Page 121 of Capturing Love

“No, it’s not that…I—”

“If you’re worried about seeing your boss, don’t be. He’ll be out.”

My breath caught.

“It sounds like a great idea,” Amy said, jumping up from her seat. “Just text us the details and we’ll be there.” Her eyes found mine and bulged, urging me to agree.

“Okay, sure. What should we bring?” I asked, mimicking Amy’s enthusiasm.

“Nothing at all, just wear something comfortable,” she said, straightening out her dress as she stood. “I have to go to some tedious meeting now, so I’ll see you tomorrow.” Her phone rang and she let out an exasperated sigh before answering. “I’m coming! Stop being so pushy.”

Amy giggled and shot me little wave as I threw my half-eaten sandwich in the bin. As Melanie continued her heated conversation down the hall, I trailed behind until Grayson’s unmistakable presence blocked our path. With a groan, Melanie ended her call and Grayson dropped his phone from his ear.

“Where have you been?” he asked, with a quick glance my way.

“At lunch.”

He scoffed. “In the lunchroom?”

“It’s where people eat,” she replied, rolling her eyes.

Grayson chuckled. “Not you.”

“It’s not like you invite me anywhere,” she said, pushing past him.

As we both watched Melanie disappear into the conference room, my heartrate accelerated. I attempted to edge past Grayson and into my office, but he whirled back, almost bumping me over. His hand spread over small of my back while his other hand ran down my arm to steady me. I drew a shaky breath as his touch ignited every molecule in my body.

“Sorry,” he said, but his smirk wasn’t apologetic at all. “I should be more careful.”

“You should,” I rasped, lowering my gaze. “Excuse me.”

With a quick nod, he waited for me to enter my office before continuing up the hall to his meeting.

Out of breath, I sank into my desk chair and woke up my computer.

A message awaited on my screen.

A. MITCHELL: Don’t stress, he won’t even be there.

J. SPENCER: I shouldn’t be there.

A. MITCHELL: She’s obviously lonely. Maybe she doesn’t have many friends in NYC?

J. SPENCER: He’s going to freak when he finds out.

A. MITCHELL: After the crap he’s put you through lately, he deserves it.

J. SPENCER: True dat.

A. MITCHELL: Don’t hate me, but I kind of like her.

J. SPENCER: *face palm* me too.

The next night, I hid behind Amy as she rang the doorbell, praying Grayson had already left. When the door swung open, I exhaled in relief to find Melanie standing in front of us in baggy sweatpants, a Laker’s t-shirt, and ridiculous narwhale slippers. She almost looked…normal.

“Come in, your timing is perfect. The food just arrived,” she said, ushering us over to the couch I’d had sex on at least a dozen times. “I didn’t know what you guys liked, so I got a bit of everything.”

My eyes bulged at the array of food piled up on the coffee table. “No, no…this is more than enough.”