A Very Merry Bromance (Bromance Book Club #5) (34)

“I have to get back to work,” Gretchen said.

“What about your coffee?” Alexis asked.

Dammit.

“I’ll make them fast.” Alexis raced back out the kitchen door.

“I have to get going too,” Liv said. She paused on the way out to grin at Gretchen and punch Colton on the arm. “Be good, you two.”

As soon as she was gone, Colton leaned down teasingly. “You were talking about me, weren’t you?”

“No.”

“Liar. I know when I walk into a conversation about me and—”

“You told the guys that we slept together after the wedding.”

He sputtered for a moment. “No, I didn’t.”

“Then how did Alexis and Liv know?”

Colton winced.

“How could you do that?” Gretchen shoved the wreath at him. He caught it with his free hand against his chest.

“It’s not like I just blurted it out,” he said. “They figured it out.”

“You could’ve denied it.”

“I tried. They read the truth all over my face. Those guys know me well enough to know when I’m lying. And trust me, it’s as annoying as it sounds.”

Alexis returned carrying two to-go cups of coffee bearing the ToeBeans logo, one for her and one for Addison. “Thank you,” Gretchen said, accepting them. “Put it on my tab?”

Alexis winked. “I know where to find you.”

Without looking at Colton, Gretchen lifted both cups toward the door to use her forearms to push it open. But then a hand holding a wreath reached around her. “Let me,” Colton said.

He opened the swinging door and held it open with his butt so Gretchen could walk through.

Unfortunately, he followed.

“I’ll walk with you.”

“Not necessary.” Gretchen kept her gaze to the floor to avoid any cell phones that might capture them together again. In this lighting and at this close distance, the images of her would likely be much clearer.

“Yes, it is,” Colton said. “I have to hang this wreath for you, and we have to plan our next date.”

As they approached the door, she quickened her step so he wouldn’t open it for her again. Turning, she used her backside and walked backward. Once outside, she turned again and let the door shut in his face.

A moment later, she heard the door open again and his footsteps behind her. “You’re mad.”

“Just late for work.” Her breath puffed around her face in the cold.

“Gretchen, hold up.” When she kept walking, he snagged the sleeve of her coat with a pinkie finger. Then he circled around in front of her, forcing her to stop. “I swear I didn’t tell them. I would never betray you like that.”

She believed him, and that made her grumpier. “There are pictures of us on social media.”

“I know. I’m sorry.”

“My brother saw them.”

“Is that a problem?”

“It is if he thinks I’m not taking this endorsement proposal seriously but just using it as an excuse to get in your pants.”

A carnal flash of awareness turned his eyes a darker shade of green. Gretchen swallowed an argh and walked around him. “I have to get to work.”

Unfortunately, he followed.

When they reached her office, she looped a finger around the handle to tug it open.

Unfortunately, he followed her again.

Addison was fussing with another string of lights when they walked in. She glanced over her shoulder and then did a double take at Colton. “Oh my God, are you . . . ?”

Colton tipped his head. “Colton Wheeler. Pleased to meet you.”

“Holy shit,” Addison breathed.

Gretchen handed Addison her coffee. “He’s not all that. Trust me.”

Colton set the wreaths on the receptionist’s counter and shook Addison’s hand. She looked at it afterward as if she’d just touched God.

Colton then walked to Gretchen’s side again, tugged on a lock of her hair, and gave her a look that turned her knees to pudding. “Pick you up at seven on Friday?”

At her silence, he tilted his head in a puppy-dog way, and somewhere, angels began to sing. Dammit. With a growl, she whipped around and began to stomp toward her office.

“Hey,” he called behind her. “Why does Santa have three gardens?”

“Please don’t tell me—”

“So he can ho ho ho.”

Gretchen shook her head and looked at the ground. Don’t laugh. Don’t laugh. She chanted it in her head, but it was no use. She laughed.

“Ha,” he said triumphantly behind her. “My work here is done. See you Friday.”

Gretchen escaped into her office, set her coffee down as she sat, and immediately lowered her forehead to her desk. Mere seconds went by before Addison came in.

“Holy shit, what the hell was that, Gretchen?”

“The Ghost of Christmas Past.”

“Are you seriously going out with him Friday? How did this happen?” Her voice rose an octave with each subsequent question until she hit a crescendo with, “Tell me what’s going on!”

“Nothing is going on. My family wants him to be our new brand ambassador.”