Page 15 of Not As Advertised

If I thought working outside his office door was hard, the next five days were going to be torture. I was still awkward as hell during every morning report.

I’d had no idea that idly looking through the photos I’d taken on my camera in the breakroom last week could land me an all-inclusive trip to LA. With my boss. Where I’d get to see exactly none of the sights.

This was all Ethan’s fault. I developed a friendly working relationship with him as the head of the graphics design team onour floor. Had I not indulged his curiosity about the photos I was working on for my community college course, I could have saved myself from being sent to LA with Aiden. Ethan convinced Aiden that I should also document the trip for the company’s social media platforms in addition to my EA duties.

“These are good, Abbie. Have you ever considered pursuing a graphic design position?” Ethan asked.

Next thing I knew, I’d been assigned the extra task of social media photographer. Those moments basking in Ethan’s comments about my photos during lunch hour were overshadowed now by my unease about the trip.

Aiden had somehow not only single-handedly convinced the CEO to give Anne and Grace their own department to pursue nonprofit accounts more aggressively, but he believed in it enough to pursue opportunities on their behalf to generate more contacts.

I found myself once again reluctantly impressed. He was risking his reputation on an untried venture so soon after assuming his new position.

That’s why, despite my conviction not to like him, spending five days close to Aiden was a very, very bad idea. I didn’t want to discover any more of his good points. I could barely manage my attraction in the controlled environment of the office. But outside the office felt like a different story.

My entire nervous system was on fire with an anxious type of adrenaline while waiting for him at our gate at the San Jose Airport.

I’d just checked that my anxiety medication was still in my bag for the third time this morning. Ending up in another city and needing a rush trip to an urgent care was not on the itinerary I’d meticulously planned. Taking my meds consistently not only kept my mood stable but also prevented wicked withdrawal symptoms. Sure, I forgot to take it sometimes. But my bodywas quick to remind me of that forgetfulness. Two days without meds was tolerable, but by the third day, I’d be suffering from a monster headache and terrible nausea.

Reassured that it hadn’t fallen out of my purse since I arrived at the airport, I looked up to see Aiden coming toward me. He was reading something on his phone, allowing me a precious few seconds to observe him without him knowing.

To my utter humiliation, he was wearing his usual perfect designer suit. My mouth gaped open.What the absolute fuck!

I second, third, and fourth guessed my wardrobe choice as he walked toward the gate. Feeling a bit weird about wearing something so similar to the day we’d met in the park, I’d dressed in another one of my favorite anime shirts and jeans. I was the epitome of a casual, maybe borderline starving college student chic. Today’s shirt had an adorable illustration of the Pokémon Mew, my cat’s namesake.

He had told me specifically in an uncharacteristically informal text earlier this morning to dress casually as there was no sense in being uncomfortable on the plane. Apparently, I should have thought twice about taking him at his word. What was going on? We weren’t due to meet the first set of prospective clients until early the next morning. Before I’d booked our plane tickets, Aiden had told me he wanted to arrive before dinner the day before our meetings started so that he could spend the evening reviewing details for client discussions.

As was always my luck, I didn’t have a chance to get my features under control before he spotted me.

His stride didn’t change as he approached. This man even made walking an art form. He strode confidently through the throng of people, never taking his eyes off me.

I straightened my spine as a strange sort of buzz filled my bloodstream. He was so magnetically attractive I momentarily forgot my annoyance about the wardrobe setup.

Finally, when he was a few steps away, I realized he was not actually in his usual office suit. Was that a tweed sports jacket? Were those elbow patches?

Shit, he had that sexy professor look going on that I had absolutelynotfantasized about during idle moments at my desk. One, two, or ten fantasies didn’t count at all. That pesky arousal I felt in his presence just added to my unsettled state.

Was it possible he thought a tweed jacket was casual? I had no idea with this man.

In an attempt to school my facial expression and thus salvage a scrap of my pride, I flattened my lips into a line.

“Good morning. Did you have trouble getting here this morning?” He sounded calm and in control, as usual.

He wanted to talk about my ride to the airport? Oh no. I was going to find out what was going on here.

I was pissed enough that I would head out of security and back to the check-in counter to beg for my bag back if I had to. I was not getting blindsided into looking unprofessional on my very first business trip.

“Aiden, I don’t want to overstep. But I’m concerned that our schedule for the day may have changed without my knowledge?”

If he was put off because I’d completely ignored his greeting with a swift topic change, he didn’t show it. His eyebrows lowered slightly, frowny-eye crinkles appearing.

“No. Not to my knowledge. After all, you are in charge of the itinerary for this trip, are you not?”

Oh, so the condescending part of our day had begun. Annoyed, I struggled to choose my next words.

“Okay then. I’m curious. Why did you specifically tell me to dress casually, and then you show up like…?”

I gestured to all of him-—from his impeccably styled hair to his crisply pressed pants and matching dress shoes, he was the epitome of perfection.

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