If Kels were here, she’d roll her eyes and say, “He’s just doing his job. You’re making it into more than it is. Anyway, he was an asshole to me. You really need to get laid, Cierra.”
And I did need to get rid of all the sexual tension I’d been feeling since I first laid eyes on Trace at Beta.
I glanced at the clock: four thirty. I couldn’t believe how late it was. It seemed like I’d just arrived. Talking with Trace had been easy and invigorating. He really listened to what I was saying, and it wasn’t just because it was his job. Doug Raley never listened to me, and that’s why we went round and round before he’d finally do what I asked him to in the first place. And it wasn’t just because I wasn’t the official head of the event department. Lindsey always complained that Doug and Tim in Account Planning looked through her when she talked.
Trace’s eyebrows shot up. “Damn, I didn’t realize how long I’d kept you in here.”
“I should probably get all this sent along to Lindsey,” I said as I stood up.
Immediately rising to his feet, he smiled. “Thanks for talking all this through with me. I appreciate it. I’ll e-mail you if I need to follow up on anything else.”
“Of course, anything you want,” I replied, then quickly corrected myself. “Need. Anything you need.”
“I’ll bear that in mind,” he said in a low voice.
“See you later.” I stepped under his arm and out the door, doing my best not to inhale the clean, spicy scent of his aftershave. It didn’t work. I closed my eyes for a split second and my head filled with images of waking up next to him, the smell of him layered on the sheets around us as he reached over to pull me closer—
And then I was out from under him, ducking my head and marching off back to the elevator without looking back. Inside the elevator, I chastised myself for falling for his charms. The same ones that ensnared women like Kelsey. I’d been gullible, falling under his spell when all he was doing was his job. I made a big deal about it, thinking he was somehow different from other men. Oh, he was good. He’d probably had years of experience in beguiling women. Well, I’d just have to make sure I didn’t fall into his net. Yeah, he might be good in the office, but that was it. I didn’t need to think about where else he might turn out to be good. In fact, it was best if I kept intrusive little thoughts like that firmly out of my head, unless I wanted to wind up in trouble with my job and my best friend.
I marched back down to my desk and planted myself behind my computer, booting it up and starting an e-mail to Lindsey. As I typed, I did my best to push the thought of him out of my mind once and for all, but he was still there, nagging away at the back of my head. Back and forth my mind went:Is Trace a decent guy, or is he an insensitive womanizer? Am I judging him solely based on what Kels told me about him, or am I trying to be objective?The thoughts shuttled through my brain like a frenzied ping-pong match, and a major headache threatened to attack.
Finishing the e-mail, I checked the time and hooked my bag over my shoulder. I needed to get out of the office, sit in a long bath, and do anything I could to get my mind off the man a couple of floors above me.
