Page 32 of The Guy Who Became My Grumpy Boss

“I have not.”

She let out a long breath. “Good.”

The price of a single ticket was not a financial burden, and I wondered if Jessica was actually worried about something else. I didn’t have the space in my brain to figure it out, so I gestured toward the door. “Shall we?”

Jessica hesitated. She bit her lip, which I’d only seen her dowhen she was particularly stressed, and then nodded as if she’d come to some kind of conclusion. “Okay, but first, I’d like to apologize for my behavior earlier.”

I blinked. She was apologizing to me? “There’s no need.”

She held up her hand. “Yes, there is. I was disrespectful. It won’t happen again.”

Jessica thought she’d been disrespectful? Perhaps she had been, but I’d been too worried about coming apart to notice. Not knowing what else to do, I said, “Okay.”

“Good.”

I moved to the door and held it open for her. Jessica went through, and I stood still for a heartbeat longer than I needed to so I could catch my breath and get back on solid footing.

This was research.

Yes, I was with a woman I admired, but this wasn’t a date. It was for work. If I kept that barrier between Jessica and me, I might survive the next two hours without making a complete fool of myself.

“Welcome to The Catastrophe Course,” a cheery female voice said.

I entered and found myself in a sea of half-destroyed cardboard buildings that came to my chest and realistic monsters ravaging them. A counter occupied the far wall, and two young women wearing identical white shirts that read, “Welcome to the End” in dripping red letters stood behind it.

“Are you waiting for someone else?” one girl asked.

“Just two.” Jessica moved to the counter and pulled her phone out of her pocket.

Instead of letting her pay, I walked up next to her and put a hand on her arm. “Allow me.”

I’d touched Jessica before, and it had always elicited a spark inside of me. I don’t know if it was the fact that we’d fought earlier, or that we were alone and out of the office, but insteadof a spark, a streak of lightning traveled from my finger, up my arm, and into my chest.

Was it possible for someone’s heart to stop in response to a touch? Because I think mine was going to.

“You don’t need to do that,” Jessica said curtly.

“I’ll use my company card,” I said. “This is for work.”

She studied me, and I somehow held her gaze. Her blue eyes were bright, and something I’d never seen before blazed in them. Aggravation maybe.

“Plus, you’re helping me out,” I added softly.

The two girls across the counter were watching intently, and I had no doubt that they would talk about our interaction for the rest of the night. For once, I didn’t care. My focus was on Jessica.

“Fine,” Jessica said through gritted teeth. “But I’m paying for snacks.”

“Work is paying.” I handed the shorter of the two girls my card.

Jessica snorted. “We’ll see.”

I’d heard her laugh with other employees at work, and she expressed herself in a myriad of ways on the Curvy Girl Crew channel, but I’d never actually heard her snort before.

It was adorable, even if she was upset.

The girls behind the counter brought us two clubs and two balls, one pink and one blue. The taller girl pointed to a QR code taped to the counter. “You can keep track of your score in the app. It’s easy to use and better for the environment than the paper scorecards.”

Jessica took a picture of the code and brought the app up. “Got it.”

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