Going Down (Quickies #1) Read Free Page A

than usual.  
    “Wait. Where’s the party?” he asked, his voice a little choked.  
    I shot him a look over my shoulder, aiming for flirty and hoping I succeeded. Who had I become in the five minutes since I walked into this office?
    “Why, you wanna crash it?”  
    Carter shrugged and smiled. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”  
    I weighed my options, considered the possible outcomes of telling him. He could show up, which would probably not be a good thing. He could send a bottle of champagne to our table to apologize to Paige for making her stay late, which would be awesome. I decided to err on the side of possible awesome.  
    “ Azure ,” I told him.  
    He nodded and slid his hands into his pockets.  
    “Thank you, Chloe.”  
    “It was my pleasure,” I teased.  
    “No,” he replied, a cocky grin spreading across his lips. “But it will be.”

CHAPTER THREE

    Early the following evening, I was rifling through my closet, frantically sliding dress after dress across the rack from one side to the other. How could I, a self-proclaimed clothes horse, not have a single thing to wear to dinner?  
    This one was too short.  
    That one was too long.  
    The others weren’t date-y enough (not that this was a date, I had to keep reminding myself).
    The hangers clicked angrily against each other as the panic slowly started to overtake me. And why was I so nervous? I knew which forks went with which course, if he was going to get super fancy about it.   It was just dinner; I ate dinner every night. I even had dinner with men on occasion, so it wasn’t like the concept was something new to me.
    No, that was a lie. This was something new, because last night I walked into Carter Armstrong’s office practically hating him, and I walked out of it wanting him more than I’d ever wanted another man in my entire life. It was strange, feeling such an instant attraction to someone. Maybe I’d find him intellectually interesting once we’d spent some time together, but I was much more interested in sliding my hands across what was sure to be an impressive set of abs, if the way he filled out his dress shirt was any indication. And his arms, god . I wanted them wrapped around me, holding me up against…something; I didn’t even care what. A hard surface—preferably vertical—probably.  
    “Chloe!” Paige shouted.  
    My heart slammed against my ribcage, and I pressed my palm to my chest, trying to calm it down. I turned around to look at her there, lounging on my bed like it was her own. Judging by the look on her face, she’d probably called my name a few times.  
    “What?” I asked, a little breathless.
    “Are you okay? You kind of spaced out there for minute, staring at that ugly red dress I hate. You’re not thinking of wearing that, are you? Because if you are, don’t. And then burn it, because it really needs to stop existing.”
    “What is it with you and this dress? The more you hate it, the more I want to keep it. And no, I wasn’t considering wearing it. It seems too…”
    “Hideous?”  
    I narrowed my eyes, deciding that I wasn’t going to win this battle, so I wasn’t going to bother trying to fight it. I turned back to the closet, continuing my quest for the perfect dress.  
    “I can’t believe you agreed to go out on a date with my boss,” Paige said, leaning back on my bed, the toes of her fuzzy pink slippers brushing against the hardwood floor.  
    “It’s not like I went into his office expecting him to ask me out.” No, I went in there disliking him, but now I just wanted to jump his bones. “I thought he was going to accept a fair trade; your release for my servitude.”  
    “Servitude?” Paige rolled her eyes. “You make everything sound so dramatic.”  
    “It was dramatic! I rescued you!”
    “Oh, please. You wouldn’t be able to work on a presentation if your life depended on it. Software so isn’t your thing.”  
    I shrugged, not really having much of an