Page 98 of Last Night Was Fun

“Good. And once that’s taken care of, I guess we just... see where this goes?” Her voice floated up with an optimistic inflection. She raised her brows and smiled at him.

He gave her a wicked grin in return and grabbed her hips. With a grunt, he scooped her off the counter and started walking toward the couch with his face buried in her neck and her legs wrapped around his back. With his hot lips working a trail down to her collarbone, she shivered in the most delicious way.

“Dinner is going to burn,” she said, and leaned into him.

“We can order takeout,” he muttered as he lowered onto the couch so she was straddling his lap. He slid his hands up her thighs and beneath the shirt to her hips.

Emmy tilted her head back when Gabe pressed his mouth to her neck. From the corner of her eye, she saw the game on TV, and to her shock, Hollander had made it to first base, and the runner on third had scored. “Oh, hey, look. He didn’t choke.”

Gabe paused his assault of her senses to look over her shoulder. His face split into a grin. “Told you I wasn’t wrong.”

Chapter19

They managed to get some sleep, though Emmy had to think the reason they were walking into HR together the next morning was written all over their exhausted-in-the-best-way faces. As if he wanted to dispel any doubts, Gabe slipped his hand into hers and squeezed as they made their way to the head of HR’s office.

Like the overprepared, studious nerds they were, last night they’d read their employee handbook cover to cover (of course Gabe had a printed copy of it in a binder, as did Emmy) to see what they were up against. The organization had no rules against office romances, nor did they have any requirements about disclosing a romantic relationship. Emmy couldn’t say she was shocked an empire created and run by men hadn’t given any thought to such regulations, but the lack of rules felt like both a blessing and a curse. Because there were no guidelines, there was no telling how HR might react.

When they’d finally decided to go to sleep, Emmy lay with her back tucked against Gabe’s chest and his arm looped over her. The feel of it all, the comfort and safety of his embrace, had her at once undeniably content and terrified of losing it all before they even had a chance to get started.

“Gabe, what if they say we can’t?” she’d whispered into the dark.

“They won’t,” he’d promised and pressed his lips to her shoulder.

She’d fallen asleep feeling his heart beat and convincing herself he was right.

Now, standing outside the HR director’s office, she was second-guessing his certainty.

They knocked and entered the spacious office that boasted a window overlooking not the field but at least a street with a sliver view of the bay.

Todd Waters, a balding man in a short-sleeved button-down and tie, was turned around reaching into a filing cabinet when they entered. They’d already sat in the two chairs opposite his desk by the time he swiveled to face them. “Mr.Olson and Ms.Jameson from Research and Analytics, what can I help you with today?” he asked as he scanned the form he’d retrieved, surely something notifying him who they were. He looked up at them over the form and over the tops of his glasses with a welcoming smile. He stilled when he saw their clasped hands spanning the gap between their chairs. His smile softened at the edges. “Ah, I see. Well, okay then.” He swiveled back around in his chair and reached into the filing cabinet again.

Emmy and Gabe swapped an unsure glance. Emmy decided to take the lead.

“Mr.Waters—”

“Call me Todd, please,” he interrupted her.

“Todd,” she started again. Emmy hadn’t talked to the man other than back when she was hired and had sat in this very office brimming with excitement over her future career. “We’re here because we want to formally disclose that we’re seeing each other. Romantically,” she awkwardly tacked on. She’d known this conversation was going to be uncomfortable, but it still had her squirming.

Gabe squeezed her hand again. “We know the organization doesn’t have any rules around dating or disclosing relationships, but we want it on official record,” he added. “To avoid any speculation or assumptions.”

“Wise move,” Todd said with a nod. “You’re right the organization does not mandate that you disclose your relationship; however, now that you have, your supervisors may choose to review to determine if there are any conflicts of interest that may arise and advise accordingly.”

“Like what?” Emmy asked at the same time Gabe said, “Advise?”

Todd turned to his computer and clicked around on his screen. “Yes. We want to avoid any kind of power imbalance, favoritism, unfair treatment. Things like that. And by advise, I mean should they determine any of those things exist or could occur, we will advise on recourse. Ah, I see that you are in the same department and hold the same position. Currently.”

The last word rang out like a gong.

As he spoke, Emmy slipped her hand out of Gabe’s and folded it with her other hand in her lap. She hadn’t told Gabe what Alice had told her about being the front-runner for the promotion. The thought of the problems it might cause had swum around her mind like a predator in deep water last night. She’d tried to fight it off by snuggling herself closer to Gabe, feeling the warmth of his bare skin, listening to his heart, but she could only manage to get it to shrink, never to disappear.

Now it loomed mightily in front of them. A power imbalance was inevitable.

“It looks like you’re both up for the same promotion.” Todd spoke the quiet part out loud. He tapped his fingers on his desk as he briefly thought before coming to a conclusion. “I’ll need to inform your supervisors of what you’ve shared here today, after I gather some information from you.”

Emmy felt Gabe’s eyes on her, perhaps wondering why she’d let go of his hand. She shot him a worried look as her nerves churned. He tried to reassure her with a shake of his head, but it didn’t do much to help.

They answered Todd’s brief list of questions about the duration and nature of their relationship. He then told them he’d follow up later that day after discussing the matter with their supervisors, and that was it. The whole meeting lasted under ten minutes. Emmy left the office reeling and wondering if this was what it felt like to beon the receiving end of one of the trade decisions she helped run numbers for. It was so swift and straight to the point, she felt like her budding relationship was being shipped off to another time zone before she even blinked.