Page 20 of Elevator Pitch

“Don’t be shy now,” he teases.

I chuckle. “Fine. You can join me. You’re better looking than the guy I was expecting anyway. And I won’t tell Estelle you said you don’t have other beautiful neighbors.”

He makes a show of wiping his forehead and sits beside me.

“I owe you one for Estelle. She’d kick my ass.” He pauses and raises his brow. “So, I look better than the other guy? Good to know,” he adds with a wink. I quickly take a bite of a donut and hide my smile behind it.

“Are you unemployed?” I blurt and cover my mouth with the half-bitten donut.

So much for not embarrassing myself.

He gives a quizzical look, and says, “quite the opposite. Why would you ask?”

“I was worried you got in trouble for being late last week.”

He leans back in his seat and crosses his arms.

“You were worried about me? I didn’t get in trouble. I promise.”

I observe him when he’s not looking and quickly wave my mouse to make edits to my draft, finishing the donut with my free hand. I notice him moving, and I peer over to see him pull an oval case from his pocket and slip on a pair of black-framed glasses. I didn’t know it was possible for this man to look even more sexy but fuck.

I need a water hose to drink from right now since this tea just isn’t doing it for me.

I clear my throat to grab his attention.

“Would you excuse me for a moment?”

He nods, and I practically fly out of my chair, quickly shuffling my feet toward the counter to get some ice water.

When the barista hands me the cup, I immediately thank her and resist the urge to dump it over my head and ask for a refill.

I take slow, deep breaths on the trip back to the table and when I pass Greyson, his scent hits me and I want to scream. I feel like I’m ovulating right now and it’s not a good time. I hate that I’m even considering this, but the crippling anxiety sounds a lot better than being aggressively horny in public.

I take my seat and sip my water so I don’t choke because that would be embarrassing. He points at my cup and tells me he would’ve taken care of it. I argue, of course, because that’s what I do. I’m taken aback when he assures me that if I needanything, I can call on him. I’d say he meant it in a literal sense when he pulls out his phone and suggests we exchange numbers but then repeats himself and puts extra emphasis on ‘anything.’I’m pretty sure I just felt my leg shake in response to that. I offer a shy smile and save his contact underSmell Good Man.Acts of service is my love language, and I think he should shut up.

He should shut up right now.

Shut up, Greyson.

As if he can hear my thoughts, he gets quiet and starts typing something on his phone. I take a break from my draft and send a quick message to my team via chat before I resume working. I open a message from Skye, my work bestie, and can’t help but chuckle. She sent a funny meme before Greyson joined me. She always knows when I could use a laugh, a snack, or a distraction. She lives in Houston, and I don’t know what I’d do without her. Black women need other Black women in their lives, especially in corporate America. If nobody here understands me, she does, and I couldn’t be more grateful for our friendship.

I send a laugh reaction and slyly inform her of who’s beside me. When I mentioned last week’s run-in, she was curious if we’d have another.

Me

GIRL.

You remember that neighbor I told you about?

Skye

The man who’s been reading romance novels to impress you?

I’ve been waiting on an update.

Me

That’s the one.

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