Lost and Found (Growing Pains #1)(51)

She rolled her eyes. “Okay, remember when I was ranting about that speed dating thing?”

“The whole company remembers it, but go on.”

“What do you mean?”

“You scared Cindy out of the room. Did you not think she would tell everyone?”

Krista got a distant look in her eyes as she remembered back. “Oh yeah. Well, to hell with her. She’s a bitch. She single-handedly made Joanna qui—um…“

Joanna had been the girl Sean took home from the Christmas party. At least, that had been the rumor.

“I know what she did to Joanna. I also know you didn’t join in on that.”

“Uh…”

“I didn’t sleep with her. It isn’t gentlemanly of me to say it, but we both tried to set the record straight, so I don’t think she would mind. You were never in the gossip circles, so you never got to hear.”

“Uh…” Krista had no right to that information. She couldn’t even verify it, because Joanna got the hell outta Dodge when everyone came down on her. Plus, if that was true, then for that one time Sean did the right thing, there were a great many he didn’t. Krista had personally witnessed the morning after, and personally heard a chick or two crying in the bathroom. It didn’t change anything.

Sean was staring at her, though, awaiting confirmation. Like a dog that sat on command, he wanted to know his good work was noticed. That ego of his—it was out of this world.

“Well, that’s something,” she said unconcernedly. Sean went back to his beer. “Anywho, be that as it may, Cindy is a bitch.”

Sean nodded.

“Anyway—oh man, she told everyone I went speed dating?”

“Yup.”

“Said I couldn’t get a man the traditional way so I had to do it the new age way, or something stupid like that, right?”

“In so many words, yes. How did you know?” Sean looked at her suspiciously.

“I was in high school, Sean. This is classic girl clique crap. Oh man, if I wanted to, I could totally—yeah, I’m going to. Wait, no I can’t—WAIT! I can!” Krista was definitely buzzed now. And riled up.

Instead of telling her to quiet down, or shut up, as Kate and Jaz might, Sean had that bemused expression again.

“Sorry,” she whispered. “I just really want to take that bitch to the cleaners. I only have one friend, though. Tommy. He’s shit for this kind of thing.”

“Wait until Marcus befriends you. You’ll have a lot more options.”

“Marcus?—Oh, that hot guy on our team?”

“Uh…the…”

“Just say yes. You know he’s hot.”

“I will not be admitting it.”

“Whatever. He’s a gossip, is he?”

“The biggest.”

“Hmmm. Okay. Operation Cindy-is-going-down is in the works.”

“She’s had rumors spread about her before, you know,” Sean warned. “She wasn’t the one who came out on bottom.”

“She never went up against the Prom Queen, now did she? I know my way around girl-reputation-espionage. Not happily—I regret most of it, but she deserves it.”

“True. So about speed dating.”

“Oh right. So yeah …” Krista told him about meeting Paul and how he got her number. They’d gone out about a week after, to a movie and dinner. Since then, they’d kept up the dating game, trying to get to know each other. She wanted to fall in love and get over her trust issues and fears. Paul was a steady, safe approach to that dream, and she wanted it to work out.

“And this Ben is …”

“My roommate.”

“Who helped you with the presentation?”

“One track mind, jeez. Also correct.”

“Well, then the dates must have been okay.”

Krista hesitated. Sean wanted the dirt. He wanted her personal dating history. Krista could understand why—who didn’t want gossip?—but she didn’t want to share her personal life with this man. He was too close as it was.

On that note, Krista decided it was probably time to call it a day. All she was going to do was get drunker and start revealing things she would rather not have a work person know. What’s worse, this road would lead her to the ex-boyfriend. For the second time. That was a scab she didn’t want picked.

She finished her beer and shook her head when the bartender walked by. Sean followed suit. Apparently he was just as eager to leave his personal life out of his work life. Good news.

They waited for the bill with various forms of small talk, neither wanting to divulge too much classified information, but having a hard time thinking of anything else. When the bill came, and before Krista could reach for it, Sean had his credit card down and was pushing it toward the end of the bar.

“You don’t need to cover the whole thing,” she said, reaching the now-great distance over his large arm to recover the check.

Sean shook his head and put his hand slowly, and hesitantly, on her shoulder to stop her reach. A blaze of warmth flashed into her arm from his soft touch. The heat turned into liquid fire as it raced through her veins. She felt a rush--like she was awake for the first time in a long time. The clouds parted and spring flowers bloomed. She made an “Oh!” sound as she turned to him, expecting him to be as mystified as she was.