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“I’ll drive you,” I snapped.
“If you insist, but that’s really not necessary.”
“Anything else?”
“Yeah. Why are you such a grump sometimes?”
“Anyseriousquestions?”
“No.”
“Okay.”
We hung up, and I opted to stay at the office rather than going home. It seemed counterproductive to drive to my place on the other side of London, only to return here later. I certainly had no lack of work to keep me occupied.
But sitting at my desk after hours was quite a miserable experience. I’d worked late before, but I’d never stayed at the office this long after closing, until I was the only person here. A cleaning crew now made their way around the floor, the distant white noise of a vacuum the only sound aside from the muffled traffic outside my window.
My phone chimed with a text from Abby.
It was a photo of her sandwiched between Alistair and Sean at the pub. Somehow I knew she’d sent it to ruffle my feathers. It did more than that, though. A feeling of intense jealousy rose to the surface—an unpleasant realization that my feelings for this woman had officially crossed a line, even ifIcould never cross it.
Sig: Any reason you’re sending me this photo?
Abby: We’re at The Bend. There’s still time to join us. We’ll be here a little longer.
Christ.My concentration went to hell after that. If that had been her intention, mission accomplished. I relented, shutting off my computer and grabbing my jacket.
After walking the few blocks down to the pub, from the pavement I could see the office crew occupying a large table inside. I entered, and when they spotted me walking toward them, everyone’s conversations seemed to cease at once, aside from a few whispers. I stood at the end of their table. “What’s wrong with all of you? You act like you’ve never seen me outside of work before.”
“We haven’t,” Kimberly from HR said.
“Who invited you?” someone asked.
“I did,” Abby announced.
All of the heads at the table turned toward her.
“Something wrong with me being here?” I asked.
Emma from accounting cleared her throat. “It’s just that you’ve never accepted an offer to come out with us before. We weren’t expecting you.”
“I’m aware of that.” I pulled out a chair. “I figured I’d come out for once—see what all the fuss is about.”
“Well, boss, nice to have you,” Sean said.
I glared at him. But what I really wanted to do was deck him.
A waitress came by. “Fancy a bevvy?”
Knowing I was driving Abby back tonight, I’d opened my mouth to decline when Abby placed her hand on my forearm.
“Relax,” she whispered. “I’ll be your designated driver.”
“There is nothingrelaxingabout the idea of you driving.” Though I supposed one beer wouldn’t hurt, in any case. “I’ll have a pint, thanks,” I said.
The waitress turned to Abby. “Are you sure you don’t want anything to drink, miss?”
“I’m positive,” she replied. “I still have my sparkling water with lime. Thank you.”
