Page 26 of The Temptation
Our conversation wandered away from the personal, and we discussed the firm’s current active client list, projects we were overseeing, and other issues. Nothing too serious. I avoided sharing with my father that I would be handling some legal matters for Simon.
As we drew near the end of the hour, my father pushed to his feet, and we strolled out of my office.
“You know, I was thinking that we should have an office mixer while I’m in town,” Father declared as he passed by Marie’s office, and loud enough for several other people to hear. I could have strangled him. “You’ve hired several new people since I was last here. It would give me a chance to meet them as well as chat with some of the senior members of the firm.”
“I didn’t think you and Mom were planning to remain in Cincinnati that long,” I replied, trying hard not to sound like I was clenching my teeth.
“I figured we’d stay at least two weeks. That would give you plenty of time to hire someone to pull it all together. Nothing too fancy. Just all the members of the company plus significant others.”
And there it was. That sneaky bastard.
He wanted to see if I would bring in Simon to meet everyone I worked with, introduce him as my boyfriend.
“We’ll have to see what can be arranged on such short notice. Not to mention, I don’t know if Simon would be able to make it. He has performances almost every weekend.”
“Informal. Informal,” Father repeated, waving a hand in the air. “Drinks and some finger foods after work one day. Maybe a predinner nosh. It’ll be during the week. Of course Simon can make it.”
Before I could give any further warnings or make more excuses, my father had his coat on and was out the door, claiming he was off to make sure my mother didn’t empty the bank account with her shopping.
That was a master at work.
His entire purpose in visiting the office had been to arrange this mixer under the guise of meeting everyone at this branch, while in truth, he’d wanted to see if I’d be brave enough to introduce Simon as my boyfriend. This wasn’t about me being gay. While I hadn’t made a general announcement about my sexual orientation, I had never hidden it. Since moving to Cincinnati, I had never once introduced a coworker to someone I was dating.
The bonus would be that my parents would have another opportunity to chat with Simon and make sure that we were a good fit.
Now, I had to go to Simon and tell him he’d been right about a lot of things. We were going to need more cute-couple pictures for social media, and I had to borrow him for this office party. He was going to be thrilled, but would Sawyer have been as understanding? Was I really sticking to my promise to keep my distance? This was a friend helping another friend out. We hadn’t crossed any lines.
It was fine. Everything was going to be fine.
8
SIMON MILLER
The Cincinnati Art Museumglowed against the night sky as I walked beside Pierce up the front stairs and into the elegant building already filled with other museum and art patrons. Tonight, they were holding a special silent auction to benefit a charity that focused on homelessness in the area. Apparently, Pierce had volunteered to appear on behalf of his firm, and I was now tagging along as his very special plus-one. He might have also informed me that there had been a fresh development with his parents that he needed to discuss in person.
This was a positive development for me, since he could have texted to say that the arrangement hadn’t worked and that it was now finished.
“How has rehearsal been?” Pierce asked politely as we moved past the foyer, where people were dropping off their coats at the coat check.
“Not bad.” I pulled my phone from my pocket and snapped a few quick pictures of the elegantly designed sign announcing the charity silent auction. Tables covered in white cloths held beautiful flower displays and delicate crystal flutes filled with sparkling champagne.
“That’s it. Are your coworkers causing problems for you?”
A giggle left me, and I paused in the act of returning my phone to my pocket. Instead, I lifted it and snapped a picture of a scowling Pierce. “And what if someone is bullying me? Are you going to threaten to beat them up?”
Pierce stopped walking and used his impressive height to tower menacingly over me. “Do I need to?”
Fuck, I loved his overprotective streak. The man looked as if he were ready to march out of the art museum, drive straight to the perpetrator’s house, and beat the shit out of him. Or at the very least, threaten him with a nasty lawsuit. The wicked part of me wanted to see him do it.
“Settle down.” I chuckled while trying to ignore the delicious tingles running through my body. Would it be wrong of me to pull him into some secluded corner of the museum and kiss the shit out of him? Not that Pierce would let me, but I so wanted to try. “There’s nothing for you to get worked up about. Any animosity there might have been has worked itself out. Rehearsals are boring. As a soloist, I do most of my practicing alone. I join in the rehearsals during the last couple of days because there’s no need for me to be there while the rest of the orchestra gets their shit together.”
A low, huffed laugh from Pierce drew my gaze to his face. A subtle smirk had replaced his scowl, and his features had relaxed. “And you don’t think any lingering animosity might be linked to your attitude?”
“What? Because they have to get their shit together?” We stopped at a table covered with a pristine white cloth. Pierce picked up a champagne flute and handed it to me, giving me a glimpse of the amusement still lingering in his eyes.
“Yes.”
“But I’m right. They do. So do I, of course, but I just have to get some notes from the conductor about how he wishes to interpret a certain piece. Then I can go practice on my own. Therest of the orchestra needs to play together to get in line with the conductor’s expectations. There have been a few mouthy people who think that I need to waste my time by there being for everything.”
