I laughed. Well, this would be fun.
5
ALEX
There was something seriously wrong with me. As soon as the office door shut behind Jake and Thomas, I sank into the nearest chair, trying not to hyperventilate. Being that near Jake again set off a fire beneath my skin. I hadn’t expected it. I was normally a lot better at compartmentalizing than this, but it was hard when I could still feel his touch.
What made everythingworsewas the other two men I couldn’t get out of my head. Zach Wagner, serious and gorgeous but with a smile that could light up an entire room, and Thomas Porter, the one with the mischievous glint in his eye that made my stomach feel tight. I wasn’t the girl who got fluttery overeveryhot guy who ran across my path. I had never had a crush on someone at the same time I was dating someone else.
If anything, I was a serial monogamist.
But to be so strongly attracted to threevery differentmen at the same time? I was so outside my comfort zone, and I should just let it go because nothing can happen with these men... but my stomach had practically dropped into my knees when Jake walked into the room. Being close to Thomas for the last couple of hours made my skin feel tight.
I need air, I thought. I looked over my work. I could afford a fifteen-minute break. I made sure to leave the stacks of paperwork neat and orderly before leaving the inner office. Trevor was at his desk, looking at shoes on the internet. “Is there somewhere I can buy a candy bar or something?” I asked. “I need a sugar fix.”
Trevor stood and gave me a smile that I imagined he thought was smooth. “There’s a lounge with some machines, but we also have a bunch of free snacks that the board supplies. I can show you where they are.”
“I’m sure I can find it—”
“It’s not a problem!” Trevor insisted. “I could use a walk-around myself.”
The smile on my face wasn’t pretty, and I knew it, but I didn’t know how else to get rid of him without being outright rude. Trevor wasn’t my type, but I did have eyes. He was, objectively, a good-looking guy, and most women would swoon if he smiled their way. “Sure,” I said. “Thank you.”
Trevor bounded around the desk, looking very much like an overexcited puppy, and my smile relaxed despite my reservations. We left the office, and he led me through the firm, dodging busy people here and there, until we came to the employee lounge.
I was expecting some kind of table and a kitchenette setup. It’s what we had at the production company’s executive office, and surely, office buildings were roughly the same in design. But the firm’s lounge was quite big, and while it did have a kitchenette setup, the furniture was comfier.
On the counter were baskets of snacks, chips, and packets of cookies and the like, and Trevor assured me that there were waters and sodas in the fridge. “It’s generous to provide all of this,” I said, digging through the chips until I found a flavor I liked.
Trevor scoffed. “It’s the least they can do,” he said. “In some cases, we go on 24-hour shifts. Thosesuck.”
“I’ve been there,” I said, thinking of some of the nightmare PR events that Tinsley and I had planned. I started pawing through the candy basket and added a few pieces of chocolate to my chips. “So, what led you to an assistant’s job? I worked as a PR assistant...” I looked at him, andhe was clearly staring at my ass. The smile fell from my face. “You can stop that,” I told him. “It won’t get you anywhere.”
Trevor had the decency to look embarrassed at getting caught, but he crooked up his eyebrow in question. “Are you sure? I’ll bet I could show you a really good time.”
“I’m sure,” I mused, “but I’m not interested.”
He took a step toward me. “We’ll see,” he said, his tone edging on cocky.
That sounded... ominous as all hell, I thought, and I was about to call him on it when I heard, “Trevor, go back to Thomas’s office, will you? I’ll make sure to come speak to you about our firm’s harassment policies. I think you need a refresher.” It was Zach Wagner. He was standing in the door, arms crossed over his chest, with a frown marring his face.
Even still, he looked damn good in his slacks and sweater combo. It was corporate casual, and it absolutely worked on him.
Trevor all but rolled his eyes but stomped out of the lounge, nevertheless. “Thanks for that,” I said. “I knew he was going to ask me out, and for a second, I thought he was going to take it gracefully.”
“Men at that age can’t do anything gracefully,” Zach said. “Especially getting turned down by a beautiful woman.”
Beautiful?I was blushing, and I knew it. I could feel the heat in my face. I had never been this bashful in my life. “He’s probably used to it, right?”
Zach hummed. “Unfortunately, there seems to be a large population of young women who find him appealing. Trevor’s big on the kiss-and-tell.”
Well, ew. If I hadn’t already decided that I wasn’t interested, that would have sealed it. “I don’t like having my business spread everywhere.”
Zach agreed with me. “I’m not into gossip either.”
I watched him look through the snack baskets. He pulled the same kind of chips out that I had in my hand. “Well... thank you again for that,” I said again, suddenly awkward. I felt like my skin didn’t quite fit.
I was about to slip out of the room when Zach asked, “How’s your first day going? Besides getting hit on?”