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“So are you going to tell me what you’re talking about? And don’t say hair. I know that doesn’t have anything to do with it.”
He smiled and took a drink from his cup, his blue-gray eyes sparkling with mischief. When he lowered the mug, ho
wever, he said, “Nope. I’m not saying anything else.” And he slid backward out of the breakroom so he could escape and disappear down the walkway away from me.
“Coward,” I muttered under my breath.
But for some reason, I also felt better because now I knew there was a specific reason he’d iced up on me. And he was willing to admit I hadn’t done anything wrong to deserve it. Hmph.
Now, if he’d just talk to me again as he had at the theater, life would be good.
That was probably too much to ask for, though.
Oh well. I was still going to celebrate the chipper mood it had put me in. I’d been confident and I’d confronted him without backing down. Hell, if anything, I’d made him back down. Parker was going to be so proud of me. He’d call it progress, I just knew he would.
I was still glowing with triumph as I returned to my desk with a full cup.
“Hey, El?”
Lurching in surprise, I nearly spilled coffee all over my blouse as my boss popped out of his office.
“Oh my God,” I gasped, pressing a hand to my chest.
Because, oh my God, how had Gracen known he’d show up?
“Sorry about that,” he said, stepping forward to grab my arm in concern. “You okay?”
“Yes, of course.” I pulled my arm free because it certainly hadn’t been that big of a fright. “Sorry, I just didn’t know you were coming in today.”
“Ah. Well, surprise.” He flashed another big grin and spread his arms wide.
I sent him a small, hesitant smile in return.
Yeah. Surprise.
“Anyway, I was wondering if you had the Zimle file on you.”
“I do,” I told him, hurrying past to set my coffee on the edge of my desk before scurrying around it to start sorting through the mess on top. “Sorry, it’s somewhere in here, I know.” I offered him a reassuring smile so he wouldn’t think I was incompetent. “That’s why I wanted to come in today, so I could make some order out of this chaos.”
“Hey, it’s no problem,” he told me easily. “Take your time.”
See, Gracen was totally wrong about him. Mr. Draper was a nice guy.
I fumbled in my rush, wanting to please him with my awesome secretarial skills. But after shuffling through everything on my desk, and not finding the file he was looking for, I knew I wasn’t coming across as very competent at all.
Shit.
I held up a finger, hoping he’d stay patient and nonjudgmental just a moment longer. “Maybe it was one of the ones I already filed.”
Turning away, I studied the filing cabinet a second before realizing I’d need the bottom drawer. So I bent down to open it and shifted my nails over the named tabs along the top, only to jump when someone goosed me.
Or so I thought.
“Oh!” I popped upright and spun around because it seriously had felt like someone had pinched the back of my skirt. But when I re-faced my boss, he was still standing a few feet back.
With a frown, I glanced around before focusing on him again.
“Did you just—”
