What would he do? Say? I fretted he’d make some joke or teasing comment at my expense, sending the entire gathering into a fit of laughter and leaving me humiliated in the process.
I couldn’t believe my luck.
All the possible comebacks to his imagined jibes jumbled together in my brain. I had no idea what I would say, or do. My attempt at a disappearing act didn’t go unnoticed by Colin. He leaned in towards me.
“Fiona,” he began with a voice barely above the sound of a whisper. “Are you all right?”
Snap out of it! Damn it Fiona!
I nodded and, after grabbing hold of the arms of the chair, straightened myself in it.
“Yes, I’m fine,” I replied, in a voice with volume that matched his own.
This couldn’t possibly get any worse. Turns out the man who’d hit on me twice with an impressive arsenal of charm was apparently my boss. On top of that, my coworkers caught me undressing him with my eyes and Colin, well, he must be second guessing his decision to hire me at all considering the way I was behaving at the moment.
But just when it couldn’t get any worse. It did. Much, much worse.
For no sooner had I returned to an upright position in my chair, than Gabe finished his conversation with Holly. As he did, he turned to face everyone seated at the conference table. Taking measured steps in our direction, he clasped his hands together behind his back for a moment and then began to speak.
“I’ll keep this discussion brief everyone. The document Holly gave to you will provide all you need to know about the new project, which we’re terming the Link Protocol. I’ll expect each of you to familiarize yourself with the details of it as it relates to your role in the project.”
As he started to speak, it was as if I witnessed a literal transformation take place before my eyes. Gabe appeared to be just as much at ease addressing a room full of people as he did making flirting small talk.
Just the idea of speaking to a large audience made me ill. But he rattled off commands with a mix of authority and elegance. It was as if he were talking to a room filled with his best friends. It’s not like he wasn’t irritating enough already with his charm and teasing.
Now this.
Bastard.
Frustrated, my worried state shifted a bit. As I listened to him speak, the reality was that if I hadn’t had the experience I did with him, I wouldn’t see him as anything other than what he was in the moment.
The boss.
Gone was the barfly playboy. In his place, a confident, articulate leader who was more than qualified to be in the position he was stood before us. Whether it was rehearsed or spontaneous, an excellent, well-reasoned description of the work ahead of us flowed from his lips.
Yet through it all, I didn’t dare look up.
Instead, as Gabe spoke, I scribbled in my planner, taking notes about things I didn’t yet understand and would have to ask Colin about later. But as the seconds ticked by, I noticed him circle around behind the people seated across from me until he stopped in place.
Swallowing, I drew my eyes up towards Gabe without lifting my head.
Without so much as an awkward pause, the icy blue of Gabe’s eyes locked mine for a fraction of instant. In the very next, he glanced down towards my planner, then back towards me with a slow nod.
And if I wasn’t mistaken, he winked.
GABE
A few hours after my meeting with the lab team, I sat in my office thumbing through a stack of briefs related to the Link Protocol.
Still, she kept popping into my head.
I smiled at my good fortune she’d interviewed for a lab position. Not that it would have mattered much. I would have spent time in pursuit no matter where she worked, but with everything going on right now, I would have been delayed at a minimum.
But no matter. The way was clear now.
And the look on Fiona’s face when she sat at the conference table. I have to say keeping my identity a secret had been well worth the wait. I’m sure if anyone noticed me noticing her, she would have been mortified.
The idea of it brought a smile to my face.
But as I sat there thinking about the situation, it occurred to me I hadn’t gotten Fiona’s last name yet. Not only that, but I really didn’t know anything about her beyond our brief interactions. And when it came to my romantic interests around the office, I preferred to have every bit of information at my disposal.
You see, the restraint I applied to Holly didn’t apply to everyone else.
In other words, I fished in my own pond on occasion.
And why not? After all, I’m single. They’re single. We’re all adults.
I had some rules of course, boundaries if you prefer. Most of them revolved around the woman’s expectations. I mean, I enjoyed an office dalliance as much as anyone, but the last thing I wanted was to get embroiled in some big misunderstanding or even worse, deception on her part should she try to ensnare me.