Page 11 of Secretary Crush
Hudson leans forward, putting his hand on mine and stopping me from flipping through the cards for the numbers. Immediately, my blood begins to boil, and it tingles my skin where we’re touching.
He looks over his shoulder at Marvin. “Why would Ella be calling your wife?”
“Ugh?” Marvin says, “Because my wife is nicer to her than me?”
Hudson shakes his head. “Ella is not here to handle your personal business. Call your wife yourself, and don’t ever let me catch you asking her for a personal favor again on the clock. She’s not getting paid to talk to your wife on your behalf, Marv.”
“Yes, sir,” Marvin says, backing out of the office.
Now that the two of us are alone, Hudson’s dark eyes land on mine, and that’s when he realizes his hand is still on mine. He releases it and sits back. “Don’t let them use you, Ella. Calling their wives is not in your job description.”
I offer a smile. “I know.” I shrug. “I just like to help wherever I can.”
“I know that, and they know that, and they will use that to their advantage. Don’t let them,” he says, narrowing his eyes on me. I press my lips together and nod, and that’s when I see his eyes fall from mine. They run down my face, neck, and land on my chest for only a moment. Then he’s standing and retreating from the office, leaving me all kinds of hot and bothered.
* * *
I walkinto the bar and grill after work with the plan of ordering some dinner and taking it home to eat. Taking a seat at the bar, I pick up a menu.
“Hi, hun. What can I get ya?” the bartender asks.
“Oh, I’ll just have a beer while I look over the menu.”
She nods. “Coming right up.”
She slides a beer over to me while I decide. I’ve finally been paid and want to splurge a little since I’ve been living off fifty-cent packs of noodles and cereal. I end up ordering a steak, baked potato, steamed vegetables, and a slice of peach cobbler for dessert. I get another beer while I wait because I figure it will be pretty boring since the bar is busy, and it will probably take them a while to get to my order. But I soon discover I was wrong when all the guys—except for Hudson—arrive at the bar and insist I come sit with them at the big round table right in front of the empty stage. There is no live entertainment tonight, but they’re taking turns playing pool, darts, and many of them are up and down as they talk with other people, order drinks, and play the jukebox.
“It’s about time we ran into you away from work,” Tony says, lifting his glass of beer and taking a sip.
“Why’s that?”
“Boss man won’t let us ask you out for drinks,” Marvin says.
“Really? Why?” My brows draw together.
“He thinks we’re going to run you off,” Tony says.
“Yeah,” Zane agrees. “He thinks one of us is going to trick you into the sack or something and then break it off. Making you quit.” He shakes his head. “But I mean, Marvin is married, I have a girlfriend, and Ryan is about to have a baby with his girlfriend. So really, it must be Tony, Rodney, or Scout that he doesn’t trust.” He looks at Tony and laughs.
Tony reaches out and shoves his shoulder. “He knows you can’t keep it in your pants to save your life, so a girlfriend isn’t going to stop that,” Tony says.
“All right, how about we settle this once and for all,” I tell them.
They all get quiet and look my way. “No offense, but I’m not interested in any of you.”
Some of them roll their eyes while the others laugh or grumble about it.
“I just got out of a relationship, and I’m not looking for another. And before you say it, no, I’m not looking to hook up either. So let’s just all be buddies, huh? If you guys are going out for a beer after work, ask me. No harm, no foul. Deal?”
They nod in agreement.
We all take turns buying a round for the table. With seven of us, we each get one beer out of a pitcher so the pitchers go down fast and easy. When my food comes up, I pay for the next pitcher, and I tell Tony he can have my beer. They all try talking me into staying for another drink, but I blow them off by telling them a hot steak sounds better than hanging out with them, and since none of them can argue with that, I end up walking out almost an hour after I entered.
Once I get home, I waste no time digging into my food. I change into a comfy pair of pajamas, turn on a good movie, and eat everything from the comfort of my couch. By the time the movie is over, the food is gone, and I’m so stuffed I can’t even move. I end up falling asleep on the couch, and I sleep late into the day on Saturday.
Not having to work weekends is nice, so I spend a lot of my free time with Zoe. The two of us do some shopping, get coffee and donuts from the local bakery, and have a few late-night drinks. As much fun as I have over the weekend, a part of me still can’t wait to get to work. I’m dying to lay my eyes on Hudson and his hard muscles again.
8
