Grace sat on the edge of the bed, her heart racing. Should she just slip out now? Or did they need to talk about it? Were they going to drive into work together? They had to—her car was still parked at the bar. But so was Alex’s.
“Ready to go?” Alex asked as he exited the bathroom. He was dressed now, in slacks and a button-down, and his hair was damp.
Grace glanced at her watch.
“Actually, I’ll head home and change first.” She was in the jeans and T-shirt she’d worn yesterday, which weren’t exactly good office wear.
“Good idea,” Alex said, and Grace was sure she wasn’t imagining the relief in his eyes. He wanted space. “I’ll see you in the office.”
“Great.” Grace headed to the elevators, not stopping to look at Alex’s gleaming kitchen or spacious living room or breathtaking view. She rode down in silence, hailed a cab she couldn’t really afford, and began the long ride back to her own neighborhood. As she went, worry and confusion swirled in her stomach. She couldn’t bring herself to regret the night they’d spent together—it had felt so right, and it had been so magical—but part of her wished it had never happened. She couldn’t jeopardize her new job with something that might not be real.
Even though it had felt real. Even though it had been the best night of her life.
Even though she wanted nothing more than to do it all again.
CHAPTER 9
GRACE
Grace’s fears were confirmed when she arrived at the office an hour later, freshly showered and wearing a pair of slacks and an off-white blouse. Alex was in the dev-ops office, talking to the team about the code testing that day, but when he saw her arrive, he made a quick excuse and left. Just a few days ago, he would have hung around to talk to her, but not today.
“Running late?” Autumn asked.
“Sorry,” Grace said as she hurriedly sat and started booting up her laptop. “Crazy morning.”
“That happens.” Autumn smiled sympathetically. “Take your time getting settled.”
“Thanks.”
As Grace fell into work, she began to relax a little. The code was like a welcoming blanket, wrapping around her shoulders and reassuring her that there was nothing to worry about, not really. It was easy to distance herself from messy emotions with code,which either worked or didn’t and never made Grace question what it was thinking.
The blanket was ripped away during the afternoon scrum, though. Grace made a comment about a way to test for an edge case, and Alex’s gaze skated right over her as though he hadn’t heard. Grace’s stomach clenched. She’d thought the idea was good. Maybe it hadn’t been.
Or maybe he just didn’t know how to act around her now that they’d slept together. Grace was certainly struggling to find her feet.
She was relieved when, in the late afternoon, Alex called her to his office. Finally, they’d have a chance to talk things through and, surely, ease the tension between them. She went right away, trying not to overthink the conversation they were about to have.
“Good morning,” she said to Louisa, who gave her a bright smile. “Alex asked to see me.”
“Of course. He’s expecting you—you can go right in.”
“Thanks.”
“Please sit,” Alex said as soon as Grace entered and shut the door behind her. He was sitting behind his desk, his hands folded in front of him, his blue eyes unreadable. Despite herself, a memory of him kissing her flashed through Grace’s mind.
“How are you?” she asked as she slid into the seat across from him.
“We need to talk.” Alex let out a short sigh and smoothed his hair back. “Last night was… great. But it can never happen again. I’m your boss, and it was inappropriate.”
A strange mix of relief and sadness flooded Grace. It would be good to get back to normal, and she’d never expected more than a night with Alex, but being dismissed so cleanly didn’t feel great. She did her best not to let any of that show on her face, though.
“I couldn’t agree more,” she said.
“Good.” Alex smiled, though his expression was still tight. “I value you greatly as an employee and a friend, and I hope this won’t hurt our working relationship.”
“Of course not,” Grace agreed. “We can just pretend it never happened.”
“Done,” Alex agreed. “It was just a mistake. We can both stand to be a little more professional going forward.”
