Page 28 of My Sexy Boss
“Do you like your dinner?” Cory asked as he poured more wine in my glass.
“It’s very good. How’s yours?”
“Great. You seem a bit preoccupied. Is anything wrong?”
“Sorry. I guess my mind is still on work.” I wasn’t lying considering my mind was on my boss.
“Where do you work again?”
“Velocity. It’s an advertising and marketing company. I’ve been there for five years.”
“I’ve read about it. Didn’t you just get a new CEO?” He tapped his temple with his finger. “What’s his name?”
“Trace Prescott.” His name spilled easily from my mouth; I loved saying it.
“That’s right. He’s pretty young, isn’t he?”
I shrugged. “There’re a lot of CEOs who are younger now. Especially in some of the IT companies.”
“He took his grandfather’s place. Thomas Linder. It must be nice to be born into all that money and not have to earn it.”
“Tra—Mr. Prescott works hard. He’s already brought in several new accounts. And he earned hisownmoney years ago by developing a gaming app.”
Cold, hard eyes replaced the warm, friendly ones from just a moment before. “You’re a real loyal employee. Do you receive any fringe benefits from Mr. Prescott?” Disdain hung on his tongue.
“What’re you talking about? And why’re you getting so mad?”
And just like that, the warmness came back into his eyes, the muscles relaxed in his face, and he unclenched his fists. “I guess I have a chip on my shoulder when it comes to inheriting wealth rather than making it. Most of us have to work all our lives, and we never even get close to the amount of money Prescott and the likes of him will inherit. It’s just one of my pet peeves.”
I didn’t know what to say. Maybe Cory had grown up real poor and the rich kids at school had made fun of him when he was young. I made a mental note to do some digging around about him. The way he turned was a red flag for me—a small one, but a red flag nonetheless. But I’d promised myself I wouldn’t take one thing and use that as an excuse to add him to the elimination list I’d started a couple of years before. I had so many names on it, and the keeper list had none.
The rest of the night went well. We even shared the chocolate banana bread pudding, which was to die for. I was a huge chocoholic, so I was delighted when Cory asked me to pick the dessert. I practically ate the whole thing. I’d be spending a few extra hours in the gym for that indulgence, but it was so worth it.
Outside, the air was chilly and I shivered in spite of my lined jacket. Cory wrapped his arm around me and I felt warmer, but that was about all I felt. Nothing else. Not the spark I felt whenever Trace and I inadvertently touched. I wasn’t being difficult; it just wasn’t there. But in fairness to Cory, I’d never felt a spark with any man before Trace.
“I don’t want the evening to end. Would you like to go somewhere for a drink?”
“I had a real nice time, but I have some work I need to do for one of the new accounts. I’ll take a rain check, okay?”
The coldness crept back into his eyes for a second, but then he nodded and leaned into me.
“I’ll take you up on that.”
He came in for a kiss and I turned my face so his lips landed on my cheek. “Give me a call.”
“Let me take you home,” he said, a scowl beginning to form on his face.
My rule was to go out with a guy for a few times before I let him know where I live. My friends joked and called me paranoid, but I looked at it as a safety issue. I didn’t want a guy knowing where I lived if I wasn’t going to keep going out with him, and the jury was still out on Cory. He was nice, and I really had a good time, but the way he got so mad about Trace stuck in the back of my mind.
“I’m good.”
“I insist. I’m not in the habit of letting a lady find a ride after a date.” His brows knitted together.
“But I already have a ride.” I waved at a cab that pulled up in front of the restaurant. “Thank you again. It was a lot of fun.” Without waiting for his response, I slid into the back seat, gave the driver my address, and disappeared into the traffic. I was sure he wasn’t too pleased with me and he probably wouldn’t call me back, but I didn’t care. If Cory wanted to go out again, I’d give it another go; if not, then I wasn’t going to sit around moping about it for days.
When I got home, I slipped into my fleece pajamas and stretched out on the couch with my sketch pad in hand. I really wanted to wow the client with my advertising campaign, but I also wanted to impress the hell out of Trace. With that thought in mind, I worked until the early morning hours, then shuffled to the bedroom and crashed.
