“You’re still here.”
Chance’s voice surprises me for the second time today, and I swivel around to see him. “Yeah. I’m having trouble ending the article. There’s just…a lot to think about when ending a first date.”
He leans against the door frame like it was put there just so he could. “That’s okay. The one article per day thing was just an idea. You can take as much time as you need. You could even work on more than one at a time if that works better for you.”
“Okay,” I say, running a hand across my face. “I’m at least going to take the night to think about how it should end.”
He nods. “Most people have left for the day. Care for a drink?”
I look at him, and I don’t know what I’m talking about. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”
Chance pauses, and the air between us goes taut, both of us thinking about the unsaid things in the room. “Just a drink. I’ve got a stash I save for special days, and I can show you the best part about this building.”
“All right,” I say. “Just a drink?”
“Just a drink.”
I make sure to save my progress before I follow him out the door.
When you’re on the ground in Manhattan, you never really think about the roofs of buildings. But they exist, and I don’t know if they’re all like this one, but the one that Chance just led me to is fucking beautiful. There’s nothing up here but open air, and a couple of chairs which clearly don’t belong up here.
Chance grabbed a bottle and two glasses before he led me to the stairs, and he sits in one of the chairs and pours us each a drink. I take the other chair, and lean back, taking in the same view as my office but bigger, better. With the wind in my hair and the fading sun on my skin it’s positively glorious. “You come up here often?” I ask.
“Not as often as I’d like,” he says, taking a sip of his drink. “But this is where I come when I need some inspiration. It sounded like you could use some.”
“That’s really sweet of you.”
He gives me a half-smile, “I try to give my employees the tools they need to do their jobs well.”
“I appreciate that. I want to do well. Like I said yesterday, I don’t exactly have the best history, and I think I could actually be good at this.”
Chance laughs. “You’re already good at this, Caroline. I never would have thought to frame the one-night stand article through the lens of a couple in that way.”
I blush instantly. “That…just came to me.”
“Is that look because it’s a story from personal experience?”
“No,” I say, laughing. “Not actual personal experience. Just something that I wished would happen.”
“Ah. I see.”
“Yeah.”
He leans forward, elbows on his knees, cradling his glass in front of him. “I guess I assumed because of your blog—are you single?”
“Are you asking me that out of pure curiosity or for another reason?”
He doesn’t meet my eyes. “Would it matter?”
I knock back the drink he’s given me in one go, savoring the burn. “I’ve worked here officially for not even a day, and I was already told that you have a strict no dating policy. I don’t want to ruin this opportunity by jumping into bed with the boss. Even if the boss is all I can seem to think about.”
He glances up at that, and gives me a wicked little smirk. “There are lots of places beside beds that I can think of.”
“Mr. Montgomery—”
“Chance.”
“Chance,” I repeat after him, and it feels good to say his name. “What about your policy?”
He finishes his drink. “You’re right. I have had that policy. It’s easier in some ways, because you don’t have to worry about having exes in the office, and you don’t have to worry about employees flirting with you. Especially when you don’t know if they’re flirting with you for you or because they’re trying to get ahead with their career.”
I notice that he’s leaned closer to me, and I can’t help but match his progress, leaning closer toward him. “Then this can’t happen,” I say. “No matter if we want it to.”