Page 153 of The Parkers' Handsome Holiday
I nearly ran into Nikki, who was walking into our office at the same time.
“Whoa there, space cadet,” she said. “I saw you zoning out in the meeting and now you aren’t even watching where you’re going? What is going on in that pretty little head today?”
“I am so sorry,” I apologized. I let her enter the office before I did. Once inside, I shut the door.
“Cayden asked me on a date!” I revealed. I had hoped for some sort of shocked reaction from Nikki, but there was none.
“You knew, didn’t you?” I asked. She nodded.
“Maurice told me,” she confessed. “Plus, I saw the writing on the wall. I am pretty sure the only reason we all went out yesterday as a group was because Cayden wanted you to go.”
Her logic wasn’t wrong, but it still didn’t make sense to me.
“What’s wrong?” she asked. “Cayden Lewis just asked you on a date. I have worked here for over two years and he’s never asked one of our co-workers on a date. I’ve seen lots of women throw themselves at him, but he was never interested. To be honest, I was beginning to think that he was gay!”
This revelation worried me even more. If Cayden could have any woman that he wanted, why was he going after me? I had seen some of the girls in the Finance Department and they were gorgeous. It was rumored that one of them had done a runway show with Bella Hadid and Kendall Jenner. Cayden should be going for someone like her, not me.
“You would tell me if this was some kind of joke or bet, right?” I asked Nikki. While we weren’t super close, I had hoped that “Girl Code” included telling your co-worker when she was about to be played.
“It’s not!” she exclaimed. “I swear to you, he is really interested in you. And why wouldn’t he be? You’re absolutely gorgeous and such a sweetheart. I really do think you two would be a great couple. Cayden is just like you. He’s funny, sweet, and level-headed. You need to just give it a chance, Tiffany.”
I sat down at my desk and flipped through a stack of papers.
“It’s time to let go of your past,” Nikki said. She was right. Since we spent nearly forty hours together at work each week, we had learned a lot about each other during my short time here. When she asked me about my love life during my second week, I had told her the awful tale of mine and Brad’s relationship. Like Mandy, she thought Brad was an egotistical cheating asshole and that I was better off without him. I still wasn’t sure about that.
“So, what are you going to wear?” Nikki asked. She was growing more excited about the date than I was.
“Something like this isn’t acceptable?” I asked. Today I had chosen a black jumpsuit with large, gold hoop earrings. I felt similar to J Lo., just not as in shape.
She shrugged.
“It’s a cute outfit, don’t get me wrong, but Cayden seems a little classier to me.”
I had to agree with her. Cayden always had on a suit and looked his best. While my outfit wasn’t trashy, it definitely wasn’t on par with him. I thought about a black dress that I had hanging in my closet. I had bought it last year in hopes of wearing it to my engagement party, but that never happened. It still had the tags on it. It really was the perfect first date dress to wear when going out with someone like Cayden Lewis.
“I think I have something perfect,” I told her. She smiled.
“We should stay on top of our work today, so we can slack on Thursday morning when you give me a play-by-play of your date!” Nikki said.
I hoped that I would be able to give her a positive and worthy first date update. I just could not shake the concern that this was some sort of bet.
CHAPTER 3
CAYDEN
Time seemed to stand still ever since I had asked Tiffany on a date yesterday. I still did not understand why it took so much work to get her to say yes. Was I not her type? Was she just playing hard to get? I would have to ask some questions tonight in a roundabout way to get to know her better.
I really wanted to know why she was so damn insecure. It completely baffled me that she had such low self-esteem but was completely gorgeous. I wanted to help her see her beauty, inside and out.
To be honest, the fact that she played a little hard to get made me want her even more. I hadn’t tried so hard for a date before in my entire life. The bigger the challenge, the bigger the reward, right?
It was nearly noon and I hadn’t seen her all morning. I usually would run into her by the coffee machine, but not today. I hoped she hadn’t called in sick that day. I decided to try to casually stop by her office.
On the way there, I ran into Nikki.
“Hot date tonight, huh?” She winked at me. I nodded. Nikki was the last person I wanted to talk to about tonight’s date. I didn’t respond to her, but she didn’t care. She continued to talk.
“Just be careful with her, Cayden,” she said. “I’m not sure of your intentions, but she’s a good soul with a shattered past.”
