“That’s great. You can’t be a receptionist forever. How ‘bout this?” he asked. “I can give you a couple things to work on, basic things—nothing big—but we’ll see how you like them.”
“Oh, wow, that would be great. I’d really appreciate that.” Hell, yes.
“Yeah, you know another—”
“Hey, guys,” Bob said from behind us. Of course, we turned around.
“Hey,” Tanner said.
Bob looked around with an air of excitement. I wondered if he realized he needed to trim his nose hairs? Just imagine how hairy his back would be. Ugh.
“This place is great!” He leaned close enough to breathe on us. “And when the company’s paying for drinks, even better!”
He must have had tuna fish for lunch.
“Bob, did you get your stuff straightened out?” I asked him.
Guilt washed over his face.
He looked down at his beer. “Yeah. Yeah, I did. Sorry for being an asshole. I was under a lot of pressure.”
Tanner clapped him on the back. “Happens to all of us.” He got off his barstool and stood to his full height.
What was that all about?
“And, Bob. Next time I hear you raising your voice to Jayma, or anyone else in the office, you’ll have to answer to me.”
Dayum, as they say.
I could swear some beer sloshed out of Bob’s cup.
“You got it, Tanner.” He grimaced and walked away.
Tanner sat back down and pushed his glasses up on his nose. Nothing like a combo badass geek.
“You can’t really do anything to him, can you?” I asked as soon as Bob was out of earshot.
He frowned. “No, of course I can’t do anything. But he doesn’t know that.”
Oh my god. This guy was a baller. Definitely wanted him on my team. Or to be on his. Whatever.
And just as I was wondering if he knew how to fix up old, run-down houses, he dropped his bomb.
“Anyway. I was gonna ask you before Bob came over if you’d like to have lunch sometime. You know, sort of like a date.”
Oh. Oh my.
Now it was my turn to look around and make sure no one was nearby.
“Um, well. I’m not sure that’s such a good idea. I mean, since we work together and all.”
But damn, he was awesome. Maybe I could quit and get a job somewhere else and then I could have lunch with him. The way he looked at me, like I was really something special, made my heart pound. And forget about how Lance had just walked.
He pursed his lips and nodded slowly. “Yeah, you’re probably right. Probably not a good idea. Well then, let’s just have lunch as work friends. We can try out that fancy new place down the street.”
Darn. I was actually hoping he’d try to convince me there was nothing wrong with dating a coworker. So much for that.
“Yeah, that would be great. I’ve been dying to go there.”