Weekends Required (Danvers #1)(32)
The men, Chris and Joe, were surprisingly easy to talk to and having them sit beside the girls discouraged other men from approaching Suzy for the phone number payout she’d promised. Claire realized after the first drink that Suzy was right; it might look harmless but her head was already spinning. Chris and Joe teased her about switching to Iced Tea afterwards, but she told them she had to drive home and couldn’t afford to be face down somewhere along the way.
Around ten, Claire told Suzy she was tired and was ready to leave. Much to her surprise, Suzy insisted on leaving as well. When they stepped outside, Claire said, “Suz, you didn’t have to leave, you were having fun; go back in for awhile.”
“Nah, I’m dragging and I was getting ready to bail anyway.”
“Are you sure? You looked like you were really enjoying Chris.”
“That was just a 'drink you', nothing else," replied Suzy.
“A 'drink you'?” asked Claire.
“Yeah, instead of thank you, when someone buys you a drink and you chat them up afterwards it’s a drink you.”
“Um, ok that must be Suzy language, I’ve never heard of it,” laughed Claire. “Sorry I needed to leave early; I just wanted to have a good night’s sleep before working this weekend.”
“Oh, that’s right; you and hot buns are working. Why, I wonder, are you suddenly working weekends when you never have before?”
“It’s because of the merger with Mericom,” replied Claire.
“You mean stuffed shirt Gray is so uptight that you guys have to work seven days a week to keep up with his demands?” sneered Suzy.
"Suz, I don’t think it’s that; it’s just the extra time being spent on that project is causing Jason’s other work to fall behind. I’m sure Grayson isn’t as bad as you make him out to be,” said Claire.
“Yeah right, the man needs to learn how to loosen up. I bet he doesn’t even own a pair of boxers; briefs all the way no doubt,” said Suzy.
“Um sweetie, how did we get on the subject of Grayson’s underwear choices? It seems to be that you have a very suspect amount of interest in Grayson,” teased Claire.
Suzy stalked ahead of her and grumbled over her shoulder, “I was just making an observation, no need to get your panties in a wad girlfriend.” Claire ran to catch up with her giving Suzy a brief hug as they walked on.
~~~
Claire scanned the area and saw no sign of Billy. She was almost to her front door when she heard a voice behind her and looked around to find that Billy had indeed seen her arrive. “Hey Claire, where is your boyfriend tonight?” asked Billy in a sullen tone.
“Er… He’s out of town tonight, he should be back soon though,” said Claire.
“How come you never mentioned you were dating anyone?” accused Billy.
Claire was starting to get angry as well at the nasty tone in his voice. “Billy, I really think my private life is my business, don’t you?” demanded Claire. Billy’s face reddened as Claire stuck her key in her lock and quickly opened her door.
Before she could close it, Billy said, “I thought you were different, I guess I was wrong.” Not bothering to reply, Claire slammed her door shut and vowed that she would start looking for another place to live. It was obvious that Billy was going to continue to be a problem.
She didn’t think the idea of her having a boyfriend would help especially since said boyfriend wasn’t likely to be at her place again. Great, like my life isn’t hectic enough, now I’ve a nut job neighbor stalking me, greeaat. The confrontation with Billy took some of the enjoyment out of the evening. After a quick shower, Claire climbed into bed and tried to forget the angry expression on Billy’s face; maybe Jason was right about him after all.
Chapter Twelve
Saturday morning she was up and out early. She picked up a few things at the market that Louise had requested then dropped them by along with her mother’s medicine. Claire went inside and spent an enjoyable hour eating breakfast and chatting. Her mother was having another good day and seeing how well she was doing this week made Claire that much more determined to keep her mother in her home no matter what it took.
All too soon it was time to go to the office. It felt strange to see the usually full parking garage bare but for a few other cars. The office door was ajar when she arrived on their floor, and Jason was already seated at his desk with his door open. Claire stored her handbag and walked through his door to see what he needed her to work on. Jason leaned back in his leather chair and studied her as she approached his desk.
“Thanks for coming in today, I hope it didn’t interfere with your weekend plans,” said Jason. The amused smirk on his face told her exactly what plans he was referring to.
“No, not at all. What shall I get started on?” asked Claire.
Completely ignoring her question Jason continued on, “No big party this weekend huh?”
“Did we come here to work or discuss my private life?” asked Claire.
“Well if your private life is open for discussion, I would be happy to put work aside because, quite frankly, I’m dying to hear more about your other life as a stripper.” Claire could only look at him in surprise.
After Jason hadn’t broached the subject of her second job during the week, she assumed he had decided to let it go. The look on his face assured her that he had far from forgotten it and intended to have that discussion now. “I don’t think my private life is any of your business so no; it isn’t open for discussion,” snapped Claire.