Page 73 of Not As Advertised

“So you’re not seeing Abbie, then? Shit. Is that why she applied to my team?” Ethan looked increasingly worried by the minute.

“Okay, yes. We are seeing each other. It’s serious. I haven’t had a chance to figure out how to approach Jack about ityet. And no, Abbie definitely applied to your team of her own volition.” It was hard for me to wait while Ethan collected his thoughts.

“Shit, man. This is bad. You know that, right? You could blow up your career. And hers! What are you going to do?” Ethan scrubbed his hands over his face, clearly dismayed at all the ways this could blow up.

“I need time to make a plan. And we both need time to make sure this works for both of us.”

“I’m not going to tell anyone about this. It’s not my business. As far as I’m concerned, I never saw you here. But that’s only a temporary fix. You need to decide what you really want here. If you’re not in this for the long haul, you need to break it off with her before it becomes impossible for you to work together. If it isn’t already.” Ethan’s expression said he was dead serious.

“I know. I’m trying. I don’t want to hurt her. I care about her.”

“Well, you need to decide how much you care about her. Sooner than later. It’s only a matter of time before someone notices something between you two at work, and then the shit will hit the fan.”

I nodded, knowing what Ethan said to be true. My gut plummeted at the thought of things going south at work or having to give up Abbie.

“I’m a vault. Now, go back to your girl. Be careful, okay?” Ethan gave me a friendly slap on the shoulder before he turned to leave.

“Thanks, man.” I waved goodbye as we went in opposite directions.

Once I was back inside the restaurant, I saw Abbie ready with her bag around her shoulder, looking ready to go. We didn’t speak as I tipped and signed the receipt.

It wasn’t until we were back inside the parking garage, getting into the car, that I broke the silence.

“It’s going to be okay,” I tried to reassure her.

Wrapping her arms around herself, she looked back at me with red-rimmed eyes. I could see tears forming as she tried to blink them back.

“How can you say that?” she whispered.

“Ethan doesn’t care that we’re together. He promised me that he would keep this confidential. From what I’ve seen over the past months, he’s a good person. I believe him. He’s not going to tell anyone. He’s okay. And we’re okay.” My tone held a hint of the desperation that I felt now that there was a chance of her walking away.

Abbie closed her eyes for a moment, taking some deep breaths. When she opened them again, her expression still looked worried, but she released her arms and laid her arm across the console, offering me her hand.

It meant so much to me that she would reach out first, as she often waited for me to set the tone when it came to affection. A tightness in my chest released when I grasped her hand.

“What do you want to do? If you need some space, I can drive you home?” I left it as a question because I did not want her to be alone tonight. She’d talk herself out of our relationship by morning. But I would take her back to her apartment if that’s what she wanted.

I wanted her to come home with me, even if that wasn’t the smart choice. But that felt selfish to say. We’d skirted some serious consequences tonight, and instead of scaring me off, I wanted to keep her more than ever.

“What if I don’t want to be alone?” she asked quietly.

“Then we’ll go back to my house, and we’ll just sleep tonight. I just want to hold you. Do you want that?” I squeezed her hand, feeling the relief rush through my body.

“Yes. Please.”

The drive home saw us both lost in our thoughts. The comfortable silence of earlier in the evening now had an edge to it. I hoped with a little distance from tonight’s upset that Abbie would see that nothing bad would come of Ethan finding out about us.

Once we arrived back at my place, the quiet continued as we got ready for bed. It wasn’t until we were under the bedcovers with my arms around her that Abbie broached the topic again.

“Do you think we need to do anything different at work?”

“I don’t think so. I barely see you as it is. We can just be careful like we have been.”

Since we had begun our relationship, I had been consciously monitoring how much time I spent out on the floor with the various teams. I’d been taking a lot more meetings in my office when it was possible.

“I’m not sure anyone will miss your ‘daily rounds.’” A tiny smile appeared on her lips for the first time since we left the restaurant.

“I’m not really that bad, am I?”

---