Page 12 of His Off-Limits Christmas Gift

But none of that was as bad as the social media hits. Former friends. College buddies. Acquaintances from Rockton.

Everyonewanted to know my business. More precisely, they were on the hunt to know Kyle’s business. And he was the one who had yet to call, text, or otherwise inform me that he had come out and that I no longer had tovaguebookabout why he dumped me at Thanksgiving.

My heartache was one thing. The sheer disappointment and pain from being manipulated for so long was another hurdle to overcome. One day, I was sure I would.

But the rest of the angst I felt after that horrible holiday experience when I lost my love? That lingered and would for a long time.

Love?I tried not to cringe as I sat through this meeting about upcoming company changes that I doubted I’d be around for.

Can I even call itloveanymore since Kyle never actually felt the same for me?

I didn’t know. I didn’t want to dwell on the messy emotions, and I held on to the hope that at least being able to tell everyonewhywe broke up could shut everyone up that much faster.

Staying busy at the Malley office helped immensely. My brain power was used up with the mundane secretarial and assistant-level tasks. Then my imagination was spent on Nate.

I glanced at him again, unable to not know where he was. I felt his presence, somehow. This inexplicable draw couldn’t be just because I had a childish crush on him when I was younger. Even if we weren’t speaking or expected to have a conversation, just knowing he was near both soothed and excited me.

With these confusing and complicated feelings surging through me, I wished this meeting would wrap up sooner rather than later. Sitting and listening to things that didn’t seem all that relevant to me made time drag more. And that was more time to mope.

Finally, it was over. In my haste to get out of this meeting room, I moved my iced coffee cup too quickly and got some of the condensation sprayed over the table top.

Oh, dammit.I dabbed at the mess with all the soggy napkins I had from the café where I’d bought it this morning.

“That meeting sure took longer than I thought it would,” someone said to my right when the meeting concluded. Various people had already started to leave. Others remained, gathering their things. One woman had yet to be woken up. She’d justcome back from maternity leave, I thought, so no one seemed to see an urgency to deprive her of a little catnap.

“What?” I turned to see one of the CEO’s staff members smiling down at me. He was tall, dark, and handsome, and for that reason alone, I’d remembered him as TDH. I had no clue what his name was. “Oh. Yeah, it did go over a few minutes.”

He checked his watch. “Afewminutes? That’s your interpretation of afew?

Shit. I don’t know. Isn’tfewa general saying? I don’t know how long that meeting was supposed to last.

“Um.” I lowered my gaze, confused and feeling put on the spot. “I guess.”

“How would you interpret a glass of wine and an Italian meal?”

I glanced up, furrowing my brow.What?I couldn’t shake off this worry that this was a test or something. Was he talking in code? Wine? What wine?

“Um… Well. Personally, I don’t like wine. I’m more of a beer or whiskey fan. And Italian food has the tendency to cause heartburn, not to mention bad breath with the garlic. So…” I shook my head. “I’m not following.”

He chuckled lightly, tossing his head back a bit as he stood. I did as well, but I kept my distance. I couldnotget a read on this guy. I didn’t report to him, or the CEO. I was firmly under Nate’s department of responsibility, but I didn’t want to talk back to this guy if he could be important. I might not be staying for long, leaving for my job in January, but I didn’t need a bad impression to linger in case of recommendations.

“You’re adorable.”

I pressed my teeth together, fighting back a groan. Adorable? I was professional, dammit.

“I’m talking about dinner, Rachel.” He smiled.

Oh, fuck.

“I’m asking you out.”

The fact that he had to spell it out was pathetic enough.

I was so clueless, taking him literally, that I couldn’t even guess that he was hitting on me!

“Oh.” I wadded up the napkins, feeling like a moron and needing something to do with my hands. I fussed with the soggy mess and looked down at my wet fingers, wishing I could find an answer or a ready reply written there. “Um.”

What the hell do I say?Never mind what I wanted to say. I wasn’t interested. I knew that much for sure. I felt no draw, no spark. Nothing. I felt no inkling of interest for TDH. Not knowing his name had to be a terrible sign.

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