The Office Rival: An Enemies-to-Lovers Romance

My feet move toward the shoreline, and instantly, cool water graces my skin as I breathe a sigh of relief. Moving further in, my muscles relax as I sink my entire body. A couple of kids are playing in the water not too far away, and on this hot summer day, I can’t think of a better way to pass the time.

Haden is standing on the sandbank, watching me in amusement.

“What?” I yell out. “Worried you’ll get that pretty hairstyle of yours wet?”

Didn’t Vicky say he’s into extreme sports? Not that lake swimming is an extreme sport, but reality is that anything could be lurking in this water.

He takes off his shoes and places them beside mine. Next, he pulls his shirt off, revealing his perfect—and I mean perfect—set of abs. Shit, maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. Wearing only his shorts, he takes his glasses off and hides them in his shoes. Moving toward the edge of the rock, he dives in, causing a huge splash before he resurfaces right beside me.

“FYI, I’m not afraid to get my hair wet,” he says, out of breath and way too close to me.

“Could have fooled me. Thought you were an adrenaline junkie… or what was it your Facebook page said?”

“You’ve stalked me?” He grins, swimming around me like a hunter circling its prey.

“Uh… no, not me. Vicky did. She’s the social media addict.”

“You stalked me,” he gloats.

“I didn’t stalk you. But I have no idea who you are. So yes, Vicky stalked you, and I may have listened, but I want to point out that I resisted.” I’m folding my arms like a petulant child as he continues to grin like he is winning this battle.

Well, two can play at this game.

“Two Yorkshire Terriers… really?” I tease.

“Harry Potter… really, Malone?”

“Wait.” I grin unwillingly. “You’ve stalked me?”

“I had no idea who you are.” His smile remains fixed. “Let’s see, aside from Harry Potter, you’re into swimming, extreme cleaning, and what’s the other thing…” He continues, “Oh, that’s right, you’re obsessed with cats.”

“No, no,” I correct him. “I’m not into cats. I just have a lot of crazy cat-lady friends. Personally, becoming a crazy cat lady is my worst fear.”

He laughs with ease. “You’re too beautiful to be a crazy cat lady.”

I respond quickly to avoid my embarassment, “Didn’t you watch that episode of The Simpsons where they show how Crazy Cat Lady became just that? She was beautiful, graduated with a doctorate and law degree, and then became so burned out she began drinking. She got one cat… then another… and so on.”

His expression remains fixed as he watches me in a curious yet heartwarming way.

“Why are you looking at me that way?”

“You’re cute when you’re quoting The Simpsons.”

“Um… thank you? So anyway, anyone can become a crazy cat lady.”

Continuing to swim circles around me, he appears to be unable to wipe the smirk off his face. I’m not quite sure what’s so funny, but the looming gray clouds followed by thunder in the distance divert my attention.

“Time to get out,” I suggest, eyeing the clouds again. “Plus, I’m hungry.”

“You just ate,” he points out, swimming beside me to the rock.

I walk out slowly and squeeze my dress to wring out the excess water. It’s an excuse to ignore his wet body right beside me. Bending down to grab his shoes, the muscles of his back tense, causing me to lick my lips unknowingly. With quick reflexes, he catches me looking and gives me a wink. Okay, what a cocky thing to do. I let out a huff, then tell him to hurry his ass up.

We head back home to find that Gemma and Melissa have arrived early. Seeing both of them makes me super excited. It’s been a while, and I’ve missed their fun-loving ways so much.

Gemma is also known as the Chameleon in our family. The last time I saw her, she had black hair with streaks of blue. Today she’s rocking a new, shorter style dyed gray. People often say she looks like Dad, which isn’t such a bad thing unless she had inherited his beer gut. Thank God, she hasn’t.

“Lil’ sis!” She rushes up to me and squeezes me tightly. I forgot to mention that she’s only five feet tall, making her the shortest in our family. I hold onto her until she pulls away and rubs my belly until it bugs me, forcing me to swat her hands away.