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I arrive at King Tech and make my way to my desk, greeting coworkers and taking a seat, pulling out my laptop and opening it.
“How was your weekend?” Ben asks.
I shoot him a wavering smile. “Good,” is all I can say. “You?”
He tells me about a date he had with some finance bro and how boring it was, prattling on about the lack of good dating options in the Seattle area. I listen halfheartedly, my whole body on edge.
But soon the workday gets into its usual flow, and I find myself buried in work—too busy to stress about my encounter with Asher this weekend. There’s so much on my plate that I barely have time to take a five-minute break and scarf down the lunch I’d brought with me.
When the workday finally comes to a close, I send off my last email of the day and lean back in my chair with a sigh. Ben chuckles from across our desk clump.
“We survived,” he says with a shake of his head. “I keep telling them they need like two assistants per King.”
I laugh.
My laptop dings, and I stare down at it in annoyance. Whatever it is will be waiting until tomorrow morning, but I might as well see what the email says.
My heart leaps into my throat when I see that it’s from Asher.
Meet me in my office before you head out.
Nerves dance in my belly as I slowly stand from my desk. “See you tomorrow, Ben,” I say with a smile, keeping my tone light and cheery.
“See ya,” he says with a wave, gathering up his stuff.
I make my way down the dark hall to Asher’s office. I knock and enter after he calls me in. I stand quietly near the door, waiting. He finishes something up on his laptop and then closes it, turning his attention to me. He stares me down for far too long—long enough to make me squirm, want to sink into the floor never to return. All I can think about is our last encounter. Him seeing me in that ridiculous outfit—that short skirt, the sheer tights, my bare breasts dangling below me as I’d reached over to hand a drink to his friend.
And I know it’s exactly what he’s thinking of right now too.
I can feel myself blushing at just the thought.
Exasperated by the silence, I finally snap, “Did you need something, Asher?”
He purses his lips, continuing his silent perusal of me. Finally, he says, “Why were you at that club?”
I resist the urge to roll my eyes. So he was fine ignoring our one-night stand for an entire week, but not this? “I work there,” I answer.
He snorts. “Obviously. Why?”
“I—” I stammer, caught off guard. I’d expected things to be awkward, tense, unbearably embarrassing, but I hadn’t expected this. An interrogation? “I just … do.”
Asher narrows his eyes.
“For fun. I—I enjoy it,” I lie.
I can’t tell if he believes me or not. His expression is inscrutable, as always.
“What I do outside of work hours shouldn’t matter here,” I go on, standing up a bit straighter, hoping to lay this to rest. “It’s unfortunate that we … ran into each other, but that’s just what it is.”
He nods slowly, seemingly taking my answer.
“What were you doing there anyway?” I find myself asking.
His hardened expression melts just a bit, and he rolls his eyes. “An idiot friend of mine dragged me there. It’s not normally my scene.”
Okay. Good, then. Hopefully I won’t be seeing him again. Unless he enjoys making my life miserable and shows up just to torment me. But I doubt it. Regardless of his cold exterior, Asher seems decent. He might be somewhat of an asshole, but he’s not downright terrible.
“I didn’t take it to be your scene either.” He crosses his arms, his expression inscrutable again. He doesn’t believe my lie. I can tell. But it doesn’t matter. It’s the answer I’ve given, and it’s the answer he’ll have to take.
