Chapter 1

A-dork-able

By J.D.Walker

Every New Year’s Day,I make the resolution to be less of a dork.You’d think after ten years of this,I’d have succeeded,and maybe—just maybe—some guy would look my way and see me as dating material instead of the occasional tryst.But each attempt to transform myself into some suave man-about-town just made things worse,not better.

Like the most recent office costume party on New Year’s Eve where I’d been dressed as a Wookie,gotten drunk because no one wanted to talk to the big hairy geek,and thrown up all over my boss,Mr.Watkins—I’d removed the head from my outfit as it had been stifling and keeping me from the alcohol.Bad idea,in hindsight.

My attempts to apologize to the man who signed my paychecks had been slurred,smelly,and a bit handsy.Well,Watkins was hot and I was inebriated and desperately horny—can you blame me?His husband had not been amused.It was a wonder I’d not been fired.Naturally,I had to pay a ridiculous fee for soiling the costume,too.My coworkers still talked about the“incident.”I was surprised someone hadn’t made a meme out of it.Oh,wait…

Anyway,as far as humiliation and awkward encounters went,that one took the cake.I decided then and there that resolutions were crap and I was better off without them.I would embrace my dorkness and to hell with everyone else.And,no,that wasn’t another resolution.It was simply an affirmative statement of action that…oh,to hell with it.

My roommate and best friend Anderson Mercury—supposedly straight,great abs,sleeps with chicks and watches gay porn because“it rocks,”he says—was always telling me there was nothing wrong with the way I was,and I should be myself—with an updated wardrobe—and to hell with the world.Maybe he was right.And maybe I should tell him he was actually bi-curious and to stop kidding himself.

That not-a-resolution of mine lasted about three weeks until I met the new guy in Finance and immediately wanted to have his babies,along with every other male and female in the company,no matter their relationship status.

“Alister Redgrave?”I heard a male voice say behind me.I was in the breakroom,fiddling with the Keurig.The water wasn’t flowing,which meant the damn thing was blocked up again and I’d have to clean it.Why did this always happen to me?

“Yeah,who wants to know?”I asked distractedly as I focused on the task at hand.

“I’m new here and thought I’d introduce myself.”

That so?Wonder how he knew my name.Then again,I was one of only three redheads on this floor,the other two being female.

I pressed the buttons again to brew my hot chocolate,and this time,it worked.I did a little fist pump and turned to face the newbie.It was a good thing I didn’t have anything in my hand because I would have likely made a mess.The man was absolutely fabulous,from his carefully styled black hair,to his well-fitted suit,to the shiny leather shoes he wore.His pale blue eyes were stunning,and a handsomer face I had yet to see in this lifetime.

Oblivious to my inner fascination,he held out a hand.“Jaiden Greyson,Assistant CFO.”

“Nice to meet you,”I replied,shaking his hand in a daze until I saw the slight frown on his face.I quickly let go and mumbled an apology before turning to tend to my hot chocolate.Unfortunately,I’d chosen the wrong-sized cup,and now there was a brown mess on the counter.

Embarrassed in front of the man of my dreams,I cleaned up and headed back to my desk without saying another word.Hot cocoa could wait until my face wasn’t bright red with mortification.And since I was a freckly redhead,that meant I was red everywhere.Way to make an impression on my would-be future baby daddy.

Heather,who sat in the cubicle next to mine,leaned back in her chair and whispered loudly,“Have you seen the new hottie from Finance?”

We weren’t friends,per se,but she would deign to talk to me from time to time,as it suited her purposes.

“Yeah,met him in the breakroom.”It was fortunate no one else had witnessed yet another one of my“moments.”

“I hear he’s one for the ladies andgentlemen,”she said,her smile a bit rabid.Thankfully she didn’t froth at the mouth.“He’s forty-one,though he doesn’t look it.”

“Where on earth did you hear all that?”I asked while I worked on the job analyses Mr.Watkins had requested be on his desk by eleven-thirty,or else.He’d been a bit testy with me lately.I wonder why.

I didn’t see her do it,but I knew Heather was rolling her eyes.It was the way she sighed that clued me in.“I don’t even know why I talk to you.Don’t you keep up with office gossip?”

“I suppose I would,if anyone other than you and my boss spoke to me,unless forced to,or to make fun of something I did.”

“Please,you should be used to that by now.You’re the only non-Millennial in this department,except for me,and you have six years on me,even.You need to grow thicker skin,I keep telling you.”She huffed and went back to typing on her keyboard.

Whatever Heather said,thicker skin wouldn’t change the way things were.Jaiden Greyson,sumptuous specimen that he was and clearly out of my league,would learn all about“awkward Al”and run screaming in the other direction,like everyone else did.

Story of my life.