Mr. Mistake

‘So, you do like me?” He grinned and sipped his coffee.

“I don’t even know you.” I felt my face twisting to match my bewilderment.

“That’s generally why people have drinks together and sometimes why they decide to sit down across from each other over food and call it a date—they want to get to know each other.” His grin remained firmly in place on his face and he had dimples along each cheek hiding behind light blond stubble.

“I’m just not ready for that.” I shook my head back and forth, focusing my attention on the coffee pot like it was the only thing I could look at.

“Another time then.” He sighed and started walking towards the exit. “We still need to sit down and talk through some ideas. Mr. Hawthorne has asked me to assemble a marketing team from the current staff and possibly even bring in some people I know to help. I’m nothing more than a consultant, but I was hoping the woman who came up with the idea for this marketing strategy would be the Team Lead.”

I stood there staring at the coffee pot while a tightness spread across my whole body. Adam wasn’t just attractive, he was smoking hot, and he dripped with charisma. He

wasn’t forceful like Max and that was a bit of a relief. As I thought about the good qualities I had already discovered, I felt my stomach twisting into a knot. Did I really turn him down for a date? Prior to meeting Max, I was literally hoping against all that was holy for a nice, attractive man to ask me out. I walked back to my desk with my coffee and finished my shift. Adam avoided me for the rest of the afternoon, not even making eye contact. When the clock his five, I was already heading towards the exit, dialing Mary-Katherine’s number.

“Are you at home?” I walked towards the parking deck, stomping my feet rapidly as I tried to beat the crowd.

“Yeah, what’s up? Do you want to come over?” She extended an open invitation, which was exactly what I needed.

“Yes, I’m on my way.” I hung up my phone and hit the button to unlock my car.

“HE ASKED YOU OUT AND you said no?” Mary-Katherine’s mouth fell open as I filled her in on Adam Rutherford’s sudden arrival and even-more-sudden request for a date.

“How would I explain it to him?” I sighed and picked up the glass of wine she had poured for me. “Be careful if you try to put your dick in me because I’m still hurting from losing my virginity to a stranger a couple of days ago.”

“Maybe he’s not the kind of guy who likes to fuck on the first date.” She shrugged. “You said he was a nice guy.”

“He seems nice. Max seemed nice at first too.” I let a generous portion of the wine pour into my mouth.

“Are you going to compare every man you meet to Max?” She reached for the bottle and refilled my glass. “He was supposed to be a quick fuck so you could lose your virginity to an experienced man you wouldn’t have to worry about the next day.”

“I’m not comparing Adam to Max…” I took another drink of wine.

“You literally just did that. I bet you’ve already started making a mental list…” She tilted her head as she teased me.

“Fine…” I admitted with a drawn sigh. “It’s hard not to compare. Max represents everything I never want to experience again, so yeah—I guess I’m comparing.”

“Well, then let’s make a list of the things that aren’t the same about them. Max came into the break room at work and forced himself on you, kissed you, and demanded that you go out with him. Adam forgot to make coffee, had a fairly meaningful conversation if you’re not embellishing the banter, and wasn’t pushy when you said no.”

“He was a little pushy…” I ran my finger along the edge of the wine glass.

“Asking if you have a boyfriend or a husband isn’t pushy, it’s fairly normal.” She shook her head as she smiled. “You need to go out with Adam. Hell, if I wasn’t with Rolando, I’d be asking you for his number just based on what you’ve told me. He’s a former soldier? He’s a legend in your industry? He’s hot as fuck? Come on, Abby. This isn’t rocket science.”

“You’re right.” I ran my hand along the back of my neck as the wine made my upper torso warm when the alcohol started to settle in my veins. “What was I thinking?”

“You need to get used to this, Abby. You’re not a virgin anymore. Men will be able to smell the fact you’re down to fuck, so you should expect to have a lot more offers like the one you got today.” She grinned. “It’s pheromones or some shit.”

“Great…” I grumbled even though I knew she was just being silly.

I GOT TO WORK EARLY the next morning and started working on a couple of storyboards for Energy Enhanced commercials. It really wasn’t my area of expertise, but if Adam was going to want me to be the Team Lead, I would need to be involved in each facet of the campaign. I was feeling a bit excited when I saw them come together. The soreness was a lot less pronounced than it had been the previous day and it was almost non-existent unless I shifted a certain way. I decided that if Adam asked me out on another date, I was going to accept his offer. There was no reason to reject him. He seemed like he could be Mr. Right—a stark contrast from Mr. Mistake. I emailed the two storyboards to Adam and then started to scan my emails. My stomach flipped upside down when I saw one from Max Martin.

We should get together again. I had a lot of fun.

My fingers froze on the keyboard and I felt the hairs on the top of my head tingle. My throat started getting dry and when I tried to wash away the feeling with coffee, it just seemed to stick against the back of my throat. Max wasn’t supposed to ask me out for a second date. He was never supposed to contact me again. When I regained control of my senses, I hit the reply button and stared at the screen. I started typing a long response, bullet-pointing all of the reasons I didn’t want to go out with him again, starting with how much of an asshole he was and ending with a nice play on the word mistake, but after I read over it, I realized it was just nonsense and babble. I deleted everything I had typed and instead responded with just two words.

Not interested.

Chapter 12: Max

A few hours earlier