shown a little interest, but the truth was, I didn’t want him to. I had given in because he wouldn’t let it go and now at least he would turn his attention elsewhere.
“So, what type of law do you practice?” I asked because the silence was getting to be too much.
“Family law.”
“Oh, well, that must be fun.”
“I enjoy it. I’ll soon make junior partner, so I’m well on my way.”
To what, I had no freaking clue. Again…I didn’t care either.
Fortunately for both of us, our food was delivered and it gave each of us a valid excuse to ignore the other.
This was the very reason I hated dating. Rarely did I find a man who intrigued me enough to make it past a first date. Perhaps that made me the shallow one, but I needed some sort of stimulating conversation or, at the very least, some sort of physical attraction. I found neither with Will.
My mind drifted back to my four bosses. Now, those were men who could easily hold my interest for a night. Or a week. It was rare that a man could walk around and radiate sex appeal without even trying; however, the four of them did it effortlessly. And when they spoke… Those men were the types who spoke when they had something to say and they did it very well. People listened.
I thought about Landon and Langston. About how this dinner would’ve been very different had they been here. For one, they wouldn’t have looked down on me because I was a secretary. In the two weeks I’d been there, they hadn’t treated me any differently than they did each other. Or Jordan, for that matter. We worked there, they worked there, and we coexisted nicely.
While I picked at my salad, I noticed Will was checking his phone. He had done it several times in the past few minutes. It was beyond obvious that he was ready to bolt. Then again, so was I. The only reason I was still there was because I would likely see him at the yoga studio and I didn’t want things to be awkward between us.
I probably should’ve told Kristen about my date. No doubt she would’ve called me just to give me an out. But I’d been hopeful that this would at least be enjoyable. Unfortunately, along with being shallow, the man was a shitty conversationalist.
Suddenly, Will punched a button on his phone and held it up to his ear. I chuckled to myself. There was no one on the other end of that call, but apparently, not only did he think I was beneath him, he also thought I was stupid.
“Yes, this is Will. Did you need something?”
He paused, as though someone was talking. The screen had already gone dark against his ear, but he clearly didn’t notice.
For effect, he glanced at his watch. “Sure. I could…” He paused again, his eyes darting to me briefly. He tried to pull off an apologetic look, but it merely made him look like the douchebag he was. “Yeah. I can be back at the office in ten minutes. Does that work?” He paused. “Absolutely. I’m on my way.”
