“Care to share with the class,Mr. Greyson?”
My snarkiness didn’t faze him. “Besides it making it easier to separate our professional and personal relationships, I can’t call you Kelli in the office because there is no hiding how I feel about you when I say your name. I’m trying to prevent any undo backlash that may come your way if people in the office honestly knew how I felt about you.”
So, it was good, really good, but I still didn’t like it. “You know, I’ve dealt with that before. There were a few people who were very unhappy about me receiving my current position. They chalked it up to nepotism and the fact that Gary and Holly had wanted me to marry their son.”
“And you think I want you to have to deal with that again?”
“No, but you don’t have to protect me. I’m a big girl now, and I just happen to be their boss too.”
He sighed in frustration. “Please, can you just trust me? I’m trying to prevent any unnecessary complications.”
I narrowed my eyes.
“That’s not to say you’re a complication,” he quickly added, “but regardless, I have Chandler’s reputation to protect as well.”
I could understand that, so I dropped it for now. “So, what did you want to see me about? I’m assuming it wasn’t to discuss name preferences.”
His eyes begged for me to understand before he clicked a few things on his laptop and turned it around to face me.
I was surprised by what the screen held. There were my designs, front and center. My eyes drifted from the screen back to him. “Where did you get those?”
“When you asked me to retrieve your laptop after the accident, I noticed the folder on your desktop.”
“So, you thought it was a good idea to open it without my permission?”
“Do I need to remind you about the disclosures you’ve signed pertaining to anything on company computers?”
I shot daggers at him with my eyes. “Need I remind you—”
He headed me off at the pass, “Ms. Bryant, your designs are perfect.”
“Yeah . . . well . . . thanks.” His flip-flopping was giving me a headache.
“Why didn’t you show these to me in the first place?” He admired them.
I sat up a little taller. “I was planning on it, but then you brought back that ‘contracted designer.’” I used air quotes as I loosely said the term. She couldn’t design herself out of a box.
He cleared his throat. “Yes, well, I still would have liked to see them.”
“Especially since we’ve got nothing better right now,” I teased.
He didn’t take the bait. “I would like to set up a demo with Matt for this afternoon to show him this so he can get to work on adding it. Are you available at three?”
I nodded. “Is that all?”
“Just one more thing. You are a talented graphic designer, but I need your attention focused elsewhere.”
I glared at him. “Fine, Mr. Greyson.” I got up and stalked off, slamming the dang adjoining door as I went. He was the most infuriating man I had ever known. This was why all the experts advised people not to date their coworkers.
I sat down at my desk fuming. My phone rang almost immediately. I saw the number on the display screen and considered not answering it, but then I figured he would probably come marching on over here if I didn’t, and I wasn’t in any mood to see him even though he was looking quite fine today in his blue suit. “Hello.”
“Kelli.”
“Didn’t we just have this conversation? Don’t you mean, Ms. Bryant?”
I could hear the smile in his voice when he replied, “I should clarify, this is Ian, and I was calling to make a lunch date with the woman I love, who, by the way, looks stunning today.”
“You know this is ridiculous, right?”
