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She knew that.
And yet, every damned night, she was tempted to call him.
Of course, 2.0 was pissed, but 2.0 apparently had forgotten what a good kisser Jake was.
Grace hadn’t forgotten. Not even a little bit.
And wouldn’t the HeSaidSheSaid readers like to find out that little tidbit!
This entire thing had devolved into a circus in which they didn’t even have to worry about analyzing the other person, because the rest of the world was doing the analysis for them.
Grace kept reminding herself that she should be thrilled. Camille had made a big show in the weekly staff meeting about how it was the most groundbreaking Stiletto undertaking since
“Of course your stylist is in on it. This is like the new reality TV,” Emma said.
“Jake’s not going to notice that I got a half-inch trim. None of you noticed.”
“You have to at least show up,” Riley called after her. “Women are in the lead!”
“Whatever,” Grace muttered, walking right past the restroom. She needed to get out of here. And thanks to her friends’ intel, she knew exactly where she wouldn’t be going. No Lucky’s burger for her.
She paused as she headed toward the elevator. Too bad Riley hadn’t been more specific about the time of Jake’s lunch break. Did she risk taking the elevator and running into one of the Oxford guys who would push her toward Lucky’s to accomplish whatever obscure mating challenge they’d dreamed up for the day?
Or …
Before she could change her mind, Grace slipped into the stairwell. Not a place she’d spent a lot of time in, outside of fire drills and the rare power outage, but if walking down seven flights of stairs meant a few minutes of peace and quiet and the potential to eat lunch without having everyone critique every blink and smile, she’d take it.
Her four-inch heels made it slow going, and she’d only made it down one flight before the door flew open, nearly knocking her over.
“Shit, sorry—I didn’t think anyone would be in here … Grace?”
Jake gave a nervous glance over his shoulder and shut the door quickly, leaving them secluded in the silent stairwell. “What the hell are you doing in here?”
“Oh, you know—just getting a little midday exercise.”
“By walking down? I don’t think so.”
She crossed her arms, defensive. “What are you doing here?”
His eyes flashed guiltily, and he pulled on his earlobe.
“You’re avoiding me,” she said, her eyes going wide.
“No! No. I mean yes, but not avoiding you, just avoiding …”
Grace gave a relieved laugh. “Everything? Everyone? Me too. I thought you were going to Lucky’s.”
“Yeah, you were supposed to think that. What do you want to bet half the Oxford and Stiletto offices got a sudden craving for hamburgers today?”
“So you set up a decoy plan. Well done, Mr. Malone.” They began descending the stairs, Jake offering his arm so she didn’t wobble on her heels. She took it, surprised that it felt like the most natural thing in the world to be holding on to Jake Malone in the stairwell while they hid from the world.
“I admit, I was thinking you’d probably be the first one to Lucky’s,” he said, glancing down at her as they made it to the fifth floor. “Most of the guys spent all morning trying to figure out what the next female wile was.”
“My hair,” Grace said, flicking her ponytail. “You’re not supposed to notice that it’s a half inch shorter. Or maybe you are supposed to notice? I can’t keep it all straight.”
“Well, chalk this one up to the voters with boobs, because there’s no way in hell I would have noticed your haircut.”
“What about me?” she asked. “What was my challenge for the day?”
