So, while I sat there alone, wondering if Mr. Snowden and Mr. Parker were going to show up, I felt a little self-conscious sitting by myself. My thoughts drifted back to the envelope that Mr. Snowden had presented me with after I’d received my punishment from Mr. Parker. It ended up being their latest test results that were on file at the club. Master Edge had brought theirs, as well as mine. Oddly enough, I wasn’t bothered by it. Mr. Parker had then informed me that we would not be using condoms going forward. I secretly liked that we had moved to that level of trust between us.
Granted, intercourse hadn’t been our main method of pleasure up to this point, but I took that as a good sign. Even thinking about the way Mr. Parker had taken me that day had my body heating.
“Addison?”
At the sound of my name, I slowly turned, pasting a smile on my face as I searched for the person calling out to me. The man walking toward me with purpose was familiar, but for the life of me, I couldn’t remember his name.
“Bill,” he offered helpfully as though I’d asked the question aloud.
He held out his hand and I dutifully held out mine.
And then I remembered where I knew him from.
“Oh, right.” I reduced the wattage on my grin when he opted not to let go of my hand. “From dinner with Mr. Parker and Mr. Snowden. I’m sorry. With so many people…”
“No need to apologize, honey.”
Honey? Yuck.
“I saw you over here by yourself, thought maybe you’d like some company.”
No, actually, I wouldn’t. But rather than shoot him down, I opted for polite. He was one of the firm’s clients, after all. “I’m waiting for someone, actually.”
“Well, why don’t I wait with you?”
I managed to pull my hand from his grip and tried to be discreet as I wiped it on my skirt. “That’s very kind of you.”
“Can I get you another drink?”
“No, I’m…uh…limiting myself to one tonight.” Not that I needed to explain myself, but for some reason, I had the urge to keep talking. That was probably due to the fact that Bill was eyeing me like I was dessert. It was rather creepy.
I recalled the way he had eyed me that night when I’d been invited to dinner with Mr. Parker and Mr. Snowden on my first day. It had seemed strange, especially since he’d been wearing a wedding ring when we were introduced, but by the time dinner was over, the wedding ring was missing. Which made him uber-creepy in my book.
“Are you from around here?” he asked.
“I am. Lived in the area all my life.”
“Me, too.”
Oh. Great. Now he probably thought we had something in common.
“So, how are things with the new job? Are they treating you well?”
“It’s great,” I told him. “I’m learning something new every day.”
“Since we work in the same building, I thought we might run into each other more often.”
“I do go to the sandwich shop frequently,” I said, simply to fill the weird silence. “It’s possible you’ll see me around from time to time.”
“That’s a great idea,” he replied, his eyes widening. “I could definitely do lunch. How about one day next week?”
Oh, God. He had completely misunderstood what I’d said. The guy with the wedding ring actually thought I was inviting him to lunch?
“I…uh…” Yeah. No.
Shit.
Bill’s grin widened and I had the urge to hop off my chair and put some space between us. As it was, he was invading my personal space and making me incredibly uncomfortable. But I was literally backed into a corner, so I didn’t have a choice but to sit there and silently wish him to go away.
It only got worse when he turned and put his arm over my shoulder so that we were both facing the bar.
“Do you come here often? I haven’t been able to make it by in a while. But on Friday nights, several of us like to stop in and have a drink after a hard week. I can introduce you to some people if you’d like,” he offered.
He didn’t even give me a chance to turn him down.
“That woman over there, the one with the green shoes…that’s Diana. And the guy beside her is Chet. They both work in my office.”
Was he seriously going to do this? Why would I even care who these people were?
Now that I wasn’t forced to look at him, I scanned the room, hoping to find Luci or Jordan or…hell, anyone with a pulse who could get me out of this.
“And that one right there, the short…rotund guy. That’s Jim.”
Someone cleared their throat and I damn near launched into the air. I turned to see Mr. Snowden standing not two feet away on my other side.
“Mr. Snowden,” I greeted, dislodging myself from Bill as I hopped off my chair. “I’m so glad you could make it.”
