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So much for not doing this anymore. Although, it was one night. A night out for Callie, because she admitted her life was boring. Whatever reason she’d swept in here and said yes, he wasn’t giving her a reason to change her mind. He’d behave, but he’d also make sure that she had a great time. If she changed her mind and wanted to go out with him again, that was fine. It would be more than fine. If not, he’d man up and live with it. Hopefully.
“Yeah- sure.” He realized she was waiting for a response and snapped the hell out of his head. “That’s fine. I’ll come up with something. Something you’ll enjoy.”
“Alright.” Callie nodded curtly and fled out the door. She didn’t go to her desk, but continued on past it, down the hall.
Matt leaned back in his chair. He raised his arms above his head and worked the kinks out of his shoulders and spine. He normally hit the gym at lunch and his upcoming session would do more than just loosen up muscles that were sore and knotted from sitting too long. He’d be able to work out the frustration of having to wait until Friday to take out his secretary.
God, it sounded so bad when he put it like that but was it really? There were surely worse things on earth than taking out a smart, attractive, capable woman who worked with him. He didn’t see their positions in the company or the fact that he had more money as an obstacle, though he could understand why she would. He would never use it to hurt her or lord it over her and the fact that someone else might nearly choked him with anger.
Something she’ll enjoy. He’d set the bar high because he had to. She’d said once, but his aim was to give her a night she wouldn’t soon forget, one that she enjoyed so much there was a second and maybe another time after that. He’d said he was done with dating and all of it, but hell… Callie wasn’t like other women. He could tell already she wasn’t going to use him for his cash or chew him up and spit him out. She wouldn’t string him along or stomp all over his heart. Would she? He didn’t think so, but there were a million ways to play someone. Just because she seemed innocent and straight up, didn’t mean she was.
He gave himself a little shake. He wasn’t going to hold it against her that other people hadn’t treated him fairly. That wasn’t right. He’d take her out and they’d see.
He just hoped that in the next four days he didn’t combust at his desk and that he could come up with something that topped her rather low expectations of the stated one-star restaurant. Surely, he could do better than that. He had to. She wouldn’t give him another chance otherwise.
CHAPTER 9
Callie
Wear warm clothes. Those were the only instructions she had for the date she already regretted agreeing to. She’d pretty much regretted it from the moment she walked out of Matt’s office on Monday morning. Surprisingly, it didn’t make things awkward between them, but then again, she hardly ever saw Matt. She booked his trips, went through emails and calls and scheduled meetings, but as for direct contact. It was pretty minimal. It still didn’t make her feel better about the date.
Standing in the company’s parking lot beside her car, just because she felt she couldn’t breathe in there, Callie realized that she was only nervous because she actually cared. It was unthinkable, that one kiss should cause so much trouble.
It was before the kiss. She didn’t like the overly honest thought, but it was true. She’d noticed Matt was attractive far before she kissed him. Maybe there was something in her subconscious that night that pushed her into it. To find and kiss him… no, that was just silly.
After a few minutes, Callie checked her phone. She was way too early, as usual. It was still ten to seven and she’d been there forever. She just couldn’t sit around the apartment any longer. Chantara was there and she wasn’t going to give her a moment of peace. She was way too nervous and instead of pacing a hole in the carpet of her room, Callie decided to get out and just go for a drive. In the car, there was nowhere she could go where she could escape her nerves, so the drive turned into just driving to work and she’d been far too early.
Her insides felt like they were tied in a hundred painful knots. She hadn’t eaten anything all day and she was both starving and so anxious she felt like she could actually throw up. Inside her mitts, her palms were soaked with sweat. Her warm clothes were in the backseat of the car. Her snow pants were the ones she’d had since high school. Her jacket wasn’t very pretty either, but it was warm and functional. She’d left them off, since she didn’t want to overheat, but also because she wasn’t sure how warm warm clothes were. She currently had on the knee-length jacket she wore to work every day. It was much nicer, red and black plaid and not ugly at all.
