Page 151 of The Parkers' Handsome Holiday
“I have a lot on my plate right now,” she said. “Sorry, but the beach is a no-go for me. Nikki and Maurice will probably go with you, though.”
* * *
Once we reached our building, Nikki and Tiffany headed toward their office and Maurice followed me back to mine.
“I can’t figure that girl out!” I exclaimed as soon as I shut my office door. Maurice let out a hearty laugh.
“Aww, is Pretty Boy Cayden having trouble with the new girl?”
“It’s so frustrating, man!” I said. It really was. I had tried everything that worked on girls before – asking them to the beach, complimenting them, asking questions about their lives. Nothing I said or did seemed to penetrate the shields that Tiffany had put up.
“Is she just not into me?” I asked. “I mean, tell me the truth. Did she seem interested in me at lunch today?”
Maurice shrugged.
“I can ask Nikki tomorrow night, we actually have a date.”
Of course, Maurice had a date. All he had to do was acknowledge Nikki and she was putty in his hands. Why couldn’t Tiffany be like that with me?
“Congratulations,” I said, slightly jealous. I wasn’t jealous that he was going out with Nikki, but rather that he was getting somewhere with a co-worker and I wasn’t.
“Tiffany is pretty hot,” Maurice said. “I never really noticed it until today. She looks like she would probably be really good in bed, too.”
“Mo!”
He laughed.
“Come on, with a body like that, you know you’ve thought about it. She has those Ashley Graham vibes going on.”
Truthfully, I had thought about what it would be like to be with Tiffany. Her luscious lips on mine, her body on top of mine in my bed… I had to stop. I couldn’t get turned on in the middle of the day at work. I shook the dirty thoughts from my head as quickly as they had entered.
“I just don’t get it,” I said. “I’m a good guy, unlike half of these men here. I have a nice car and I could take her out anywhere she wanted to go. We work together, and we get along here, so why wouldn’t we get along outside of work? Why is she not interested in me?”
Maurice sighed as he took a seat on the other side of my desk.
“Bro, just keep trying,” he advised. “Maybe she had a bad breakup or something. I wouldn’t jump to the conclusion that it has something to do with you. Come on, I know you have got a bit of that Cayden Lewis charm left to spread. You just need to show her that you’re different than whoever fucked her up.”
Maurice did have a point. I hadn’t considered that she might have recently gone through a breakup. Maybe she was interested in me, but was scared to get hurt again? I knew that feeling well. I had experienced it in high school after my one and only real girlfriend dumped me for a college guy. It took a long time to get over that one. Then came my wife thankfully.
I would have to casually ask Nikki if she knew about Tiffany’s past.
I decided to take my mind off Tiffany by looking at Austin’s Christmas list. I pulled my son’s wish list out of my desk, smiling as I saw his messy four-year-old renditions of what he wanted for Christmas. I couldn’t believe the holiday was coming so quickly. I had tried to ignore that it was fast approaching, but I could only put it out of my head for so long.
Ever since Austin’s mother died three years ago, Christmas had never been the same. She had passed away from an aggressive form of skin cancer that she was diagnosed with only three months prior to her death. She died two days before Austin’s first Christmas.
Since then, it had just been me and Austin. My mother helped a lot, watching Austin while I was at work. He often spent the nights over there when I had to work late. Between Austin and work, I had no time to be interested in women. I had a feeling that was all about to change.
CHAPTER 2
TIFFANY
I stared at Cayden from across the large oak meeting desk. He was heading up our Tuesday morning meeting and, as usual, he was calm, collected, and in control.
I could not figure him out. No man that attractive had ever pursued me before. Sure, Brad was gorgeous, but we also grew up together. Brad knew me before I gained all my weight after high school. I think one of the reasons that he stayed in our relationship was because he hoped that I would shed the extra pounds.
The fact that Cayden seemed to like me despite me not being thin threw me for a loop. Who knew, maybe he wasn’t even hitting on me. Maybe he was just trying to be friendly and I was taking it the wrong way? That had to be it. There is no way that someone like him would want to date someone like me. He was a ten and I was a three, on a good day. His eyes caught mine and he smiled as he continued to talk to the rest of the group.
Seriously, that damn smile. It was like a movie star’s smile. He had those type of looks, the pretty boy looks. He was tall with dark hair and dark eyes. His hair was always slicked back, and his skin was perfect. I almost wanted to ask him what his skin care routine was.
