Third Date (20 page)

We get back to the office just in time for the employee meeting. The company hired a bunch of new people and I’m guessing they’ll introduce them today. At least I don’t have to worry about being called up as a mentor again. My mentee is standing right next to me, discreetly holding my hand.

At 1:10, everyone is still standing around waiting and the noise level is rising. “I really need to get back to work,” I say to Grant. “I think I’ll skip out on this. Nobody will notice.”

“
I’ll
notice,” he whispers in my ear, squeezing my hand. “Come on, just a few more minutes.” He almost kisses my cheek, but stops before he does. We’re standing way in the back of the room, so it’s not like anyone would notice or care if he gave me a quick kiss, but still. We don’t want to put our relationship on display for our coworkers.

“Let’s get started.” Janice, the head of HR, is at the podium, speaking into the microphone. “Unfortunately, our CEO had to leave to deal with an issue with one of our distributors and won’t be able to join us. So we’re going to move the company status report to our next meeting and make this brief.” Everyone looks relieved. “I’m happy to say that we’ve added some new employees to our growing company and I want to introduce them. As before, we’ll be assigning mentors to guide them as they begin their employment with us.”

“This is all they’re talking about?” I whisper to Grant. “I’m leaving. I don’t have time for this. I’ll call you later.”
 

I let go of his hand and start to sneak through the crowd.

“Our first new hire is Brad Fletcher, a recent MBA graduate from . . .”

I freeze, wondering if my mind is playing tricks on me. Did she just say Brad Fletcher? As in THE Brad Fletcher? It can’t be. There must be another one. It’s a common name.
 

I’m too short to see over the people in front of me. As Janice introduces the other new employees, I make my way through the crowd until I’m at the front.

And there he is. Brad Fletcher. Not some other Brad Fletcher. THE Brad Fletcher. The one I know and have not been able to get out of my head.
 

I stand there staring at him, thinking this must be a dream. He was supposed to be moving to Portland. What is he doing here in Minneapolis? At my company?

Brad is lined up next to the other new employees, looking out at the crowd. The woman next to him says something and he leans down to hear her better. As he does, his eyes glance my way and he does a double take. He sees that it’s me and seems just as shocked as I am seeing him. I never told him the name of the place I worked. I just said I worked at a small food company.

He no longer seems to be listening to the woman talking to him. Instead he’s focused on me and I’m focused on him as if there’s nobody else in the room.

Janice is now reading off the names of employees who are assigned to be mentors. When she’s done, people scurry back to their offices. As they do, they bump into me, waking me from my shock and taking my eyes off Brad. I don’t know what to do, so I race back to my cubicle.

When I get there, Kayla is sitting there laughing.

“What’s so funny?” I ask her.

“Paige got mentor duty and I got off free again. But I have to work on that other dumb HR project, so technically I shouldn’t ever have to mentor someone.”

“I didn’t even hear her name called. Who did she get?” I don’t know why I asked. It’s not like I was paying attention to the other new employees. My attention was all on Brad, and only Brad.

“Some guy.” Kayla smiles. “Tall. Dark blond hair. Really hot. Built like a football player. Brad something. I think that’s his name but I—” She stops as Paige walks into our cubicle with Brad right behind her. My heart races seeing him there, right in front of me.

“I want to introduce you guys to Brad Fletcher,” Paige says. “He’s new in the marketing department. He’ll be working with us on the new packaging.” She turns to Brad. “Brad, this is Kayla and this is Morgan.”

When I told Paige and Kayla about the high school classmate I met at the conference, I never told them Brad’s name. I kept calling him ‘Boston Guy’ instead of using his name. But I’m surprised they didn’t put it together. Then again, I didn’t really describe what he looked like and I told Paige and Kayla that he’s now living in Portland.

I’m not going to tell them who he is. I don’t want those two knowing that the guy standing before them is the guy I almost had sex with in Boston.
 

Brad shakes Kayla’s hand. “Hi. Nice to meet you.”

Then he turns to me, a sexy grin on his face. “Good to see you again, Morgan.”
 

We shake hands and he looks directly at me with those gorgeous blue eyes. Damn, he’s hot. And just the touch of his hand causes a spark of heat to course through me. What the hell? It’s just a handshake. I need to get control of myself.

“Hi, Brad.”

“Do you guys know each other?” Paige asks. “Brad just told me he’s from Bloomington so I figured you might.”

I give Brad a look to go along with what I’m about to say. “You went to my high school, right?”

He pauses before answering, his eyes on mine. “Yeah, that’s right.”

I turn back to Paige. “He was a couple years ahead of me so we didn’t really know each other.”

Kayla gets up. “Paige, you and I have that meeting now with Lisa in the conference room.”

“Oh, yeah, I almost forgot. Brad, sorry to cut this short. Let’s have lunch tomorrow. I’ll call you later.”

“Sounds good.” Brad watches them leave, then turns back to me. “So what’s the deal with you acting like we haven’t seen each other since high school?”

“I’d rather not tell anyone about us meeting in Boston.”

“Why not?”

“I just don’t. Can we just keep it between us?”

He gives me a strange look. “Um, yeah, okay.” His sexy smile reappears. “So, Morgan, how have you been?”

I peer over the cubicle wall to make sure nobody’s around. “What are you doing here?” I ask it in almost a whisper.

“I work here. Didn’t you hear the announcement?” His smile grows even wider. “And I see you work here as well. I know you said you worked at a food company but this city is full of food companies. I didn’t even consider that you might work here.”

“What happened to the job in Portland?”

“Hiring freeze. About a week ago the company discovered the CEO had been stealing money from them and now there’s a big investigation. All new hiring has been suspended until the investigation is over, which could take months.”

“How did you end up
here
?”

“I interviewed here last summer. It was just one of those informational interviews the college tells you to do as a new MBA graduate. It’s supposed to help you prepare for real interviews. The interview went great and they wanted to hire me but didn’t have any openings at the time. When I lost the Portland job, I called here to see if they had any openings and found out they had one. I had a phone interview and then an in-person interview last Friday and after that, they gave me the job. My internship was over so I was able to start right away.”

As he talks, I’m completely lost in his beautiful blue eyes and the smell of that incredible cologne he wears. He has on the gray suit he wore in Boston combined with a white shirt and a deep blue tie.
 

“I need to get back upstairs but we should grab a drink sometime or go out for dinner.”

“Yeah, okay. We’ll do that.”

“My mom said she gave you my number so just call me whenever you want to get together.”

“I will.”

I want to get together right now
, I think as he walks away. I shouldn’t be thinking that at all, especially since I just got back from having lunch with my boyfriend!

I’ve got to get over this obsession with Brad. He has a girlfriend. The hot blond I saw at his mom’s house probably lives here in town and now that he’s back, the two of them will probably move in together, get married, and live happily ever after.
 

At the end of the day, Grant calls right as I’m about to leave. “I’m going to dinner tonight with some people from my department and a few other people from work. I was hoping you could come along. What do you think? We won’t be out late.”

“Sure. Where are we going?”

“A sports bar downtown. I’ll pick you up at 6:30. See you then.”

It’s good I’m going out with Grant. Otherwise I’ll be home thinking about Brad. As I’m sitting in traffic on the way to my apartment, I consider that maybe the hot blond wasn’t Brad’s girlfriend. Maybe he’s single and wants to finish what we started in Boston. But seeing him again today, I couldn’t tell if he’s still interested in me. He didn’t really act interested. It must be because of that girl I saw at his house. That had to be his girlfriend.

Grant and I get to the sports bar around 6:45. A few people from the legal department are already there drinking and having appetizers. Grant starts talking to them about work while I sit there listening. If they talk about law all night, this is going to be a very long night.

Around 7 some other people start showing up. They sit down at the end of the table and start talking. I grab a menu and try to figure out what to order.

“Let me guess. A cheeseburger and fries?”

I look up and see Brad seated directly across from me, smiling with that contagious smile.

Grant’s sitting next to me, but doesn’t notice Brad because he’s deep in conversation about a contract he’s working on.

“You seem like a cheeseburger-and-fry girl. Was I right?” Brad takes off his coat and places it over the back of the chair. He has on a black polo shirt that shows off his muscular arms. His arms are at least twice the size of Grant’s.

“Yeah, you’re right. That’s what I’m getting.” I try to act cool, but inside my nerves are kicking up having Brad across from me and Grant right next to me.
 

The waitress approaches Brad and he orders a beer.

Grant finishes his conversation and notices Brad. “Hey, Brad. Glad you could make it.” Grant puts his arm around me. “Have you met my girlfriend? If not, this is Morgan. She works in product development.”

Brad’s eyebrows rise when he hears the girlfriend label. “We’ve met. Actually, Morgan and I grew up in the same neighborhood. We went to high school together.”

“Oh, yeah?” Grant seems surprised. “Were you guys friends?”

“No,” I say before Brad can answer. “I barely knew him in high school. He’s two years older.”

“So how long have you two been going out?” Brad asks.

Grant looks at me. “It’s been about a month now, right?”

I smile, awkwardly. “Yeah, that sounds right.”

“So I guess that means the company allows employees to date,” Brad says. “The last place I worked didn’t allow it, but that never stopped anyone.”

“They haven’t made any rules against it,” Grant says. “But I guess I should double check with my employee mentor.” He kisses my cheek. “Morgan is my mentor. That’s how we met.”

“I’m not a very good mentor,” I admit. “I don’t think I’ve taught him anything.”

“So how about you, Brad?” Grant asks. “Did you leave anyone behind in Chicago?”

“Nope. I’m single.” He takes a drink of his beer.

Single? Then who was the hot blond at his house? Just a date? Or was he dating her and just broke up with her?

“Did you find an apartment yet?” Grant asks him.

“No. I’m staying at my mom’s house. But I need to find a place. I love my mom but I can’t live with her. I feel like I’m back in high school. I’m going to try to find an apartment this weekend. Someplace close to work that isn’t too expensive. I’m still paying off grad school.”

“Morgan’s place has some open apartments. You should check them out. It’s close to work.”

Brad grins, his eyes fixed on mine. “What do you think, Morgan? Do you think I should live in your building?”

For some reason his question sounds dirty. Maybe it’s the way he asked it, or maybe I’m just imagining it. “Um, sure. It’s a good location. Quiet. Inexpensive.”

Grant turns to me. “Why don’t you let him stop by this week so you can show him your place?” He looks back at Brad. “She has a one bedroom but it has a lot of space.”
 

I can’t believe this is happening! My boyfriend is inviting the man I’ve been obsessing about for the past month (and almost had sex with!) over to my apartment? Grant must really trust me. He must be convinced he doesn’t have to worry about me because of my virgin purity.

“I would love to see the apartment, if you don’t mind,” Brad says to me.

“No, I don’t mind. You’ll have to give me some notice so I can clean up a little and make it look presentable.”

“Don’t worry about it. I like a lived-in look. Places that are too neat and clean put me on edge.”

Grant laughs. “Then you wouldn’t like
my
place. I can’t stand it when things aren’t clean. And I hate clutter.”

I nod. “It’s true. His place looks like it should be in a magazine.”

“You should come over some time,” Grant says. “Bring a date and I’ll make dinner for the four of us. Cooking is a hobby of mine. I’ve been cooking for Morgan and she seems to like it, don’t you?” He kisses me quick on the lips.

I feel Brad watching us and pull away. “Yeah, Grant’s an excellent cook.”

The guy on the other side of Grant says something to him and the two of them start talking.

“What night should I come over?” Brad’s smiling at me and I feel like he’s flirting. I find it extremely sexy which I know is wrong, but maybe it’s just that whole forbidden romance thing making me feel this way. Maybe it has nothing to do with Brad.

“Tomorrow night would work. Maybe around 6:30.” I suggest tomorrow because I need to be alone with Brad and figure out what’s going on with us. Those days in Boston were romantic and fun, but maybe I made them into something they’re not.

Maybe Brad and I are meant to be friends and that’s it. Maybe those sparks I felt in Boston were just because I remember him as the popular jock in high school and having him take me out all those nights made me feel special, like I was finally one of the popular girls who got to go out with the star football player.