Page 23 of Small Town CEO Grump

I looked at Jenna and before I could catch myself, I winked at her. She blushed and giggled, and I had to force myself to look away.

Thankfully the dessert came at that moment, and we all focused our attention on devouring our treats.

We walked out to the parking lot together, and before they left we decided that I would meet them at the park on Saturday morning so Tyler and I could work on pitching.

As I drove away I knew that I was already counting down to Saturday.

Chapter 8

Jenna

“When you say formal, how formal does it need to be?” I asked.

Ryan and I were sitting in his office, and he had just asked me to help finish the final plans for a formal fundraiser that would be taking place in three weeks.

“Black tie,” Ryan said. “The men will be wearing tuxes, and the women will be wearing evening gowns.”

“Okay,” I said. “ And Addie has everything arranged already? I just have to make sure her plans are carried out?”

Ryan told me that his assistant in New York had a family emergency and had to go to California for a month to help out. She had already done the work of planning the event, and he assured me that I would have no trouble stepping in to make sure it all came together. I was surprised that he was having me do it rather than someone else in the New York office, but he told me that he trusted me more than anyone.

I had agreed to do it, but I was a bit overwhelmed. I knew that I would be spending that weekend in New York city again, but rather than taking Tyler with me I would have him stay with my parents.

“Yes,” Ryan answered. “She has everything taken care of. This is her seventh year in a row of planning the event, and so she knows exactly what will work and what won’t. She already has everything laid out for you, and once you call her and talk to her I know you will be set.”

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. I knew I would be able to handle it, but I also knew there was a lot of pressure. It was a well-known event, and I didn’t want to do anything that would throw the evening off.

“Okay then, I will call her this afternoon. You said she’s in meetings until noon today?” I asked, my tone professional. I was ready to get started on the task at hand.

“Yes,” Ryan answered. “But there is one last thing we need to discuss.”

I had started to stand up, but I could sense by the tone of his voice that I should sit back down.

“Okay, what’s that?” I asked, suspiciously.

“This is the sort of event where everyone comes with a date. You need to have a date, and I need to have a date. Now, since we hang out so often and clearly get along, in a normal situation it would make sense for you to be my date to the event. However, this isn’t a normal situation. I am technically your boss, and it would be more than a little inappropriate for me to take you as my date to the event.”

I nodded, knowing that he was right. My mind started racing, trying to decide who I could ask to be my date for the event. I had a lot of friends, but I would have to ask him to fly to New York for this, so it had to be someone very understanding.

I looked up and realized that Ryan was waiting for me to respond.

“Sorry,” I said. “I was just thinking about what you said. And I agree with you. We can’t be each other’s dates to the event. Even though we know that there is nothing going on between us, it would definitely give the wrong impression.”

Ryan nodded. “I’m glad you agree. That will hopefully help make this next question a little less awkward.”

I raised my eyebrows, waiting to see what Ryan would say.

“I need you to help me find a date,” he said.

“What?” I asked, thoroughly confused. “Why do you need me to help you find a date? Surely you can find your own dates. I’m sure there is a long list of women who would want to go with you.”

Ryan shook his head. “No,” he said. “I don’t really date much. I was dating someone a few years ago, but she wanted to settle down and get married, and I knew that was not something I was ready for. I had too much that I wanted to focus on with work, and I didn’t have the time or energy to be a good husband for someone. She was understandably angry, and we broke up on pretty bad terms. I have not dated anyone since then.”

“I see,” I said. “Who have you taken with you to events like this in the past?”

“Different friends of mine,” he answered. “But I can’t take them again. See, the press will be there to cover this. They are going to take pictures of me and my date, and they will want to know her name. Whoever goes with me will need to understand that it just comes with the territory. They usually just print the pictures and move on to another story. However, I know that if I were to show up at the event with someone I have taken to another event, the press will assume that she is now my girlfriend. They will hound her and hound me, and it will become a huge distraction.”

“Oh my,” I said. “That clears things up. I can see how that can be tricky!”

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