Page 22 of Mostly My Girlfriend
“It wasn’t my best idea,” he admitted.
* * *
Four years ago
Julia
I heard the elevator doors ding and I grimaced. I knew Jordyn had already gone for the night and the only other person who would be visiting my office at this hour was Ethan.
Not that I cared. Exactly. It was just things were easier when we weren’t discussing my dating life because he would inevitably have something snarky to say about it.
“Jules,” he said, approaching me even as I was turning off my computer. “Good, you’re here. I’m going to need you to call Doug tonight. I’m not happy with those production numbers and he’s going to need a better reason thanbuilding planes is hardto explain why they’re so low.”
“Building planesishard, which I’ve told you any number of times,” I reminded him.
“Not that hard. Call Doug and see what’s up.”
“No.”
He blinked a few times. It wasn’t often I told him no, but I was standing in front of him in a red, beaded dress that had cost more money than I’d ever imagined paying for an article of clothing.
But Roger, my date for the evening, was intelligent, nice, and reasonably attractive and I hadn’t gotten laid in basically forever. So I’d gone with my black thong, expensive red dress, and black Jimmy Choos in order to be impressive.
So much for impressive if Ethan didn’t even notice what I was wearing.
“Did you tell me no? I’m pretty sure you can’t do that, what with me being the boss of you.”
“Ethan, hello, look at what I’m wearing! I obviously have plans tonight.”
He blinked again then took in the dress, the shoes. He sniffed the air around me, too.
“Coco Chanel,” he murmured. “You only break that out for the ones you’re really trying to impress.”
Exactly.
“I’ll call Doug on Monday,” I told him. “None of his reasons for the poor numbers is going to change from now until then.”
“Fine.” He sat on the edge of my desk and I noticed he was also in a suit and tie. It must be a date night for him, as well, so if he would just run along, I could go about the business of reminding myself I was not just a VP of operations for a billion-dollar company but also a woman.
“Ethan, you need to leave,” I said when he didn’t look like he had any intention of moving from his perch.
“I will. Shortly. I also have a date.”
“I know. You’re wearing your red tie. You always do when you go out because you think it makes you look more substantial. Spoiler alert…it really doesn’t.”
He sneered. “You know me so well. So who is this fellow worthy of Chanel?”
And here it came. I would tell him some aspect of who my date was, and he would do everything to trash the guy. I wasn’t stupid. I knew Ethan was territorial when it came to me. It had been this way since college.
He didn’t want me but didn’t want anyone else to have me.
Which basically made him a jerk, but because I knew him so well, I’d long since gotten over it. It was simply his nature.
“His name is Roger, he’s a banker, we met at a Mariner’s baseball game.”
“You hate baseball.”
“It was a charity thing. Now can I go?”
