The Kiss That Launched 1,000 Gifs by Sheralyn Pratt Page A

much as she wanted to.
    Was no one capable of professionalism anymore?
    For nearly thirty minutes Emily stayed at Ashton’s desk, talking, laughing, and pointing at his phone from time to time as they engaged in some form of work Grace wasn’t familiar with. No one’s fingers were typing, no interviews were being held, and they certainly weren’t brainstorming.
    No, Ashton and Emily were just talking. Connecting. Flirting. And they didn’t stop until Grace stood to head over to the sound booth for the afternoon show.
    Ashton quickly fell in step next to her.
    “Is everything okay?” he asked, his voice lowered so only she could hear.
    She kept her eyes forward. “What do you mean?”
    “I mean, you’ve been giving me the death stare for about a half an hour now. Did I do something to offend you?”
    Grace kept walking. “Like you care.”
    “If you’re legitimately mad, then yes, I do care,” Ashton said, easily keeping pace with her.
    Grace turned into the sound booth, and waited for him to follow in before shutting the door behind him and giving them a little privacy. Then she planted her feet, faced Ashton, and… faltered. The earnest look in his blue eyes caught her off guard and took the angry edge off of her words.
    “Just keep it in your pants at work, okay?” she said, her voice way more breathless than she’d planned on.
    His eyebrows pulled together in confusion. “In my pants? Grace, I have no idea what you’re talking about. I’ve never dated anyone from work.”
    “Yeah?” Grace stepped forward. “Does Emily know that?”
    He shook his head. “Emily giving me tips on how to use Instagram is not a date.”
    They were standing way too close. Part of Grace’s brain registered that even as another part of her brain urged her to lean in more. When she did, Ashton gripped her arms to put distance between them.
    “What’s gotten into you today?” he asked.
    “Take your hands off of me,” she warned, shrugging out of his grip. He immediately pulled away and stepped back, which inexplicably made her even more mad.
    He tucked his hands in his pockets. “Grace, I know we don’t talk off the air all that often, but if you need to talk something out, I’m here.”
    Sensitivity. Thoughtfulness. Those were not the things she was looking for out of Ashton Miller at the moment.
    “We have a show to record,” she said, stepping toward her chair.
    “I’m aware of that. But if you need to rant, let’s get it out of the way now,” he said. “Our listeners like banter, but no one wants to listen to an all-out brawl. So if you’re mad at me, let me know what I did.”
    Great. Of all the days for Ashton Miller to be professional and rational, he had to choose the day when Grace had the most steam to let off. It seemed life wasn’t cutting her any breaks at the moment.
    “Look, it’s not you,” she admitted. “It’s just… other stuff.”
    “Other flirting-at-work related stuff? Are you talking about Phillip?”
    Grace blinked in surprise at his absurdly accurate shot in the dark. Ashton seemed to take one look at her face and decide he was on the right track.
    “I was at his restaurant last night,” he explained. “But according to my niece’s freakishly insightful eyes, you have nothing to worry about.”
    The insight did not soothe her. In fact, Grace felt fifty times worse.
    “And I can personally vouch for the fact that he’s not doing anything with a server named Traci,” Ashton added with a big grin. “Because I have a date with her tomorrow.”
    Ashton seriously needed to stop talking before Grace punched him. To avoid looking at him, she locked her eyes on the computer monitor while her mind processed what he’d just said.
    Traci? Ashton had a date with Traci? She was more than a foot shorter than Ashton and a third his weight. Sure, Traci was on the top of Grace’s list of employees Phillip might be interested in, but Phillip had a slim build himself and was several