Mona bursts into a fit of laughter, and I want to slap her.
“He’s wearing glitter!” I say. “Claims to have asun allergy. I hate you so much right now.”
The laughter continues until she’s holding her side and crying. “If I didn’t see him myself, I’d think you were lying. Oh my God, this is great.”
“And you’ve scheduledmoredates for me. I can’t decide if dragging you along or not will make you suffer more.”
“Ouch! My sides hurt! They hurt!”
I push her, knocking her off the stool, and she holds herself on the floor, still laughing.
“I hate you,” I mutter, downing the drink the server sets in front of me. “I hope someone steps on you.”
“You love me.”
“Bite me.”
Pulling my arm, she uses me to help her stand. “I think that’s Enoch’s line.”
I just glare at her, hoping she bursts into flames right here. She was right about one thing, though: it did distract me.
Feedback
Decision One & Fated Mates
Mona tells everyone at work about my date with a vampire. Even though I pretend to be annoyed, I’m secretly entertained. It’s stupid. But funny.
Tyler’s been acting more normal since our talk, which is a relief. He even mentioned in one of our team meetings that he and his long-term girlfriend broke up. Which made the suspicions about a relationship between us after his flower reaction disappear.
I took a few days to make sure I was confident in my decision. And the truth is that as much as I love office romance stories, they usually involve hot, built billionaires. Not that I have any issue with Tyler not being a billionaire, but I just don’t see him when I picture my future. Not outside of a working relationship, anyway.
If I date him, there’s just too much at stake. It would be different if I could see a future with him. Rings. Flowers. Babies. It would be worth the effort. HR involvement. Public announcements. Team shifts. And a reputation I don’t want.
“So… you went on a date with a vampire?” Tyler asks as I take a seat in his office.
I hate how adorable he looks as he tries not to smile. Even though the door’s shut, the blinds are open, giving us both the reminder to keep our hands—and other body parts—to each other.
“It was… an experiment,” I say. “Mona and I—but mostly Mona—scheduled dates in the categories that have the asterisks. You know… the ones that require imagination. We may have been drinking. And lucky me, I have three more dates to go. Which, as you can imagine, I’m thrilled about.”
He bursts out laughing. “Like what?”
His reaction reinforces my decision. He’s not jealous in the least. And I’m okay with that.
“Uh, Fated Mates. Fantasy—I’m not really sure which one, though. And Celebrity.”
“There are celebrities on this app?”
“I sincerely doubt it. With my luck, it’ll be someone who appeared on three episodes ofJersey ShoreorMob Wives. If that.”
“I’m more of a nonfiction reader. What the heck is Fated Mates? Like soulmates?”
Snorting, I shake my head. “Um… shapeshifters. Werewolves and whatnot.”
“I might need to read more romance.”
The thought of Tyler reading a romantasy book makes me laugh harder. “If you want to.”
He looks at me and sighs. “I assume you’re here because you’ve made a decision.” When I nod, he forces a smile. “I’m going to guess by the look on your face that we don’t need HR.”
