Right. Duh. I should have left it black. “I’m not just talking about the coffee.” He stood and waited and when she finally realized what he was talking about, her eyes flew back to the cup, back to those black letters in the name part.
“Oh my god.” Her whole face turned a bright shade of red. “Oh. Oh no. No.” Her eyes flew around the lunchroom. There was no one else there. “Not here. Your office?”
His stomach lurched and the breath rushed out of his lungs. Imagining her in his office, in a confined space, breathing in the same air, did something to him that it shouldn’t have. He knew he was reacting like a- a- well, he was definitely overreacting.
She didn’t give him a chance to get his shit together and respond. She took off and he trailed in her wake. He tried very hard not to watch the sway of her hips or stare at her round ass, but her skirt was tight, not too tight, just- tight enough that he was able to do both. Her legs- god, her legs were incredible too. He tried very hard not to imagine those legs wrapped around his waist. Of course, he failed at that too. By the time he made it into his office, he had to dive behind his desk and pull his chair underneath to hide the fact that he had a damn dent in his pants.
Callie sunk down in one of the chairs. She crossed her legs and clutched her hands nervously. Her eyes darted around frantically before she finally decided to make eye contact. He liked that about her. She always looked at him when she spoke to him.
“Okay- that night- was a- I was a little drunk and I didn’t have my glasses or my contacts and I couldn’t actually see what was going on. I didn’t know it was you. I- the drinks- I would never have done that normally. It didn’t mean anything. You’re my boss and it’s not appropriate. I’m sorry. I-”
He stopped the rambling with a soft chuckle. She stared at him, mouth hanging half-open, as though she couldn’t believe he’d actually have the nerve to laugh about it.
“I could write you up for this.” Her face fell and it sucked the breath right out of him. He rushed on, half in disbelief himself when he heard the words pour out. They weren’t at all what he’d planned on saying. “But I won’t. If you go on a date with me.”
“A- a date?” she said breathlessly. “That’s- the- it’s the worst…” she took a second to compose herself. “It’s the worst idea ever,” she finally huffed. “If I don’t want you to write something about me, then why would I agree to go on a date with you? That doesn’t even make sense.”
“Why is it the worst idea?”
“Besides what I just said?”
“Yes, besides that.” He liked that she was rapidly losing her composure with every second that passed. She looked cute, damn cute when she was flustered. Stop. This is so damn wrong. But he couldn’t. He couldn’t make himself stop.
“I- well, first of all, you’re my boss. Secondly, you’re- you’re rich. I can tell. Which means that we have nothing in common. I can tell we grew up different. We come from different lives. I’m an admin assistant and you’re a DM.”
“So? What does that have to do with anything? And how can you be sure that I have money and grew up with it?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know,” she admitted. She was growing more confident by the minute and he liked that too. Everything she did was sexy. How the hell hadn’t he ever noticed before? “There’s something about you that tells me you did. Your parents were rich, I’ll bet. They probably sent you to the best school. And then you graduated, and they paid for your college. You got a degree in business and you got a good position here because you’re both smart and capable and you worked your way up from there. Which means that you have more money. How do I know? Your suits. They’re expensive. The fact that I’ve seen your car. It’s worth more than a house. You just walk- I don’t know. A certain way. Also, the fact that you didn’t thank anyone in your speech at the Christmas party when you won that award. That shows me that you’re rich.”
“I- I didn’t thank anyone?”
“Why are you phrasing that like a question?” Callie glared back at him. She’d picked up steam the whole time and now she was back to being fully confident.
“I- I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to not thank people. I just wanted to get away from the front of the room. Some people don’t like being the center of attention.”