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Six
The last hour had passed easily. Addison was a good deejay, even though she was cranking a country station. Not typically what he preferred but he could tolerate Florida Georgia Line. Besides, she looked cute singing along to every word.
He hadn’t gotten over the news that a funeral was her “family reunion.”
She kept her personal life a hell of a lot closer to the chest than he’d previously thought. He knew she was a private person, but good God. How had she not trusted him enough to confide that a close friend of hers had passed away?
What he knew about Addi wouldn’t fill a shot glass. For good reason. Work stayed at work and she was at work. Now with the rare opportunity of having her outside of work, he was finding out all sorts of things about her. Like that she didn’t like skiing. That her family wasn’t close. That her late friend Joe was the son of the Hart Media Harts—a behemoth that made ThomKnox look like a garage start-up company.
Meanwhile, she’d clammed up. She was a lot like the tide. Advance, withdraw. Advance. Withdraw. He still felt as if she was hiding something from him.
But what?
He thought back to his conversation with Taylor—when she confessed she was worried about him. He suspected Addi was doing the same. And as much as he appreciated it, he needed to let her know that he was just fine, thank you very much. There was no reason for her to take on his personal life—only his professional one.
As he caught sight of her mouth moving to the words of the song, again he felt attraction vibrate the air. It was so much stronger outside the office.
He rolled up the windows and, risking potentially embarrassing both of them, tapped the Off button for the radio on his steering wheel.
“You don’t like that song?” she asked.
“We’ve been politely skirting a very big issue since Taylor insinuated that you and I should date.”
Addi froze.
“In this space, I’m not your boss. You can say whatever you like to me and I’ll respond honestly. The impact of what we say will never leave the confines of this car. Agreed?”
She said nothing, watching him cautiously.
“I never should have dated Taylor.” It was the most he’d said to Addi on the topic, but the air needed clearing. “She and I are friends, great friends. Hell, we never even slept together.”
“Thank God,” she breathed and he shot her a startled look. “For your brother’s sake, I mean. And your niece’s. Or nephew’s. I’m sorry, go on.”
“Uh, right. Point is, you don’t have to worry about me. I wanted CEO but I also love what I do. And while I admit I find you very attractive and funny and smart, I also know you are irreplaceable, and I’d never compromise our most important union. The relationship we have at work.”
More silence from her side of the car, but she did nod. Eyes on the road, he continued, content to fully bury this hatchet once and for all, “I have no plans to ask you on a date, Addison.” He glanced over at her. “None. Dinner tonight will be a couple of coworkers hanging out, and that’s it. If you’re uncomfortable or if you feel I’ve overstepped, say the word. It’s not worth ruining our friendship.”
She didn’t respond to that either, watching out the windshield, eyes unblinking.
Granted, this wasn’t the easiest conversation to have. The promise never to ask her out was as much to reassure her as to remind himself that she wasn’t going to grace his bedsheets. Before their joking was misconstrued as flirting, or his lingering gazes made things worse for both of them, he had to set them back on course.
“You’ve been at my side as my executive assistant for a year and just so you know, I see that as a lateral position. You’re every bit as important as me to ThomKnox. If I lost you, Ad, I’d be lost. And unlike your friend Joe, I know in my gut—to the soles of my feet—that you don’t like me that way. You don’t have to worry about me assuming otherwise.”
She’d started out shocked, slipped into nervous and advanced to royally pissed off during Brannon Knox’s monologue. He’d made a ton of assumptions despite promising he wasn’t. He wanted to be honest? Oh, she could be honest.
How many arguments had she had with her parents over the years where they claimed to know exactly what she wanted? Exactly what she needed? Piano lessons. Modeling sessions. Cheerleading practice. She’d kept her mouth shut then, too, not wanting to disappoint them. Afraid that if she disagreed, they’d cut her off.
Then one day they did.
She’d barely graduated college before her parents were shoving her into an admin position at Hart Media. In a short while, she’d been “promoted” to accounts manager and hated every second of it. She tried for a year and a half to make it work—always at the encouragement of her parents not to lose out on the huge opportunity of working at Hart Media. When she was finally brave enough to walk away she’d never felt freer.
Her parents had been furious.
They were so certain they knew what was best for her, but never bothered asking her what she thought. Just like Brannon was doing now. By the time he got to the part of his speech where he said I know you don’t like me she couldn’t hold her tongue any longer.
“I do like you, you idiot!”
The words bubbled from her throat like lava from an active volcano, spewing out way too much truth for the confines of a car. Static electricity charged the air between them as her heart rate ratcheted up. She’d never yelled at him before. She had no idea what to expect. Was he going to yell back at her? Pull over and tell her to find her own way to Lake Tahoe? Fire her?
