Page 26 of Signed, Sealed, and Smitten
Chapter Thirteen
Phoebe
“You want to have a define-the-relationship talk?”Jay repeats like he’s pretty sure he couldn’t have heard me correctly.
He did. I let myself savor seeing him off-balance for the first time. His eyes flick toward the door like he’s coming up with an excuse to leave.
“I do.” I rest my elbow on the desk, hand on my chin, like I have all the time in the world to discuss our relationship.
His hands curl around the arms of his chair, like he’s about to push himself up and leave with a polite excuse.
“Our relationship is purely professional,” I tell him.
He lets go of the chair arms.
“Purely andonlyprofessional.”
His eyes widen slightly, a good attempt at acting surprised that I’d even bring this up. “I never said it wasn’t. I’m telling you, I would have given anyone a boost in that secret passage.”
I smile at him, confident of my ground here. I’ve been dating East Coast boys since I started college. The one upsideto having a weakness for Jay’s kind of looks and charm and beautiful hair and …
What are we talking about? Oh, right.
The one upside to dating the same type all the time is that I know his game inside and out. I can spot it coming before the first atoms of Polo cologne—because it’s always Polo—even reach me.
“I’ll be sure to let the other trustees know you’re offering booty boosts,” I say, and his lips twitch. “But also, you walk the line between charming and flirting so you have plausible deniability if I call you out for flirting. Do you even know you’re doing it?” I want to see if he’ll be honest.
He meets my eyes, all hint of joking gone. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.” It’s not an answer, but I can also tell he means it.
“You didn’t. I’ll tell you if you do. I honestly don’t think you can even help being charming?—”
“Thank you.”
“Not a compliment. I don’t think you can help it, and I don’t mind as long as you’re very clear that this”—I gesture between us—“is never going to happen. I have a job to do here, one I’m very excited about. I’m not looking for side benefits.”
His eyebrow goes up. “So Iama benefit.”
“Not for me.”
“You’re saying I should just be me, be mybeautifulself, but you’re going to ignore it. But as long as I don’t expect you to fall for this incredible charm you describe me as having, then we understand each other?”
I refuse to react when he reminds me he overheard me call him beautiful. “I’ll sum up: I will not date you.”
“That’s a shame. But your museum, your terms. I will be my usual self, and I will not ask you on any dates.”
“Good. I keep my personal and professional life separate.”
“Whatever works for you.”
I frown. His tone is fine. Calm, reassuring. But the words are not. “I’m not being trite here. That boundary is important to me.”
He leans forward. “I will not ask you on a date. I promise. There’s probably a Gutenberg Bible in the vault I can swear on if it will make you feel better.”
“You’re acting like I’m being ridiculous.”
“You’re not. You’re acknowledging the vibe between us and stating that you don’t want to act on it. Very clear.”
“Wait, I didn’t say?—”
