Lost and Found (Growing Pains #1)(67)

The loudest sound in the quiet office was her gulping. “That’s what I wanted to ask you about. How far along are you on your list from Sean?”

“Geek girl, are you stressed out? You sound stressed out. Just relax, honey.” He drew out “relax” like the caterpillar in Alice in Wonderland.

“I know, but it’s just that… what if I misunderstood something? And I only got through step two on the list. I mean, we’ve had a month, so I probably should be further along, you know?”

“I think most everyone else is still on the first couple as well, so you have nothing to worry about. We are just doing preliminary stuff. Hell, we don’t even have the account yet. None of this matters yet. Relax.” Again with the caterpillar.

She forgot about the account part. That was certainly true. She let her muscles ease a fraction.

“Let’s go for a drink, calm you down,” Marcus suggested.

“No way. I need a clear head for all this stuff. Art people think better buzzed, not math people. After maybe.”

“It’s a date. See you at the meeting.”

Click.

Krista took the piece of black plastic away from her ear and looked at it like it was a piece of abstract art.

Did I just agree to meet up with him?

She had. She had just agreed to meet for drinks with the biggest gossip in the company. Granted, he wasn’t a vindictive A-hole like Cindy, but still, he seemed to know everything about everyone. If he was trying to glean information, drinks were a sure way to do so.

Although, if she made friends with him he might help her sabotage Cindy.

Hmmm, that has possibilities.

She would have to disappoint the girls. No way did she want work and personal life merging yet, if ever.

She spent the next few hours making sure she knew every inch of her material. If there were questions, she needed to be ready with a viable and, most importantly, correct answer. Guessing on her own information would make her look dopey.

When she was ready she stacked all her bound information together and headed to Conference Room B. It was time to meet her doom.

As she walked through the door she saw Judy, the Art Manager, first since she was sitting in the middle of the long, oblong table. Ray was on the other side on the left. Krista was the third person to walk in.

Deciding that the Marketing department was too close to the Art department in tasks, and she’d had just about enough of Art department people, she sat on the other side of Ray. He had always made her comfortable, except when he was looking at her worriedly, and after hearing Sean talk about him she had a new respect for him. Plus, he wasn’t from the Art department. Enough said.

She put her materials off to the side, away from the rest of the table, in a thick pile. It was a sizable stack. Nearly an entire rainforest went into making the thing. The amount of rivers that got polluted just to make the pages eggshell white was probably suicide-inspiring for Green people. All Krista knew was that she was left to her own devices, and her stuff looked good. She’d deal with earth karma when the time came.

Next in: none other than the relaxed, and currently strolling, Marcus. He might have stayed late, but if he was nervous about last minute jobs, he didn’t show it. All he carried was a few pieces of paper. He was the idea guy, though, so Krista wasn’t alarmed she’d gone way overboard. Not yet.

He scanned the room when he walked in, winked at Ray and gave Krista a smile as he settled next to Judy. It made her feel marginally better…until she saw Sean approach.

In a fog of sudden fear she wouldn’t live up to his expectations, she watched his graceful walk bring him through the glass doors, his large shoulders swaying opposite his purposeful stride. He was wearing a crisp white shirt with the outline of a wife-beater underneath. His dirty blond hair was in a styled messy look that completely set off his strong jaw. He was in a pair of tan Dockers that showed off his shapely thighs.

It had been a month. One month. How the hell had she forgotten how oh-my-God hot this guy was? How was that possible? How did the bastard look so good?

Just…what the hell? What had she done to God that He had to punish her with eye-candy this hot that she couldn’t touch? And why the hell was God so good at holding a grudge?

As he neared the table he glanced around the room and met Krista’s eyes. It was like a candle left unattended in the Art department. Her body ignited fast and hot, tingling heat through her nerves and limbs, spreading from end-to-end as if the paper was sprinkled with gasoline. Her face flushed and her pupils dilated. She wanted to look away but couldn’t.

She also wanted to scale the table and take a running leap onto his body.

“Good afternoon, everyone,” Sean said as he pulled his eyes away from Krista and gave everyone else a scan.

Krista noticed the slight red hue in Sean’s cheeks two seconds before she could see Ray looking at her out of the corner of her eye. It was a quiet glance, but he was trying to read her, and disconcerting her in the process. She sobered immediately.

Krista reeled in her urges as if they were fishing line, strapped on her chastity belt, and finally noticed that Sean had not walked in alone. Not at all. He’d come in, arm brushing arm, with Monica.

Well, if that doesn’t ruin my mood...

Jealousy reared its ugly head, before she turned away and focused on her material. Sean was off-limits, and Monica was welcome to him. Krista did not need boy-drama at work. In fact, she didn’t need boy-drama ever again.