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“Miss Stanford, I need to take this. I’ll see you Monday. You’re dismissed.”
I stand up and straighten my dress, my blood pumping in my ears. As I turn to leave, I catch him watching me from the corner of my eye.
“Oh, and by the way, I like my employees to look professional. The neckline of that dress is far too low. Please wear appropriate clothing to the office.”
Without pause, he picks up the phone as I exit, so I can’t reply to his comment. My dress is not inappropriate! It was a scoop neck that barely showed a hint of cleavage. I had never been told my clothes were improper for the office, and this was the third job I ever had. I was fuming by the time I got back to my desk.
It was now past five, and all my coworkers had left for the day, so I wasn’t able to vent my frustrations to them. Dr. Pearce had a hell of a nerve saying what he did to me. I was mortified, but to hell with him. It was Friday—I’m going to do what I want, which is having a drink at McKinnon’s bar across the street.
Stopping by my cubicle, I gather my purse and coat. It was late April, but there was still a bit of a chill in the air. As I step out onto the street, I breathe in the fresh smell of spring. There was still light out, and I relish the coming of longer days.
McKinnon’s on a Friday was busy, as usual. I wave hello to Samuel, the owner, as he comes right over to take my order.
“Martini, extra olives.”
He winced sympathetically. “How are you, Megan?”
“A little worse for wear. I met my new boss today. A real stickler.”
“Sorry to hear that,” Sam says as he places the martini in front of me.
“Me too.”
I scan the bar to see if any of my coworkers were around, but I didn’t recognize anyone. Whatever. I’ll finish my martini and head home. To pass the time, I check my emails while sipping my drink. Nothing of importance comes up except my sister Lexi wanting me to have dinner with her and her family. She didn’t live too far from me with her husband, JC, and two children. I loved my sister and her family, but after Dr. Pearce, I was in a foul mood. Maybe I would go one of these evenings.
Releasing a breath, I pull at the tight hairband at the back of my head to release my ponytail. As I shake my blonde hair out, I didn’t pay attention to the person taking a seat next to me until I hear them say something.
“Your hair looks much better down,” the man comments.
The voice sounds familiar, and when I look up, I find myself staring into the beautiful blue eyes of Dr. Pearce. He smiles at me.
“I beg your pardon?” My tone is sharp.
“Your hair, it looks much better when it’s down. I like it.”
What a jerk. I had no intention of doing anything to satisfy him, so I promptly put my hair back in the ponytail. It was a childish thing to do, but I was still angry over his comment about my dress.
He doesn’t say anything, but I notice his lips turn up into a smirk, then a smile, before he starts to laugh. Though I try to resist, I couldn’t stop my smile. Chuckling, I pull my hair out of the ponytail again.
“It’s been a busy week for me, so you must let me apologize if I offended you earlier. Though your dress is a bit lowcut.”
“You know you can apologize without adding the negative comment. My dress is not that low cut. I’m barely showing any cleavage. If you want to see low cut, I’m sure I can oblige.”
His gaze falls to the ivory flesh of my upper chest, then fixes on my mouth before trailing up to my eyes.
“Why would you want to cheapen yourself in such a way? You don’t need to convince men you’re beautiful by wearing revealing clothing.”
What the hell was this man saying? He thought I was beautiful? I was tongue-tied for the second time today, but this time a tipsy guy bumped into me and spilled some of his beer on my coat.
Dr. Pearce grabs his collar when he tries to move away. “You owe this woman an apology. You spilled your beer on her.”
“Get bent, preppy.”
“Apologize, please.”
The guy hands his beer to his friend and wrenches his collar out of Dr. Pearce’s grip, then pushes him in his chest.
“I’m not gonna apologize, and if you gotta problem with that, I can meet you outside.”
