Page 6 of The Anti-Bachelorette (The Anti-Bachelorette 1)

Chapter 3

The next few days are a lot more of the same. Me and Alaric fight at work, and he never mentions he will be home after work, so we are always in the kitchen together every night cooking separate meals. There is so much tension between us every night, but the weird part is how well he gets along with my dad.

You’d never be able to tell he is such an ass if you only saw him interacting with my dad. They joke around every night, especially when they are reminiscing about things they used to do in the past. The only way I can tell he’s still an ass is how he pretends I am not even sitting at the table with them.

Whenever my dad will bring the conversation over to me, Alaric will just glare at me the whole time. Then his smile will return as soon as it is just him and my dad talking again.

After a couple of days of this, I tell my dad I have plans for the next couple days, so I don’t just have to sit with them for dinner every night. I don’t feel too bad about lying to my dad since I know Alaric can cook just fine for the both of them.

Luckily, the job site has been pretty busy the last couple days as well, so I haven’t had to see Alaric much at all. Today has slowed down quite a bit because a lot of our contractors don’t work Fridays. I am finishing up payroll before I leave for the day when I hear my office door open.

I glance up from my work and see Alaric taking a seat across from me. He props his dirty boots up on my desk like he usually does. I just give him a disgusted look.

He doesn’t seem to care like usual and just grins back at me. “You’ve been avoiding me.”

I roll my eyes at him. “Yeah. Pretty sure everyone avoids you. It’s intentional. Maybe you should take a hint and stop bothering me.”

He just smiles back at me like my hateful words somehow please him. “Oh, so Tyler can come sneak in here three times today, but I can’t have a few seconds of your time?” He winks at me.

He’s in an unusually good mood today. I give him a funny look and just shrug. “He had some paperwork for me that I needed filled out."

Alaric lifts an eyebrow at me. “It took him three times to get it right huh? You that bad at giving directions?”

I let out a frustrated noise. “The first time he was here I gave him the papers. The second time he was returning the papers. The last time was just to say goodbye before the weekend. I know it’s hard for you to understand, but the guys here actually like me.”

Alaric just smirks again like that is ridiculous. I narrow my eyes at him. “Did you need something? I am trying to finish this up so I can get out of here.”

He crosses his arms over his chest, and my eyes automatically check out the way it pushes his muscles up. Ugh, why does he have to have such nice arms? I quickly move my eyes back to my computer to continue finishing up my work.

“Maybe I just came to say goodbye for the weekend too.”

My eyes shoot back over to his, and I narrow mine. “What are you really doing here Alaric?” I grit out.

He just smiles back at me. “Just wanted to make sure Tyler wasn’t still in here. Can’t have anything scandalous going on in one of my sites.”

My mouth literally drops open. “Get out.”

He doesn’t make a move to leave. “I swear to God Alaric, if you don’t leave right now, I am going to lose it.”

He just smiles even bigger at me and gets up. He puts his hands up in defence. “What? It’s not like you are trying to hide it. You are all over him all the time.”

I push my chair back as I stand and place my hands flat on my desk. “I am not all over anyone. I have been nothing but professional with all of the guys. Me and Tyler are friends. Deal with it. I don’t understand why you are obsessing over the matter anyway. What does it matter to you?”

He takes his hard hat off and sets it on the table, and then he runs his fingers through his hair. I hate how masculine he looks at the end of the work day.

He has dirt on his hands and face, and his hands look all cut up and calloused. His shirt sticks to his sweaty body and his hair is ruffled from his hard hat and sweat. For some reason, Tyler never looks this way at the end of the day. He still looks all put together like the pretty boy he is. Wait what? What was that thought? I never thought of Tyler as a pretty boy before. I’ve always been attracted to Tyler. I don’t know why Alaric is messing with my head right now.

Alaric turns back and looks at me. “It doesn’t matter to me. Your dad told me to keep an eye on you though. I’d do anything for him, so if that means I have to stop in at the end of the day to make sure pretty boy isn’t feeling you up in here, then I’ll do it.”

He did not just say that. I ball my hands into fists. “This conversation never happened. You are going to walk out of this door and only are to come back in if it is business related. My personal life is none of your business.”

Alaric just smiles at me, but then he winks and says, “Have a good weekend Emory,” and then he walks out the door. The second he is out the door, I reach for my phone and call my dad. He answers on the second ring. “Hey Emory! What’s up?”

My voice comes out angrier than I want to, but I can’t help it. Alaric just rubs me the wrong way. “Did you tell Alaric to check up on me?”

My dad just laughs. “Sure sweetie. Now that I am not around to look after you, I asked the man I trust most to check in on you every now and then.”

My mouth is just hanging open. “Dad! I am not a little girl. I don’t need anyone looking after me. What if I didn’t work for you? Would you go track down someone at my work to look after me then?”

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