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I gloss my lips and finish the coffee before rinsing it in the sink, preparing myself for the looks and gossip at the office. Is this even smart when I’m new to the company? It’s too late to worry about it now and I head out the door to my car.
I play back the time I spent with Kyle with a smile as I drive, singing along to the radio. The event had been a little awkward, and I felt certain that his family didn’t approve of me, but it had been for a noble cause. We made the best of it but the casual times with Kyle are what I love the most.
Deep down under that CEO exterior, Kyle is the simple guy I knew when we were young. We were happiest at the tree house or just spending time outside, talking and exploring. Here in Seattle, I can see us spending a lot of time exploring the lesser-known areas and seeing every corner of the city. That’s what I look forward to the most.
I park in the lot and look around, seeing a few familiar faces as I swallow nervously. This is going to be okay. I show up and do my job here and everyone knows I’m good at my job, so that’s all that matters.
When I enter the building and head to the elevators, I smile at my coworkers. I can see the extra looks at me and at each other but ignore it. This is to be expected with the situation and I’m at work now. I don’t have as much of an active role to play since I’m keeping it casual with Kyle here.
Well, everywhere.
I feel relieved when I walk into my office to see the team sipping coffee and going over the current campaign. “Good morning.” I greet them with a smile as everyone looks at me. “Did you have a good weekend?”
“It wasn’t as busy as yours,” Marcie says as I glance at her. She’s smiling so I relax. “There’s going to be some chatter because of the pictures. That’s just normal in this environment, but we all understand your past with Kyle. He’s a good guy and not just some rich guy that doesn’t care about people.”
I look around at everyone and they nod. Eli looks slightly uncomfortable, but I get he was probably interested in more with me and that will never happen now. It never would have anyway since I didn’t feel that way about him, but now that I’m fake dating Kyle, he knows it.
“It will not get in the way of anything here. I come to work to do this job and that’s my priority.” I assure them as they nod.
“We’ve gotten to know you and believe that. I just can’t speak for some others that gossip about anything they can. Just keep that focus and you’ll be great.” Marcie assures me as I smile and walk over to make some coffee.
We tackle the campaign and I lose myself in the ideas bouncing around the room, but I glance up as Kyle passes the office. He smiles at me, and I return it, thinking how good he looks dressed up for work. Dressed up for anything, for that matter. The kisses play back through my mind, and I look down as warmth washes over my face.
I look at the product on the table and chew on my lip and I bring myself back to the present.
“What about an office setting like this? It is an energy product and people in a fast-paced industry would use this.” I said, picturing an exciting environment in my mind.
“Something exciting and positive. People can drink this to keep going for a few more hours because they love it.” Marcie adds and I nod. “I know I might enjoy it at some point.”
We all laugh, and I take a sip of my coffee, feeling like I could do this.
At lunch, I go out to get some food with Marcie and notice the receptionists shooting me dirty looks. I look away and meet Marcie’s sympathetic smile, and she clears her throat when we leave the building.
“That’s just going to happen. I’m sure you get Kyle is an attractive guy, and the wealth doesn’t hurt that either. Those women had their eyes on him since he started working here.” Marcie shrugged. “How did you end up going out?”
The lie. We’d talked about just realizing we had feelings after reconnecting and that made sense.
“We were great friends when we were younger and seeing him again felt like we started where we left off. Does that make sense?” I ask and look at her as she nods. “We thought we’d see what happened. His mom wants him to get married, but we’re not thinking about that. Just taking it slow.”
“No kidding. You guys are still young and have plenty of time for that. You’d make beautiful babies, though.” She laughs and I join her, thinking that we really would. I can picture practicing for that and force my mind to stop.
We’ve just kissed until now and there’s no reason to complicate anything.
We grab sandwiches for lunch and eat before going back to the office, and I blush as I see Kyle returning as well.
“Ladies,” he greets us as our eyes lock for a moment. “I see Laina took you to her favorite place, Marcie. Out of all the choices, right?” His smile is wide, and I shoot a fake glare at him. He looks around and leans in to kiss my cheek. “Are you having a good day?”
We weren’t that close to the building, so nobody probably saw anything, and I nod.
“You?” I ask as Marcie watches us with a smile on her face.
“The busy life of a boss. Want to grab some dinner after work?” he asks and I nod, wondering if it will be a regular thing. We didn’t plan to be the couple joined at the hip, but why not have fun? We enjoy each other’s company.
I finish work with a smile on my face and gather my things as Marcie grins at me.
“Let them talk. You’re cute together.” She tells me as I arch a brow. “Really cute. Your connection shows.”
I go down to the lobby with her and see Kyle waiting for me against a pole, looking casual and sexy as he reads something on his phone. He glances up with a smile and walks over to meet me and I fall beside him as we walk to the door.
