Page 20 of Bound By Words

The office douchebag, Trent, had been hitting on the newer female employees again, and it was painful to watch him continuously get shot down when he started not so humbly bragging about himself. He’d tried his moves on me several times in the last few years, and I was glad he was leaving me alone for once. I wasn’t into men almost ten years younger than me, and not ones with arrogance issues like his.

As I scrolled through the notes, Tom had emailed me regarding his upcoming paternity leave, a hand settled at the small of my back and startled me.

“You’re supposed to be having fun.” The hair on the back of my neck stood up as I tried to lean away from the touch, turning to glare at Trent. “What’re you drinking? I’ll buy you another one.” He nodded toward my empty glass, the one old-fashioned I’d indulged in, drained with a rapidly melting ice cube in the bottom.

“I’m good. I don’t need another one. Just some water.” Not wanting to be outright rude to him, knowing that he could get belligerent if he thought he was being dismissed, I turned on my stool, subtly dislodging his hand from my back in the process.

He waved toward the bartender, catching his attention as I scooted my stool away, hopefully discouraging his wandering hands.

“The lady will take another. Put both on my tab.” Trent gestured to my empty glass.

Frowning at his inability to listen, I placed my hand over my empty glass. “I’m done. Just a glass of water, please.” The bartender glanced between us, taking in my tense posture, and grabbed my empty glass, placing it beneath the bar top. He pulled out a clean glass, filled it with ice, and used the tap to fill it with water.

Trent scowled at the bartender as he gave me a wink and disappeared to the next waiting customer. “Oh, come on, I know we have work, but it wouldn’t kill you to relax a little.”

“I’ve got a lot on my plate and can’t afford to be hungover tomorrow. I know where my limits are.”

“Hmmm,” he nodded, leaning in close as his fingers grazed the back of my hand where it rested on the bar. “We could always get out of here, and I can test those limits. But don’t worry. I’ll make sure to tuck you into bed early.”

While I was sure those lines worked for him with drunk women who didn’t know better, I wasn’t interested, and certainly not when I watched him try to work the room for the last hour and get shot down. I wasn’t desperate or lonely enough to fall for his charm––what little he did have. And I definitely didn’t want him to know where I lived.

“I think I’m fine on my own.” Grabbing my water, I downed half the glass and pulled up the Uber app on my phone, requesting a ride. There was no way I’d risk walking to the closest L station without Tom to keep me company when Trent was hitting on me again. I didn’t think he’d try something, but I’d heard enough stories to be wary of his temper tantrums. “Early day tomorrow, but I know how to tuck myself in.”

“Doesn’t it get lonely pining after a man who isn’t available?”

Fuck. Just because I spent a lot of time with Tom didn’t mean I was interested in him like that. People around the office had thought I was dating Thomas a few years ago, but he reminded me too much of Evan back then. He was awkward and kept to himself, preferring to email people rather than speaking face-to-face. He’d changed a lot in the last five years, but sometimes I still got glimpses of the slightly insecure twenty-seven-year-old he’d been when I first met him.

“He’s my friend and married—to my other friend. Don’t believe every piece of office gossip you hear—or start.”

“Could have fooled me. He seemed pretty adamant that you take over as interim department head while he was out. Plenty of other people who were just as qualified would have appreciated having a chance, but he didn’t even take open requests.”

“Trent, just…don’t. Don’t start this fight. I’ve been with the company just as long as Tom has and have seniority over you and everyone else in our division. This wasn’t nepotism. This was a hierarchy, and I have several more years under my belt than you do.” And was almost a decade older than him.

Trent had joined the company two years ago, fresh out of grad school, and his work ethic was solid, but he was an arrogant jerk who bragged about every successful project he’d worked on since he started. His questionable behavior around the women of our office hadn’t earned him any friends either.

“Nepotism, my ass,” he grumbled and opened his mouth to respond further, but luckily, my phone chimed, indicating my ride was here.

“As lovely as this has been, my ride awaits.” Gathering up my purse and work bag, I slid a twenty across the bar to cover my drink and took off toward the exit before Trent could follow.

When I looked back, he glared at me from his place at the bar, clearly not liking that I’d blown him off again, but some people couldn’t take the hint.

The next morning, I came in early and got to work, going through all the notes in my inbox and trying to ignore the text thread from Nathan. He’d been a frequent star in my dreams as of late, and I knew I needed to forget what happened, or at least move on. But two months later, I was still desperately single, and my only prospects were the office asshole and my vibrator. As I unlocked my phone again, I scanned through the last messages, wishing we’d left the line of communication open. I could use someone to talk to.

“Hey.”

Startling, I locked the screen and tossed my phone onto a folder sitting on my desk. Right…I should be working. Not daydreaming about the best sex I’d ever had with a man who was so sexy I couldn’t think straight. Who also lived halfway across the country and was probably off seducing other women with his dangerous neckties. That’d be something not good to do while on the clock.

“Hey!” I knew my voice was overly bright, and Thomas would see right through me, but I needed to stop obsessing over Nathan. Move on with my life. Like that was even possible. “How are you? Charley about to pop yet?”

Thomas was technically my boss, but we’d started at the tech company we worked for around the same time. His wife was pregnant––essentially going to go into labor any minute––but still adorable, one of those women who glowed with pregnancy and only had a modest bump that made you think she was five months pregnant, not nearly full term. She’d recently gone on maternity leave, her job as a Human Resources manager in our company being temporarily filled until she could return to work in a few months. She was also a managing partner’s daughter, but luckily, she didn’t flaunt her status as the boss’ daughter, often poking fun at his expense. Her bright and bubbly nature was the antithesis of her stoic father.

“Any time now,” he laughed, tapping his hand on the doorframe. “Can I check in with you real quick? I know you’ve got it handled, but contracts are signed with the Jacobsen Group, and I need to make sure you’re up to speed before I’m out for the next few weeks.”

“Sure,” I nodded. “Your office or mine?”

He stepped toward my desk, tossing the folder he’d been holding into the center and sitting on the edge of my desk. I was lucky he wasn’t a hardass like some other department heads. Charley even joked that I was his work wife since we constantly contacted each other for various time-sensitive projects.

“These are the latest updates on what their people sent over for the infrastructure they’d like built with their online ordering system. I talked with the guys in IT, and they’ve guaranteed that they can get the coding work done on time, but you know how it goes with debugging. I need you to stay on their asses while I’m gone. Make sure that no one drops any balls here. Or Deacon will have my balls.”

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