Page 75 of Fierce-Hyde

“Me too,” Drake said.

“I guess,” he said. “I’m just trying to do my job. Little did I know my personal life was going to be out on display so much.”

Hours later, he walked out to get water and saw Raina waving her arm for him to come in.

He supposed he should talk to her more than Ryder, but he knew Raina would tell Tori everything.

This time he learned his lesson and shut the door.

“Yes,” he said.

“Ryder popped his head in and filled me in.”

“Jesus, when did he start to act like a chick with gossip?”

Raina smiled. “No clue.”

“So what is your advice?” he asked. Might as well see what she thought since she’d been part of the matchmaking schemes too.

“I think you do what is in your heart.”

“Thanks for that. Do you think Tori will be upset? I’m not doing anything without talking to her about this. The last thing I need is her upset that I’m trying to get set up with someone else, or that I’m airing out our relationship.”

“I think the smart thing to do is let her know your plans. Do I think she’ll have an issue with it? I don’t. Both of the Fierce men and their wives have talked to Tori and dropped hints. They’ve come to me too and done it just like they’ve been doing to me and Ryder about you.”

He remembered what Diane said to Tori outside his office one day. “Yeah,” he said.

Now he wanted them to know so they could back off of his girlfriend.

“They have been in the past with people I don’t know. But more recently, they’ve been hinting at the two of you.”

“They have?” Hyde asked. “How come I didn’t know this?”

Raina rolled her eyes. “Because you’re slow like most everyone else when it comes to them. But they’ve seen Tori in your office or you two talking. You’re not very secretive about it.”

“I wasn’t trying to be,” he said, frowning.

“There you go. There are a lot of eyes and even louder mouths in this building. My advice to you is to talk to Tori the next time you see her. Decide together, don’t listen to anyone else.”

“Including you?” he asked.

“Including me,” Raina said, smiling.

23

MAKE US STRONGER

Tori was one step into her closet to look for something else to wear and then decided against it.

Hyde said she looked nice today so she might as well stay in her dress.

It was comfortable enough and she did look good.

She felt confident in it too and that was what she needed.

She kicked her shoes off and realized she had a nice sexy vibe going barefoot.

When the buzzer went off, she realized she needed to put shoes on to let Hyde into the building.

---