Lag (The boys of RDA #2)(52)
His musky, but sweet cologne lingers in the room and it tickles my nose. It makes me want to walk up to him and stick my head in his neck to get a better sniff, but I won’t give him the satisfaction. Seriously, I don’t know when I grew such large balls, but I won't question it now. There’s something about the man that turns me on and yet equally pisses me off at the same time.
Finn disappears in the time it takes me to hang up my coat, and I survey the empty lobby trying to find anything else to distract me before I deal with the tall overbearing presence in the room. There’s nothing. And worst of all, from the small chuckle he makes as he watches my eyes wander the space, he knows it too.
“Trey.” I give the elephant a name without making actual eye contact.
To my annoyance he only laughs before he pushes off from the desk. “Finn gave you a ride this morning?”
His question sounds innocent, but there’s a hint of something stronger beneath it. I just don’t know him well enough to figure it out yet. “Well technically Jake drove, but yes I guess you’d say that.”
He stalks to my area behind the desk where I’ve taken a seat on my desk chair. “Why?”
“Why what? They picked me and Aspen up. We took her to work and then came here.” I try for light and casual, but I’m coiled like a spring waiting to see where Trey will take this line of questioning. I have this sinking feeling it’s going to push me right over to irritated. It’s too early in the morning to be annoyed with him already.
Trey stops his pursuit of me once he reaches my chair and sits on the lower desk surface. “So this is something you plan to do every day? Ride in with Finn,” he clarifies when I don’t answer right away.
His body has gotten closer as we’ve talked, or well as he’s talked and that cologne I wanted to smell earlier takes over my senses. I’m a little disoriented with him so close and it lessens my reserve of anger.
“Simone.”
I open my eyes to Trey’s face inches from mine and lean back fast enough my chair slides an inch or so away. To try and cover up being busted, I smooth out my black pin stripe skirt and pretend nothing is amiss. I definitely wasn’t caught trying to catch a smell of my new boss.
“Simone. The ride. Finn. Something you plan to do often?” Trey asks and I get the feeling it’s not the first time.
I force my eyes to meet his and try for the casual indifference I had such a hold on when I walked in. “What?” His head leans to the side and I sigh. “Yes, I guess. I mean if Finn’s okay with it.”
Finn’s okay with it since he and Aspen practically forced me in the car this morning, but I’m going for casual here. Trey doesn’t respond and the small amount of confidence I'd gained slips away, so I start to ramble.
“I mean I feel a little bad encroaching on his time with Aspen.”
“Then you shouldn’t bother the two of them.”
My lips purse and my forehead furrows. I’m hurt by his words and I’m sure it shows on my face and my quick flinch. Does he think I’m the type of person to mooch off friends? "I don’t know why you’re so upset over this—”
“I’m not upset,” he’s quick to cut me off. "I’m telling you I’ll give you a ride to work.”
My mouth drops open a fraction and my eyes narrow at him. “This was you telling me you’ll give me a ride?”
A small nod of his head is his only answer. It kind of pisses me off a bit. Here I’m worried Trey thought I was being too needy, but rather he’s jealous and this is his attempt to throw his weight around like a buffoon. Marissa might be on to something with her whole stance on men.
“How would I know that, Trey? At what point did you use a question to ask me if I even wanted a ride?”
My words come quickly and his body stiffens with each one as if it’s not until I question him that he realizes how wrong the situation is. I finish and he sticks his foot out to hook it on the underside of my seat and pulls my chair closer to him. If I wasn’t so exasperated, it would be an impressive move.
“When are you moving into the apartment?”
What? The new line of questioning catches me off guard. I’m not done being upset about the last stupid thing he did.
“What apartment?” I’m already living with Aspen. A fact he’s aware of even if he didn’t help me move.
Trey sighs at me. “The company apartment upstairs. It’s a perk of the job. They’re small so not everyone took us up on the offer. We have a few empty."
I open my mouth to tell him what Aspen told me about the six-month wait when the front door opens and the morning doughnut order is delivered.
Trey jumps down from the desk as the two large boxes are placed in front of me. “Don’t forget. Keep all the jelly ones on the left side.” He winks at me and then vanishes behind the office door.
**
Three bags stuffed with subs dangle from my hands. Today’s lunch. The inner office door opens from the other side and I step back and peek up from where the bags are cutting the circulation off from my fingers to see Trey stopped to hold the door open.
“Here, let me help.” He takes two bags from me and my fingers ache as the blood flow returns.
“Thanks.” Together we walk to the long table on the side wall of the open office space.