Gray shook the hands of both men, amazed at the difference in their mood after Sophie had worked her magic. They were all smiles and agreeability. Sophie showed them to the elevator with promises that she absolutely would check out their resort website, and of course she would read Alistair’s blog.
He knew he should thank her for her interference, but he couldn’t quite find the words. He felt an irritating combination of resentment and appreciation for the ease with which she managed people. And to give credit where it was due, Gray couldn’t deny that she’d very likely saved an important business deal using nothing but perky breasts and fake smiles.
Was he annoyed or grateful? Or aroused? Shit.
She’d also surprised him by being savvy. And he hated surprises.
He sat down in the ugly orange chair she’d ordered for him and tried to get back to work. Only to realize that he couldn’t focus on work. Instead he was thinking about life. His life. And how it suddenly seemed like nothing but a long series of workdays and lonely dinners.
It was a routine that hadn’t bothered him before.
But now something felt off.
Gray knew exactly who to blame for his discontent, and she was currently tapping away on her computer, no doubt humming a Disney song or making a billion new friends on Facebook.
His eyes kept returning to her desk. Damn this glass wall. What had Martin Brayburn been thinking building an office with glass walls? There was no privacy. No peace of mind.
On his fifth glance, he did a double take.
She was no longer on her computer. She was smiling prettily up at a visitor. Of the male variety.
Gray’s eyes narrowed when he saw that the visitor was Jeff Andrews. The observation shouldn’t have upset him. Jeff was one of his best employees, and Gray himself had requested that Sophie work directly with Jeff on the Landers deal. It made sense that they’d be familiar with each other.
But the way Jeff’s eyes kept dropping to Sophie’s chest was a bit too familiar. He knew Jeff was married, but he seemed to remember Sophie mentioning something about Jeff and his wife going to counseling.
Gray scowled and forced his eyes to his computer screen, but they kept drifting back to Sophie and Jeff. As far as his employees went, Jeff was actually one of Gray’s favorites. Friendly, easygoing, smart…
But he wasn’t feeling so friendly toward his colleague now. Why was Jeff looking at Sophie like that?
And why was Sophie leaning toward him?
Surely she wasn’t actually attracted to the man. Gray tried to observe Jeff from a woman’s perspective. The other man wasn’t tall. Definitely shy of six foot. Didn’t women like tall men? Then again, he supposed there were probably women that valued humor over height, and Jeff was one of those obnoxious joke-a-minute kind of guys. Sophie must go for the clown routine, because she was looking at Jeff in a way she never looked at him.
Gray waited impatiently for Jeff to come into his office and talk about whatever it was he’d come up to this floor to discuss. But when he looked up five minutes later and saw no sign of Jeff, his suspicions were confirmed. His vice president of sales hadn’t come up to discuss business with the CEO.
He’d come up to flirt with the CEO’s secretary.
Gray’s mood officially moved from irritable to downright ornery, and he had the irrational urge to bring Sophie’s mood down with him. This was a workplace, not a carnival. She should at least try to show some signs of being professional.
In a rare moment of pique, Gray wanted to get under her skin. To show her that life wasn’t all about bunnies and rainbows and that she couldn’t manipulate everything to go her way.
“Ms. Dalton, can you come in here for a moment?” he called.
She appeared at his doorway. “Sure, what’s up?”
He noticed she didn’t correct him and tell him to call her Sophie. Perhaps she didn’t care anymore.
“When you’ve finished pulling last week’s numbers, I was hoping you could do a quick personal favor for me. I’d do it myself but I’m slammed with phone calls over the next couple hours.”
“Definitely, what do you need?” she asked. Her words were all acquiescence, but her expression had turned guarded.
“I need you to send some flowers.”
“Flowers?”
“Yes, flowers,” he said, feeling suddenly invigorated. “The biggest arrangement you can find.”
“And to whom am I sending this blatantly cliché arrangement?”
“Whom do you think?” He smiled thinly. “Your sister.”
It was a lousy thing to do. He’d had no inclination of pursuing things with Brynn, and now she’d probably get the wrong idea about his interest level.
And the stricken look on Sophie’s face was supposed to make him feel satisfied. Instead he felt…petty.
What am I doing?
Gray had spent the past few weeks making a concentrated effort to separate his personal life from his professional life and now he here he was deliberately entangling the two.
He just hoped he could untangle them before he got in over his head.
Gray watched Sophie walk slowly back to her desk, noting the slight hunch in her shoulders. Something in his chest seemed to tighten at the sight.
Shit.
He was already in over his head.
*