Greg walks around the table so he’s facing me, expression flat, annoyed. “What exactly are you saying?”
Sarah looks concerned, and Morgan looks like she’s about to reach for some popcorn.
“Maybe I can spy on him for you guys. Or throw him off your trail. Buy you some time, at least.”
“Are you sure about this, Ruby?” Al asks.
Greg scoffs and looks at me like I’ve lost it. “Are you kidding? That’s insane.”
“I’m dead serious, Greg!” And then I start to sweat, thinking of the paperwork. “Um, there’s just—there’s this thing I signed.”
Chapter
37
Carol from Legal peers at my phone through her reading glasses, scrutinizing the contract.
“There is in fact nothinglightabout this NDA, Ruby,” she says, gaze flipping back up to me.
“He had you sign an NDA?” Greg actually looks like he wants to kill someone on my behalf. Regrettably for me, my first and most powerful thought is,It’s kind of hot.
“Why did you sign this?” Carol laughs. “Was the sex that good?”
“Carol!”Rebecca from HR scolds.
Greg’s scratching his neck like he has a rash.
“She can’t tell you without breaking the NDA,” Steve the Project Manager cracks.
“Wow, hostile work environment!” I snatch my phone back and shoot Steve an acid glare.
I’m ashamed enough to last a lifetime already, but the idea of this random dude from high school judging me makes me see red. I want to make him squirm right back. “I’d give him a six out of ten,” I add.
Sarah cackles. “Brutal.” She glances over at Greg, who’s looking very interested in the ceiling tiles. “Sorry,” she says.
“I’m an idiot, okay!” I exclaim. “No thoughts, head empty.”
Morgan nods knowingly. “I remember being like that. It’s relatable. Losing our minds over a hot man who is ultimately kind of terrible—I mean, it happens to everyone.”
Al furrows his brow. “Does it?”
“God, what is this,Melrose Place?” Diane from Complaint Resolution says under her breath.
“Hey,” Greg says. “Ruby’s willing to take a big risk for us now, okay? Ease up.”
“Why don’t we vote on it?” Sarah says. “Whether we trust Ruby to, uh…work with us on this.”
“What happens if we don’t trust her?” Steve asks.
“Then I’ll sign an NDA about this too, and you can sue me if I break it.”
Everyone laughs, and I feel lighter for a second.
“All in favor of trusting Ruby,” Sarah says, “raise your hands.”
The moments when everyone is thinking about it, trying to make a decision about me, seem to stretch on forever.
And suspended in that moment, even though I’ve been settled on breaking up with Mark Winterson for days, a pang of guilt hits me—because of all the things I’ve tried, dating him is far and away the one Mom has been happiest about. A panicked, lizard-brained part of me squeaks,What if marrying him was the thing that could make her move on?
