Bet On It: An Age Gap Billionaire Office Romance(37)

"All is good, my friend." At least I hoped it would be.

When I ended the call, I intended to go to the marketing department to talk to Analyn, but then I remembered that if I looked like I was giving her any special attention, she'd be worried other people would be suspicious.

So instead, I buzzed out to Catherine. "Can you have Analyn Watts come to my office, please?"

"Oh? Is there anything you need for me to get ready for you to meet with her? Her work review isn't due yet."

"No, it's all right. I just need to check in with her on an idea she pitched to me." That sounded official, didn't it?

"Would you like to see her now? Or did you have a time?"

"Have her come up now. Unless she's in the middle of a meeting or something." I winced. Should I be more commanding? Was Gino right that I was weak when it came to exerting my authority?

"Of course."

I felt like a foolish teenage boy as I waited for Analyn’s knock to come on my door. It seemed to take forever. Then finally it came.

"Come in."

The door popped open, and Analyn stepped in, her expression a mixture of wariness and concern.

I stood. "Ms. Watts, come in." I hoped I sounded official.

I must have because the wariness morphed straight to concern. She entered my office, shutting the door behind her.

“Is everything okay with my work, Mr. Hampton?”

"It's okay, Analyn.” I hoped that by switching to her first name, she’d relax. “If you're worried about how being called to my office will look, it's not unusual considering you’re a new hire, and you have an employee review coming up soon."

She lifted her head, standing taller as if she were trying to be professional. "Is that why I'm here?"

"No."

The wariness returned to her eyes. "I see."

If she was concerned about that, I was pretty sure she wasn't going to like my asking her to attend a hockey game. But I couldn't very well send her back to her office now.

"I asked you here to invite you to attend a hockey game tonight. My VIP box has been sitting empty, and I thought maybe you would like to attend with me."

She shook her head. "I don't think that's a good idea. In fact, it defeats the purpose, doesn't it?"

"I know it seems like it does, but I’ve invited staff to attend hockey games with me before. I brought Clive with me just a few months ago," I said of the head of the entire marketing department. "I even once brought Catherine." She had expressed interest in the game, so I brought her along.

"As a date?" Analyn asked.

"What? No." What the hell? Did I give off relationship vibes with Catherine? God, I hoped not.

Analyn studied me in a way that made me uncomfortable.

"What?"

She shrugged. "It's nothing. It’s just that sometimes, Catherine is overly protective of you. Sometimes, I wonder if there’s something there."

I stood and came around my desk, sitting on the edge. "No. There's nothing between Catherine and me. There never was. I’ve never had an interest in her that way.” I began to wonder if maybe Analyn’s question was coming from jealousy.

“Coming to a hockey game with me has become a reward of sorts. I'm sure if you ask Catherine or Clive or even several other people on staff, they’ll tell you that I’ve brought groups to watch hockey."

"Groups?"

Boy, was she nitpicky. "Yes, usually groups. But Clive, I brought by himself, and Catherine too. The point is that no one will think anything of it. Maybe after some time together at the game, you'll have an answer for me about my proposition."

She walked over to the window, crossing her arms around her. Was she protecting herself? Was she protecting herself from me?

"I got the feeling that things were tense at home. This could distract you. Take your mind off things." God, I was desperate if I was using her challenges at home to get a date.

She let out a sigh. "I don't know anything about hockey, but I suppose a distraction would be nice. All Betts talks about is the wedding, and the guilt is killing me."

That had to mean she hadn’t told her friend about what her fiancé had done. It couldn’t be an easy position to be in.

"But I still don't think it's right for us to be seen together in public. People might talk."

"First of all, I have a private box. Second, people talk all the time, seeing things that aren't there. We can't control what other people do, Analyn. But like I said, your coming to the game with me isn't unusual.”

She didn’t respond.

I decided to go another route. “You know when we first met, we hit it off long before we ended up having sex. Since you've moved to Las Vegas, we haven't been able to keep our hands to ourselves, but we haven't spent time together like we had that first night. You know, just talking. This would give us a chance to do that."

She looked at me over her shoulder. "And consider your offer?"

"Yes. And consider my offer."

By now, I was resolved that she was going to decline. And maybe she was right. I was playing with fire here. Recent events proved that I was at risk of getting burned.

She gave a curt nod. "Okay. It'll be interesting to see a hockey game."