Page 12 of Jilted Jock
Her smile widened and she looked at me with a smug knowing look. “You like him.”
“Please. He’s arrogant and a total mess.”
I’d stopped being attracted to my brother’s friends and teammates about the time I realized the only way to get their attention was to be willing to accept you’d only have it for a short while. Even the worst version of me had wanted more than one-night stands.
“Fair enough. I know you prefer your men stuffy and boring.” She hung her head and snored.
“Someone already sleeping on the job,” Harry’s voice startled us, and Bobbi straightened and grabbed her purse and coat off the counter.
“Good morning. Happy Monday.”
“’Morning Bobbi.” He looked to her and then me. “Adele.”
I took a seat behind reception. “Good morning, Harry.”
Harry, my ex-boyfriend and a partner at the firm, smiled a little too big and a little too long before passing by toward his office.
Bobbi held in a laugh and smiled at me as she followed behind him. Working with my ex-boyfriend was awkward at times, but every time I thought about leaving it just felt wrong. Harry had taken a chance on me with no experience and it wasn’t much of an exaggeration to say he’d been a part of why my recovery had been successful.
I’d needed someone to believe in me, a distraction – a new goal and a new life. He’d given me all those things. Our relationship hadn’t lasted, but we managed to work together with only a hint of underlying tension.
My days at the office were mostly centered around helping others do their jobs successfully. I answered phones, filed, printed, managed schedules, and basically kept the office running so everyone else could focus on clients. Occasionally I got to help out with bookkeeping and assist the staff with clerical work. Those days made all the others worth it.
At six o’clock I emptied and cleaned the coffee pots, restocked paper in all the printers, and then knocked on Harry’s door.
“Come in.” He glanced up and smiled as he removed his reading glasses.
“Do you need anything before I head out?”
“That time already?” He rubbed his nose where the glasses had been and then raked his hand through his hair. “No, I’m good. See you tomorrow.”
I was grabbing my things from the desk when Bobbi walked up with her coat on and purse in hand.
“I thought you’d already left.”
“No, I was stuck on a conference call with DJ and some clients in Oregon.” DJ was another partner in the firm notorious for scheduling meetings after five. He’d gone through a lot of assistants because of it, not to mention his brash personality. Bobbi was my favorite of all that had come and gone and was a good fit for him too. She wasn’t one to let anyone take advantage of her.
“Wanna grab dinner?”
“Another night. I should get home.”
She smirked knowingly. “I get it. I’d be anxious to get home too if a celebrity was staying there.”
“It’s not like that and you know it. I have Richard. And besides, he’s probably already gone.”
“Richard is snooze town.”
My mouth fell open.
“I’m sorry, but it’s true.”
“Richard is a good man and good for me. Successful, kind, handsome, everything I could ever want. Just because he’s not famous or living every moment of his life out on social media, that doesn’t make him boring. At least not to me.”
She stopped and studied me carefully. “Fine, but does he make your knees weak?” she asked dreamily.
“Men who make women weak in the knees also tend to make them stupid.”
I could smell Finn when I walked through the front door. The faintest hint of a clean woodsy scent floated around and stopped me in my tracks.
