Page 28 of Must Be Love - Irresistible Bachelors

My eyes widen. “Like a romantic getaway that would be perfect for a proposal?”

Nicole blushes. “I don’t want to assume, but…”

I squeal and clap my hands. “It’s about damn time!”

“I’ll drink to that!” Daisy adds, holding up her glass.

We cheer, and Nicole giggles. I don’t even feel the usual jealousy bubbling up. I suppose it helps that I have a guy on my radar right now.

My mind wanders briefly to thoughts of AJ. What is he doing right now? Is he out drinking with his buddies like I am with my friends? Is he out with another girl?

I shake away that thought. I may not know AJ super well yet, but I don’t think he would go down on me in the exam room only to date some other woman later in the week. He seems like a better man than that.

I need to think about something other than guys right now, though. If I go down a Blake rabbit hole, I’ll work myself into a tizzy.

“What else is going on in the office?” I ask Daisy. “You got anymore juicy gossip for us?”

Daisy’s eyes light up. There’s nothing in this world that woman loves more than sharing office gossip.

She goes on about who is getting fired, who might be getting promoted, and other office scandals. None as intense as Kira and Ben, but still, plenty of interesting stuff going around.

I love hanging out with Daisy for a lot of reasons, but her gossip is high on the list. She keeps me connected with the rest of the office.

The marketing and design departments are on the fifth floor of the building that houses Merhalle; everyone else is on the sixth floor. It’s easy for me to feel disconnected from the rest of the company, which sucks because I wanted to work at a large company for the experience and the potential friendships.

At least I have Nicole. Her cubicle is only two rows from mine. When it’s not launch week, we usually have lunch together. This week, our entire department took our lunches at our desks – if we took them at all.

It’s because of Nicole that I know Daisy. My best friend is a lot more outgoing than I am. She makes it a point to get to know people from other departments. I’ve tried, but without the easy access of being on the same floor, I’ve struggled to make friends.

We even have different cafeterias. The one we use is on the fourth floor, while everyone else goes up to the seventh. I’m not sure why we’re kept separate. It’s yet another flaw in Merhalle’s design.

“So, yeah, that’s why I think they’re going to be expanding R&D next summer. We’re falling behind.”

The research and development department, R&D, is in charge of coming up with new products for Merhalle to sell. They handle a lot, including product testing. Kind of like what I’m doing for AJ.

I wonder if that’s a conflict of interest. It’s probably best not to mention the trial to my boss, just in case.

Daisy’s phone rings just as we’re finishing up our meals. She rolls her eyes, mouths “babysitter,” and answers the phone. Daisy has to yell for the poor teen to hear her.

After she hangs up, Daisy sighs. “I have to go. My babysitter just found out the love of her life is going to the movies at ten, so she just has to be there.”

I laugh. “Well, you don’t want to get in the way of young love.”

Daisy rolls her eyes again. “For what I pay that girl, she doesn’t need a man.”

That doesn’t surprise me. Babysitters in New York are a dime a dozen, but they have crazy high rates. That’s yet another reason I want to be a stay-at-home mom. Daisy complains constantly about how much raising her daughter costs, even though she and her husband both have good jobs.

“I’ll see you both on Monday, probably. I’m thinking about eating on the fourth floor from now on. I was there on Tuesday, and you guys have way better food than us.”

Nicole chuckles. “Well, we’ll see you there, then.”

Daisy gives us both hugs, drops some cash for her part of the bill, and heads home to be with her daughter.

Nicole finishes off her drink. “I should get going, too. I have a race tomorrow.”

I groan.

Nicole runs. I don’t know how or why she does it, but it’s a personality trait I’ve learned to live with. She tried to get me to train for a 5k with her once. It was a disaster.

“I guess that’s me, too, then,” I sigh.

We settle our bill with the waitress and head out into the cold night. Nicole and I live in opposite directions, so we say our goodbyes and make our way toward our subway stops.

It may be cool, but it’s a beautiful night. The city isn’t fully decorated for Christmas yet, but it’s getting there. The snowflakes are lit up, and many buildings are lined with colorful lights. The tree in Rockefeller Center will be put up soon and then lit in a couple of weeks. Once that happens, I’ll consider it to be officially Christmas.

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