Page 3 of Not So Casual

“Same. I mean, there are sexy men in here, but none of them catch my eye.”

Because none of them are Alexander.

Shaking my head, I try to rid myself of thoughts of Alexander. The way I feel about him needs to stop. The way he consumes my thoughts is getting tiresome. When will my mind understand it’ll never happen? He’s my boss, and he’ll never see me as more than his employee.

“How’s your mom and dad doing?” she asks while taking another sip of her drink.

“They’re really good. Mom is thinking of retiring early, and Dad is dead set on not retiring. Mom said they’re planning to come for my birthday. You know they can’t be away from me for too long.”

I laugh, thinking of my parents. I’m the only child and the second I told them I wanted to move here, my mom started the waterworks and cried like a baby. While I knew she would never hold me back from leaving, I didn’t think she would react as badly as she did. Luckily, she realized it was something I needed to do for myself. And now they make sure to visit a few times a year. But she never goes a visit without trying to bribe me to move back at least once.

I had an amazing childhood growing up. Two loving parents who did everything they could to push and support me. We went on yearly vacations as a family, they put me in the different sports I wanted to try, they were always encouraging. But as I got older, I wanted to try something new, and so I moved to Chicago. I knew I wanted to do something in advertising, so when I saw the job open up to be an assistant, I applied for it, wanting to get the experience, which has been great.

“Oh damn, don’t turn yet, but at your 6 o’clock is as sexy as hell man whose eyes won’t leave you.”

“No way, where?” Moving my body to turn, I quickly freeze when Melanie tsks.

“I said, don’t turn yet.”

Huffing, I slump in my seat. “Fine, tell me when I can.”

“When I tell you, turn and find the man in the gray pinstripe pants with the white shirt that has rolled-up sleeves. He’s sitting at the bar. He hasn’t been able to take his eyes off you since he sat down.” She takes another sip of her drink before she rushes out, “Okay, look.”

Twisting my head, I look at each person sitting at the bar, not seeing anyone wearing a gray suit. My eyes continue to scan until they lock eyes with familiar ice blue ones, a shiver instantly forcing its way through my body. My eyes widen in surprise when I notice Alexander sitting at the bar.

Fuck, he looks so good. I’ve always thought he was sexy, but right now, he’s downright sinful. He’s wearing his gray suit from earlier, but his jacket is off, and his sleeves are rolled up to his elbow. His chestnut brown hair is wild, probably from running his hands through it all day. He has a short beard that I wouldn’t mind feeling rub between my legs.

He smirks at me, lifting his glass in the air, and I smile back, offering him a wink. Facing Melanie, I take a gulp of my drink before muttering out, “That’s Alexander.”

“Really? Ooo. Boss man Alexander? Damn Elias, I can see why your dick is always hard for him,” she jokes, patting my hand that’s resting on the table.

“I know.” I groan. “Who knows how I’m able to get any work done.” Sneaking a peek, I look over again, noticing that Alexander is still glancing our way.

“Fuck it. I’m going to say hi,” I mumble. Standing up, I slowly make my way through the crowd of tables to reach the bar, stopping when I get to him.

“Fancy meeting you here,” I say as I stand in front of him.

“Elias.” I swear he purrs my name, making me melt. The deep timbre of his voice plays through my head each time I jerk myself off, and now I have another one to add to my list.

“Alexander. I thought you were going to go home and watch a movie, maybe fall asleep on the couch. Isn’t that what old men your age do?” I taunt, internally smiling when the spot between his eyebrows creases.

“I’m not old.” He scoffs, taking a sip of his drink.

“You’re older than me.”

“By eleven years, and it’s not that old.”

Whistling quietly, I say, “that’s more than a decade. Wow. And how do you know how old I am?”

“You literally belted out that Taylor Swift song on your birthday the whole damn day, but instead of saying twenty-two, you kept singing twenty-four.” Laughing, I nod my head, remembering when I celebrated the whole day, loudly, right outside his office, trying to get his attention. I decorated my desk with balloons and streamers and even wore a birthday sash with a tiara. It worked because Alexander ended the workday with a small cake and candles, singing me happy birthday, just the two of us.

“Oh yeah. So, what are you doing out here on a Friday night?” The seat next to him is empty, so I sit down, my body closer to his. The urge to reach out and touch him is strong, but I resist, keeping my hands to myself.

“Meeting up with my friend Marcus. He’ll be here any second. What about you?”

“Hanging out with Melanie. She’s sitting at the table over there.” I point to Melanie, laughing when she gives us a little wave. “Saw you sitting here, so figured I would come say hi.”

“I thought you said you were going out clubbing?” He raises his eyebrow, and fuck, could he be any sexier?

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