“Sorry.”
“How long is he staying?”
She shrugs. “Aiden said he wasn’t sure and told me he told Jude he can stay as long as he needs to, unless for some reason we suddenly need that room for an employee, which doesn’t sound like it’ll happen.”
“What about letting me stay in your spare room until he leaves?”
She winces. “We just got married like… a week ago. I mean…”
“Fucking honeymooners,” I tease and bump against her shoulder, hiding my stress with a big smile. I link arms with her and we head for the elevator. “Forget it for now. I’ll figure it out.”
Bill from IT holds the door for us and smiles big.
“Hey girls. How’s it hangin’?”
Carly gives him a look with one half of her upper lip up high. She does this when she finds someone annoying and calls it her ‘Billy Idol lip’.
Bill is staring at my legs. I’m wearing a short green dress, high heeled black booties and I’ve got purple with black polka dot tights on today. I have neon green butterfly clips pulling the top of my hair back away from my face and my nail polish is multicolored orange and red so that I’m not in danger of matching.
Bill calls me Color-girl and has been trying to flirt with me ever since Carly and Aiden went public with their relationship. He got drunk and slightly disorderly at a team building thing a few months ago and told me he’d bet money I was as fun to play with as a box of crayons. My reply was “Sixty-four colors, bay-bee and not one of them will be in your skeezy hands.”
He laughed it off.
Before that, he couldn’t tear his eyes off Carly’s chest or her butt. She does have a pretty awesome bod, though. I tell her so all the time – that I’ll have her come with me when I go get my boob job as the example of the rack I want.
I think Aiden growled at Bill enough shortly after that, that he stopped looking so blatantly at Carly. Bill is a bit of an apish douche. He’s not bad looking and he works out, but he’s got lousy posture and he’s a nail biter which is a real turnoff for me. I also get the impression he’s the type to broadcast about his bedpost notches to anyone that’ll listen.
Though maybe I could use that to my advantage. Maybe I should give him some signals and make sure Jude catches wind of me dating someone at work. Maybe Jude ought to catch wind of me doing a lot of dating.
“It’s not hanging, Billy.”
“Thank God,” he snorts and blatantly looks at my crotch for a beat before he pushes the button for our floor.
“How’s it for… uh… you?” I ask and bite my lip for effect.
Bill straightens up and smiles, puffing his chest out.
“Good. Real good,” he says huskily.
I pretend I’m not throwing up in my mouth a little and give him an eyelash flutter.
“Ew,” Carly says, not even under her breath.
When the elevator ding signals our arrival, Bill holds the door open and gestures for Carly and me to move ahead.
She goes first and I follow, making eye contact just briefly but poignantly with Bill before his eyes sweep down to my feet and then back up.
We go toward marketing, and he goes to IT and the minute he’s out of earshot, Carly gets right up in my space.
“What the fuck?”
I feign innocence. “Hm?”
“Billy?”
“What?”
“Were you just flirting with Bill the Boob Looker? Because I would bet money you’d never do that but yet I just watched you doing that so I’m glad I never actually bet money that you wouldn’t do that.”
“What boobs? Nobody eyeballs these marbles,” I gesture to my chest.
Though Bill did look. At my boobs and everywhere else.
Carly gives me a sour look as we head the rest of the way to her office and my cubicle. I, of course, pretend not to notice.
***
Monday, After Work:
When Carly and I get out front, Jude is there, idling at the curb and again … no Ash. Nor Ash’s night driver, Pigpen (not his real name, it’s Alan. Pigpen is just what we call him because he seems to be allergic to showers).
“Fuck my life,” I grumble.
“Oh! I forgot to say,” Carly says brightly, “Jude is taking us home. Aiden had a conference call run late and Ash is on the other side of the city, so he asked him to swing by for us.”
She heads in that direction before I can react.
Though I am reacting. I’m reacting badly, because was she even there this morning when I told her about my issues with Jude?
I notice Jude has a big, absolutely gorgeous smile on his face, which makes my belly dip, but I quickly realize that expression isn’t for me because he gets out of the truck, rounds the hood, and engulfs Carly into a hug, lifting her off her feet.