All Chapters of Asking for a Friend: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

MARISSAThe last thing I expected walking into the interview this morning was to find a guy who looked like this one sitting across from me. I mean, wow. How any of the women in this office got anything done with a boss who looked like him was beyond me.Granted, my last boss was older, so I didn’t have much experience working with men around my age, but this one was bound to make it harder to concentrate for anyone with a pulse and even the vaguest interest in men.He was nothing short of gorgeous, and having seen how hot his eyes grew when he was looking me over when I walked in, I was feeling way more aroused than an interview had the right to make me feel.As inconvenient as my arousal was, I could hardly blame myself. It had been a long time since I’d noticed a man the way I noticed him, the way that made me feel less like a mom and more like a woman. A woman with needs my trusty vibrator didn’t always fulfill as well as it could have.This man looked like he could fulfill those

LAYTONLate the next Friday afternoon, I rubbed my tired eyes and looked over a three dimensional mock-up of one of my upcoming projects on my computer at the office. There was something not quite right about it, but I was having trouble putting my finger on what, exactly, was off.“Come on, man. Concentrate,” I muttered, squinting my eyes as I titled the image this way and that. Any minute now, I would see what was bothering me. Nothing jumped out, but I was sure it would soon. I just had to keep going.I was concentrating so hard, I didn’t notice there was someone else in my office until I heard the soft scrape of a chair against my laminate flooring. My head snapped toward the sound. I sighed internally when I saw who it was.Marissa.Of course. She was the only one who just walked into my office. No knocking, no waiting for me to call her in. It was an aggravating habit she had, but I didn’t show my aggravation.No good could come of it. She just wasn’t like the other people here.

MARISSAWhat I was expecting from Layton Bridges, I didn’t know. He seemed nice enough in the interview, but I was so focused on getting a new job and then relieved when he said I had it that I hadn’t given too much thought to the kind of person he was.When I started working there, I noticed that he seemed like the type who worked hard but was well-liked enough and respected by his staff. I hadn’t given it much more thought until earlier, when he so rudely dismissed me from his office.Boy, what a dick. Bosses didn’t have to be nice. I knew that and I was fine with it. But when his dickish behavior started having an effect on my job though, I was not fine with it at all.As his accounting manager, I took my job seriously. I was new there and didn’t quite know the ropes yet, but I was damn proud of what I’d accomplished, despite my relative inexperience in his field.I hadn’t wanted to sit down with him to go over the numbers to get an acknowledgment or a pat on the head, I wanted to

LAYTONCraig’s breath created a mist in the cold air. He walked up to me on our new, bare job site, thrusting a cardboard cup of what was hopefully coffee at me with his gloved hand. “Here. Got you this. You’re going to need it today, what with it being cold as balls on this empty fucking site.”“Thanks.” I gratefully accepted the coffee, holding it in both hands as I took a sip of the scolding hot liquid. It was rich and bitter, just the way I liked it. “You ready to get started?”He nodded, jerking his head in the direction of the street behind us. Car horns honked and I heard the beeping of a truck. “My guys are out there now bringing in the first loads of equipment. What are you doing here so early?”“Pacing out the site.” I told him. “I was counting the steps before you got here.”Craig smirked. “Again? Really? How many are you up to so far?”“Three hundred and eighty four,” I shrugged, stretching my arm out in front of me. “But I’ve only just started. I still have all that left

MARISSALayton B, the D, was pacing around outside my office. I saw him emerging from the side stairwell and it looked like he was headed to me until he stopped dead in his tracks. Why, I didn’t know.I had been quite sure he was looking for me, since he’d been walking purposefully in my direction, but now I wasn’t so sure. These were his offices, though. Surely he knew how to get to wherever he wanted to go, even if he did seem more than a little lost right now.Green eyes flickered across my work space. I could’ve sworn he stopped breathing when they did. Slowly, he seemed to be taking note of everything I had in here. Even from the distance I was at, I could practically see the tension rolling off him.Crap. Had I done something wrong? I couldn’t think of a single thing. I hadn’t had any interaction with him since I brought him the file with my plans and reports on the new project on Friday. Though he hadn’t wanted to discuss them with me, I knew they were solid.If I had done som