Page 7 of Heartstrings & Hijinks

Evan

The week came and went entirely too quickly.

Besides having to talk to the police and put in my official statement regarding the whole incident from last Friday, I was pretty well free and clear of that whole mess.

I still just shook my head at myself for having downed a drink with an unknown substance in it and then had the insane idea of calling “Hot Gregory.”

I had since changed his contact information in my phone to “Gregory” with his job title, and I changed my brother Greg to say “Brother.”

Would I someday change Gregory to Boyfriend? That remained to be seen.

Thankfully, with how busy work was at the moment, I could focus solely on work rather than stressing completely about this whole date situation.

I had brushed up on the HR policy for inter-office relationships, though, just in case.

I trusted Gregory when he said it wouldn’t be an issue.

He owned the company, after all. Still, I didn’t want people to think I was looking for some sort of special treatment.

In a nutshell, everything was fine as long as I didn’t directly report to Gregory—and I didn’t.

I really didn’t want to have to find a new job if this all went south.

Not that I didn’t trust Gregory to be professional, but that didn’t mean I could stand being around him every day with an unrequited crush.

Especially if we got far enough that I got to see a different side of him, more of what I had seen in him this weekend.

How would I ever recover if I truly got to know him and we didn’t work out?

Working near him wasn’t easy right now. I was already halfway in love with the grumpy jerk.

“What is up with Gregory today?” Sawyer asked when he burst into my office—or rather, the office I was working from. I didn’t have an office to call my own. Our office building was more open-concept. Anyone could reserve whatever room or workspace they wanted to be in, there were no assigned seats.

I stilled, looking around to see who might overhear us. “Why? What have you heard?”

His eyebrows shot up. “Okay, that’s a bit of a weird reaction.”

“Is he in a pissy mood? Is he cranky? Is this like the time the dry cleaners lost his favorite suit, and we all had to suffer his wrath for three days?”

That was an unfair statement about what had actually happened.

They hadn’t just lost his favorite suit; it was the suit he was supposed to wear for a wedding that weekend to match all the other groomsmen, including the monogrammed tie the groom had gifted Gregory.

He had a right to be upset about that. As far as I had seen, he hadn’t been rude to anyone else—just quiet, reserved, and more clipped than usual.

I hadn’t noticed anything unusual about him this week. Then again, I had been avoiding being near him since I couldn’t trust myself not to gawk at him like a teenager.

Though each day I put on a special pair of panties because they made me feel confident and sexy. And I liked to fantasize about Gregory seeing me at the office and just knowing that I was wearing something special for him.

“Opposite,” Sawyer said. “He seemed kind of in a good mood. He said ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ several times in the meeting I was in, and he encouraged everyone to take off early today and enjoy the weekend.”

Oh, that did bode well for our date. I grinned. Was he looking forward to it, the same as I was?

Sawyer’s eyes narrowed. “What do you know? You’ve been awfully quiet about this whole situation. Usually, you spill a lot of details, and this time you’re quiet.”

“Close the door,” I said. “At least make it look like we’re working if we’re going to gossip.”

“Oh shit, you’ve got gossip!” Sawyer closed the door quickly, then sat down in the seat, leaning toward me as if I was about to spill state secrets rather than boring details about my date with Gregory.

“Gregory and I are going on a date tonight,” I said. I didn’t love talking about Gregory without knowing exactly where we stood. This was new and crazy. Dating a VP at the company I worked for was probably frowned upon. Plus, he was my brother’s best friend.

None of those reasons stopped me from leaping into this with both feet.

“What? How… but… what?”

I filled him in as best as I could about what happened last weekend. Sawyer already knew that I had roofied myself, but I hadn’t gone into details about staying at Gregory’s apartment or throwing myself at him.

“He asked you on a date? That’s… crazy. He must like you. But, wait. You said you’re meeting us for karaoke later. Are you going to bail on me again? Cause I wouldn’t blame you if you did. I want details later. All of them.”

“We are planning to go to karaoke, if all goes well.”

“If all goes well, the two of you will be in bed, not doing karaoke, or at least not publicly. Are you a screamer? I bet he could make you sing.”

I shook my head, not because I wasn’t a screamer—I was quite vocal in bed, or so I had been told—but because his line of questioning was ridiculous.

“You’re really going on a date with Gregory? Your brother’s best friend? The VP of Operations?”

I nodded.

“This is amazing. I want to hear everything.”

“That’s it. That’s all I have to tell you. I might have kind of confessed my little crush on him last weekend, and it sounds like he feels the same way.”

“I’d say so if the guy is going to take you on a date. And what are we all supposed to do if a VP shows up at karaoke tonight? That’s going to be awkward AF.”

“Be normal. It wouldn’t be the first time we’ve had one of the higher-ups there. My brother comes all the time.”

“That’s different.”

“Your boss has come to them.” Mark was the VP of Risk Management.

“Yeah, but he stopped as soon as I started seeing Jeremiah because the two of them fight like weirdos.”

“Yeah, what is up with that?”

Sawyer shot me a glare. “This is not about me. This is about you and your date.”

I shrugged one shoulder, attempting to be nonchalant about the whole thing. “That’s just what it is: a date.”

“Do you know where he’s taking you?”

“No idea.” That didn’t stop the guessing game I’d played all day wondering where Gregory would take a person on a date. He didn’t seem like a dinner and a movie type, and from what I’d gathered over the years, he wasn’t overly snooty either, so we wouldn’t be doing anything fancy.

“Okay, where do you want him to take you?”

The words “to bed” were at the tip of my tongue, but this was a workplace.

Sawyer grinned and waggled his eyebrows. “Oh, I see. All right, you’re officially allowed to leave early. I know you didn’t take a lunch today, nor did you take one yesterday. So close up that laptop—we’re going home to get you ready.”

“I already have an outfit picked out.” Which felt ridiculous. This was just a date. I didn’t need to have a special outfit for it.

“And you didn’t consult me? I am insulted. Let’s go.”

I knew better than to argue with Sawyer, and honestly, it felt better having someone who at least knew what was going on. I had barely mentioned it to my brother this week. He didn’t want details.

“What did your brother think when you told him?” Sawyer asked once we were back at our apartment. He was going through my closet as if I hadn’t already picked out my best outfit for the evening.

“He’s fine with it. Said he doesn’t want details, but he wishes us the best. I got the vibe that he didn’t want to jinx it by throwing too much support at it. He’s definitely not opposed.”

“Well, yeah. I’m sure everyone thinks that Gregory needs to get laid regularly in order to not be a dick.”

“Hey,” I said. “If this becomes a thing and Gregory and I are really dating, we can’t say not-nice things about him.”

“We don’t say not-nice things. We say truthful things. They are facts. They’re not nice or mean.”

I rolled my eyes. “All right, fine. I agree.”

“Your outfit you picked out is perfect. Get it on. Let’s get your hair and makeup done.”

“There’s nothing to do with my hair, and I don’t think I’m doing makeup.”

“Please. A little bronzer won’t hurt you—maybe a slight touch of mascara to really make those eyes pop. Come on.”

He smacked my butt, and I had no choice but to follow him. As much as I hated to admit it, I wanted to look my very best for this date. And if I had bought a new pair of lacy panties just for the occasion, that was for me to know and Gregory to find out…