Page 29 of Brighter Together

“I am not blushing.”

“You really are,” Charlotte says.

My hands automatically cover my cheeks, as if that might somehow stop them burning.

I lean across the table.

“Can we please keep our voices down? The staff here know everything about everyone. I don’t need rumours going round that I fancy Tommy.”

Christina leans in too. “So, you do fancy Tommy,” she whisper shouts.

I stare at her.

“That is not what I said.”

“You didn’t need to.”

“Christina,” Emma warns.

“What? We walked in on them gazing at each other like the rest of us had disappeared.”

My face heats even more. “Please stop talking,” I hiss.

“And then there was the thumb,” Christina adds with a grin.

“Christina,” Charlotte says.

“What? There was.”

I pick up my water and take a drink just to give myself something to do, but Christina isn’t wrong. It had felt different the moment Tommy stepped closer, and brushed his thumb against my mouth. Then there was the way he looked at me, without the usual impatience or grumpiness, and my stomach flips again just thinking about it. There had been something in that look that felt nothing like boss and assistant, even if believing that seems slightly ridiculous.

“He’s been nothing but grumpy with me since I started,” I try to move us away from the weird thought that he could actually be interested in me.

Charlotte frowns. “Since when is Tommy grumpy?”

All three of them exchange a look.

Fantastic.

“Yeah,” Emma says carefully. “That doesn’t sound like him.”

“He can be serious,” Charlotte adds. “And he works far too much.”

“He’s a control freak,” Christina says.

“But grumpy?” Charlotte shakes her head. “Not usually.”

Something shifts inside me.

“What if…” Charlotte leans forward slightly. “What if he’s keeping you at a distance?”

I stare at her. “Why would he do that?”

“Because he’s your boss.. all the forbidden workplace love,” she whispers the last few words with real enthusiasm.

My pulse gives a stupid little jump.

“Tommy is exactly the sort of man who would worry about putting you in an awkward position. If he liked you and thought he shouldn’t act on it, being overly formal or distant would make sense,” Charlotte explains.