Read Online No Ordinary Bloke by Mary Whitney - Free Book Online Page B

gave me a little wave. “Hello, David.”
    “Hello, Allison,” I said, walking toward my beautiful redhead. She wore a dark grey suit with trousers that made her look so professional I swore I’d do whatever she commanded. I smiled at the thought. “Thank you for seeing me.”
    “Thanks for stopping by. Paulina said you were here for an earlier meeting.”
    “Yes, with Trey. It went well.”
    “Come into my office,” she said without any movement to actually enter her office. She sounded like a robot.
    It seemed like I’d frozen her with anxiety, so I quickly told her the information she needed to relax. “I asked Trey if it would be alright to pay you a visit. Maybe take you to lunch for saving me from that bad bet at blackjack. He said it was fine.”
    Her expression loosened, and she even chuckled as she ushered me into her office. “So now you just had to ask me.”
    “Exactly,” I said, entering the large, sunny room. Asking a man’s permission to see his girlfriend without knowing if the girlfriend even wanted to see you was arse-backwards, but it was unfortunately required in my predicament.
    I heard the door shut behind me, and when I turned around, she offered me a seat. Her office was set up like a triangle with each area having an obvious purpose. At the top, near the corner windows was her desk with two chairs in front of it. Most likely, that was where she did her work and short business conversations were conducted. In another corner of the triangle, there was a small table with a few chairs at it. That had to be the spot for more involved meetings with employees. There was a box of tissues in the center of the table, no doubt for the weepy ones.
    Then in the triangle’s final corner there was a small sofa and chair. Another tissue box rested on an end table between them. That area had to be for more casual meetings or when an employee’s performance review turned into a therapy session. She’d offered me the sofa while she took the chair. Hopefully, this wouldn’t turn into a shrink session.
    “You have a lovely office,” I said, taking my assigned seat on the sofa.
    “Thank you. I’m lucky that it has such great light.”
    “Paulina was very nice.”
    “Was she? She scares a lot of people. That’s why I like her.”
    “I wouldn’t say she was scary to me. She was doing her job.”
    “So she didn’t immediately fall for your charms like most women.”
    A true smile escaped from Allison’s tight lips after she said it, and I was thankful to be teased. It was going to make everything easier. I shook my head and sighed. “She didn’t. I’d say she takes after her boss in that regard.”
    Allison’s eyes widened, and I continued with fake reproach, “Leaving me high and dry like that…Abandoning me at a bar…how could you?”
    Her sweet smile turned into a giggle. “It was the right thing to do, and you know it.”
    “Right for whom? Not me.”
    “Yes for you, and more importantly, for me.”
    “Bollocks.” Then I raised my hands in surrender. “But I’ll accept defeat, and I’ll stay in my place.”
    “Good boy.”
    “Yes, something like that,” I muttered.
    “So what else did Trey have to say?”
    “He said for me to tell you hi.”
    “Thank you.”
    “I don’t know why he couldn’t pick up the phone and tell you himself, but there it is.”
    “He’s busy. Right now, I know he’s taking Melanie out to lunch for her birthday.”
    “That’s right.” I pointed to her. “So let me take you out to lunch. He said they were going to Lark. Let’s go there.”
    “Well, thank you for lunch. I’d like that, but we can’t go to Lark.”
    “Why not?”
    “We’ll never get a table.”
    “How did Trey get one?”
    “He has a standing reservation.”
    “We should go.”
    “We can’t. They’re not going to just let anyone in. That place is too popular and too exclusive.”
    “Let me see what I can do.” I winked and stood up. “Meet me in your building