The first thing she did when they got in his car was change the radio station. He’d been listening to sports radio, mostly to get an overview of how the day in sports in general had gone. But, of course, they were talking hockey when he fired up the ignition.
“Things are getting interesting in the Boston hockey scene,” was the first thing they heard, and she hit the scan button before they heard more.
“Let’s just pretend they were going to talk about the Zamboni or something,” she said, scanning until she found a song she liked.
As he drove, Kristen sang along to the radio with the confidence and enthusiasm of somebody who’d consumed three fairly strong cocktails, and he enjoyed it immensely. She wasn’t drunk, by any means, but she was definitely more relaxed than she’d been when she walked into Firewall.
When he pulled into a spot just down the street from her building, she unbuckled her seatbelt and turned to him. “You coming up?”
“I’m definitely walking you to the door. But as for coming up, are you sure want me to?”
She shrugged. “If I have to fake date you, I may as well get some great sex out of it.”
“That’s a weird combination of very flattering, and yet somehow not.”
“Maybe just focus on the great sex part.”
He could do that. “I’m definitely coming up, then.”
* * *
The next morning,it was nothing short of a miracle that Kristen managed to get to work on time. She was exhausted and sore—though in the best possible way—and she definitely didn’t look her best. But she wasn’t late.
Annie, who was the head of HR as well as her friend, poked her head in the door within a minute of her arrival. “Stan’s looking for you.”
Kristen looked at her watch. “It’s not time for our morning meeting yet.”
“I don’t think it’s that. He seems agitated, and he asked about you first thing, and he’s asked about every two minutes if you’re here yet.”
She sighed. So he knew. It was surprising he hadn’t called her cell phone, despite his preference for face-to-face meetings. “Thanks for the heads-up.”
As tempting as it was to wait until their usual meeting time or to simply ignore the summons, Kristen decided there was no sense in putting it off. She walked down the short hall to Stan’s office.
The door was open, so she knocked on the jamb. “You wanted to see me?”
He looked up from his computer screen. “Kristen, come in. Close the door behind you, please.”
She did as she was told and then sat in her usual chair with her hands folded in her lap.
“It’s been brought to my attention that you had some kind of a domestic situation that unfortunately made headlines yesterday.”
It was hard to keep a straight face—she couldn’t sneer at his uptight toneorlaugh at his melodrama, nor could she let her extreme annoyance show—but she mentally repeated the wordpromotionto keep herself in check. “I don’t think a sports blog qualifies as ‘making headlines,’ but yes, there was some interest in my personal life.”
“You are aware, of course, that your actions reflect on me and this office, right?”
Only if you’re a self-absorbed misogynist. “It was a misunderstanding, Stan. I’m dating a wonderful man, and my brother was taken by surprise when he found out it was somebody he knew. That’s all.”
Stan scowled. “The article made it sound far more sordid than that.”
“Again, it was a blog post, not an article.” It was a ridiculous and irrelevant distinction, but it would matter to him.
“And he’s a hockey player, if I read it correctly?”
He knew damn well he’d read it correctly, and he also knew her brother played hockey professionally. Stan hadn’t hesitated to use that connection in the past when free tickets to a Marauders game would help him schmooze with people he wanted to impress, so he should watch the hypocrisy. She would only tolerate so much.
“He plays for a Baltimore team, yes.” She was about to stress the fact he wouldn’t be in Boston long, but then she remembered she was supposed to be selling them as a stable, committed couple. “This shouldn’t come up again, Stan. I’ve spoken to my brother and there shouldn’t be any more headlines.”
“I hope you’re right. I would hate to see you in some kind of scandal that would reflect poorly on this office.”
