Page 41 of Reaching Gavin

Chapter Fifteen

The next morning,in a shocking turn of events, I was running late. I skidded into the kitchen, my lipstick in hand, praying that Lillian had put coffee on. Even terrible, automatic machine coffee would be better than nothing at this point. I didn’t expect to actually find Lillian there.

She was leaning against the kitchen counter, a mug clutched in her hands. She looked over to the clock on the microwave. “Running a little late?”

That was an understatement. I nodded. “Tell me there’s more of that.”

“Put your lipstick on.” She turned and pulled a mug out of the cupboard and began to pour me a cup of liquid happiness. “Long night?”

“I have a lot on my mind. Big presentation.” I was lying, but not about the long night. I’d been awake fantasizing about what had happened between Gavin and I—and what might have happened if he’d stayed over. I’d been too giddy to overthink things. All I had done was bask in the orgasmic glow of our first serious alone time.

“You were probably thinking about your boyfriend, too,” she tacked that bit on like the lawyer she was—a quick rebuttal to my claim but a loaded one.

Was this the part where she told me off for breaking the rules? I paused and sized her up, for the first time realizing that she wasn’t even dressed to go into the office. What was she doing here at eight in the morning? As far as I could tell, she worked sun-up to sundown plus overtime. I was in real trouble if Lillian had called in sick just to tell me off.

She held out the cup of coffee like an olive branch, so I took it tentatively, wondering if it was a trick. Was this the Trojan horse of roommate offerings? Would I take it and find myself under siege? I didn’t know what I would do if she kicked me out. It was only midsummer still. There was no way I’d be able to find somewhere else to crash. I didn’t know anyone else in the city well enough. How long could I get away with sleeping in the office before anyone noticed?

“Where did you meet him?” she asked conversationally.

“At work,” I said slowly. She seemed to be trying to put me at ease. Maybe she was hoping I would spill my guts and tell her exactly what had happened—on the kitchen counter she was now leaning against. My eyes flashed to the spot, wondering if she could sense the promiscuous activity like some people claimed to experience paranormal activity. “He’s actually my boss.”

“Your boss?” she repeated archly. “The one you thought hated you?”

“That’s the one.”

“Well that explains that.” She spoke matter-of -factly as though I could translate what she meant. I suspected I should understand her. The trouble was that I didn’t.

“Explains what?” I’d managed to lift the coffee mug near my lips, but I hadn’t been brave enough to take a sip yet. I realized looking down at it that my hands were shaking. I couldn’t imagine facing her in a courtroom.

“It explains why you thought he hated you. Everyone always thinks that boys grow out of being mean to the girl they like, but they don’t really.”

“He’s pretty nice. I think I had the wrong impression of him.”

“When did you to start seeing each other?” Apparently, the interrogation was going to continue.

I stayed on my guard, abandoning my coffee on the counter. If I was going to face this, I didn’t want to risk third-degree burns by dumping it down my shirt due to trembling palms. I took a deep breath and came clean. “I know I broke the rules,” I began, “and I should have warned you he was here. We’ll hang out at his place from now on. I hope you can forgive me.”

I felt so grown up that I half-expected her to hand me a gold star sticker.

“I’m not upset,” Lillian said quickly. “I know I said no boys. It’s just that Jessica told me once about your boy-catching thing.”

I cringed at the memory of our freshman pact. None of us had ever been very good at it—except maybe Jillian. Come to think of it, boy catching had been Jillian’s idea. It was the kind of thing that sounded cool and worldly to eighteen- year-olds. Now? It was a bit silly. Basically, we’d agreed to stay away from serious relationship and be total players. I had lasted one week before I met Luka. Jessica had gone a little bit longer before she met her ex. Jillian had clung to the concept the longest, but even she had fallen victim to the lure of true love after a one night stand gone right and was now off the market. Boy catching was something to laugh about now. “I really don’t do that anymore. I don’t even date—until last night. I didn’t even want to date him.”

“If he’s acting inappropriately…” Lillian began, instantly shifting from cross examination to attorney-client privilege.

Oh crap. Now I had given her the wrong idea. I quickly reversed my tune. “No. It’s not like that. He’s made it perfectly clear that I have every right to kick him to the curb.”

“Do you want to? He’s kinda hot.” Just like that she was back to older sister mode.

“I thought it would be smarter if I stayed away from him. I didn’t want to cause problems at the office. I know it’s kind of a gray area to date someone you work with, especially your boss.”

“He’s not Donald Trump,” she scoffed. “He can’t be much older than you. If you showed interest and he respected your boundaries, it doesn’t seem all that questionable to me.”

“He’s 26,” I told her.

“That seems reasonable to me. I’m guessing he’s a workaholic. The twenty-six- year-old boss of a real estate investment firm probably doesn’t take much time for dating.” She paused, her coffee cup hovering near her lips. “He must think you’re something special.”

He was a workaholic, and his role in the success of NorthWest Investments proved that. I didn’t tell her who his father was or why he’d spent more time at the office than picking girls up in bars. I wanted to respect Gavin’s desire for people to know him before they knew who his family was. “We’ll still hang out at his place.”