Free Edge of Attraction by Ellie Danes, Katie Kyler Page A

shared the same shade of brown hair and the same strong nose, but Jamie always tended to look a little unkempt, a little less polished.
    “Check out my new running magazine.” He held up the cover and raised his eyebrows, trying to make me laugh.
    “Yoga and quiet hikes are where it’s at,” I said, smiling. It was an old argument that we both seemed to enjoy replaying.
    He coughed, and it sounded like, “Boring.”
    “Aren’t you supposed to be working in your office? Do you even know where it is?” I joked. I didn’t want to take it too far, though. He was a nice enough guy, and pretty charming, but it was obvious he was jealous of his brother. Joshua was the CEO. Jamie was second-in-command, and even then he didn’t really seem to fit the part or get much respect.
    “You know, I am supposed to be working,” he chirped back. “But today is Friday, and I’m ready to be out of here.” He clasped his hands behind his head and tried to look cool. It just messed up his hair even more. “You got any plans tonight?”
    I shrugged. I’d probably just go home to watch a movie with Bub, but it probably sounded pathetic, especially to someone like a Tolbert who was rolling in money. Someone else walked past and asked Jamie’s opinion on a marketing issue. He gave me a limp wave and reluctantly walked off with him.
    As soon as he was gone, I took the opportunity to look into the hall once more. Joshua was no longer in front of his door with the advertiser, which meant he’d probably seen her to the elevators on the other side of his office. He usually did this with visitors to the office…not that I paid attention to his habits. Much.
    I grabbed the liquor from my drawer and jetted across the hall and through his open door. I dithered for a moment, trying to decide the best place to set the bottle. Center of the desk like a target, or off to the side like a vase of flowers?
    Center. Definitely. This was the kind of gift that begged to be noticed.
    But as soon as I was about to set it down, Joshua popped up out of nowhere.
    There we stood, face to face. He must have been looking for something in the bottom drawer, blocked from my view.
    Worst timing ever.
    My cheeks blazed. I started to run my fingers along the frayed edges of my short brown ponytail. I twisted a loose piece and tucked it behind my ear, my special nervous tic.
    Joshua looked amazing, not awkward or frazzled like I felt. His stubble framed his jaw line and gave him that rugged look I always loved on men in magazines. I once told my best friend, Jess, that he could have been a male model if he’d wanted to. She was skeptical until I pulled up a photo from the Scintilla website. “Put it away,” she’d said. “Quick, before it melts your phone.”
    “Happy birthday,” I finally blurted. I wanted to sink through the floor.
    He appeared unimpressed. “Thanks, Abby.”
    Abby? My name was Allison . It was like a pit had opened up in my stomach, I felt so hollow and empty. I thought he would have at least gotten my name right since I’d worked at his company for three years. I could feel my ears getting red now, along with my cheeks. How could he mess up my name? In my mind, this was where he was supposed to jump up and thank me for the gift, then ask me out. But instead, he just bent down and continued to rustle around the papers in that bottom desk drawer.
    I set the bottle down carefully, then backed out of the office, one invisible step after another.

Chapter 2
    Joshua
    It had been a long morning. I was used to handling multiple projects at once, but sometimes all of the intricacies at Scintilla could get overwhelming. It had taken over four years to get everything just right and it was finally paying off. I was just glad it was Friday. I’d just poured a cup of coffee in the break room when my buddy Christopher, who worked in the advertising department, swooped in and took it out of my hand.
    “Thanks so much, man. Thoughtful of you,” he