Page 12 of Devil in the Details
He grinned. “I like that you don’t mince your words. It’s refreshing, especially when I deal daily with people having their noses up my ass and spouting off their bullshit.”
I laughed softly. “I wouldn’t know anything about people kissing my ass, but I definitely know all about the bullshit part.” I shrugged. We hadn’t really talked about personal stuff, but I still felt like I knew Pope. It was a little unnerving, but I also kind of liked it.
“Count yourself lucky,” he said seriously. He glanced down at his glass. I followed his line of vision to where his hand rested on the base of his glass.
“So what did you want to be honest with me about?” I could only imagine how this would go, how he’d tell me this was nice but he wasn’t looking for anything serious.
“When David brought up the whole blind date thing, the only reason I agreed was because he asked—well, pestered me about it really. I wasn’t interested in finding anyone. I wasn’t interested in dating in general.”
And here it was. Might as well be honest with him too. But not before I finished off this beer and ordered something else to soften the blow.
“I get it.” This kind of sucked, if I were being honest. “When Michael set this up, I wasn’t looking forward to it. My life is so.... hectic right now that getting involved with anyone but myself is kind of a disaster waiting to happen.” I shrugged, looked for the waitress, and signaled her over when she was done with the table she was helping.
I looked back at Pope. He watched me like he... knew me. And although I was being honest about not wanting a relationship, I was having such a great time that I actuallywould’ve loved to spend more time with him, even if my life was legit a wreck right now.
“I get it. Believe me.”
Silence filled the space between us, as if we both knew being in a relationship wasn’t really what we wanted at the moment. Although I didn’t admit I’d like to see him again, that I was having a great time and almost questioning whether I actually did want a relationship right now. Because that would be stupid. That would be insane.
He cleared his throat and shifted a little bit, bringing his glass to his mouth and taking a long drink. He was milking the hell out of it, whereas I was sucking them down like I was in the Mojave Desert dying of thirst.
“So what do you do?” Here we go. Time to be honest and tell him that I was unemployed, because I’d gotten fired and had been turned down at two interviews in the same day.
“Well, I’m actually in-between jobs right now, but by trade I’m an administrative assistant.” That sounded way fancier than saying personal assistant or secretary.
He gave me a genuinely warm smile, and I brought the glass to my mouth and finished off my beer. Where was the damn waitress? I needed a refill STAT.
“Administrative assistant... that takes some patience.”
“You’re telling me,” I mumbled under my breath. “What about you?”
“I’m a CFO.”
“CFO? Sounds important,” I said honestly.
He chuckled deeply. “Chief financial officer. I manage and oversee my company’s investment portfolio, as well as many other things that fall under the finance umbrella.”
Yeah. He was important at his business.
“But honestly, a lot of the time, it’s just a bunch of people kissing ass, because they think it’s going to help them in the long run.”
I nodded, understanding fully. “So you’re into numbers?” The look he gave me told me he was.
“Yeah, ever since I was little. I’m pretty good at them, so I figured I might as well make a career out of it.”
“Makes sense.” I smiled and felt my cheeks heat, which had a little to do with how I felt toward Pope, and a lot to do with me drinking. “So where do you work? I assume the financial district. Michael didn’t say much of anything before the blind date, to be honest. I got your first name and that was it.”
He chuckled. “Yeah, same thing I got from David. I do work in the financial district. The clothes give it away?”
I shrugged and smiled. “A little.”
He opened his mouth, presumably to tell me where he worked, but the waitress showed up just in that moment. Thank God. I needed another drink, because I was starting to feel antsy. It wasn’t a bad kind of nervousness, but the kind you felt when you were having a really good time with a really attractive guy.
“Can I get another beer?” I pushed over my empty glass and looked at Pope. I was hoping he’d get another one as well so I didn’t feel like such a lush.
He lifted his glass and nodded. “Another one, please.”
For the next hour, we talked about anything and everything, although I was pretty closed off on the personal side of things, as was he. And I liked it that way. I knew getting to know someone and what made them tick was pretty important on a first date, but I wasn’t about to admit I’d been fired or any of the other stuff that followed.
