Chapter 14

Grace was exhausted by the time she got home later that evening. She and Archer worked through lunch and stayed past dinner working on their new plan. As much as Grace hated the idea of the entire campaign, she had to admit that it might just work.

Appealing to monster hunter enthusiasts would be the first installment of the city's PR relaunch to attract new residents and tourists to Hell's Gate. By attracting individuals who thrive on the hunt, they could later spin the idea of a more secure environment, declaring the streets safer due to the influx of new monster-hunting inhabitants. (Special licence required.)

The tricky part would be gathering promotional videos and pictures. They spent all day figuring out what kind of footage they wanted and how they could get it.

Finally in bed, she thought her exhaustion would take her quickly from all the excitement of the day, but she found herself restless, overtired. She remembered the message from earlier from her weird mystery guy and decided to figure out his deal and end the conversation for good.

PR_Princess

OK, explain

Mystery_Man

I like you

I realized how I probably came across, so here it is

I like you

You said that

lol...It's true...What I meant to say, and should have said was that I'm not talking to anyone else, and don't want to. But, because we have just started to talk, I have no right to ask you not to talk to, or date, anyone, else. So I won't

Saying that, do I want you to talk to anyone else? No, no I don't

Did I lose you again?

No. I'm still here. You don't know me. We've barely talked. How can you like me?

I know I like talking to you

I will admit, the little we have talked has been… intriguing…

See, a bit of mystery is fun

But I would love to get to know you more. I will make an effort to be more available

Ava ilable beyond the late-night messaging? Not gonna lie, feels like you are waiting for your gf or wife to fall asleep. I picture you hunched over in the dark secretly messaging me, worried your partner could wake up any second

Just to be clear, I don't do the whole cheating/affair/mistress thing

- inserts photo-

Empty bed ??

Be honest, you were flexing your arm that made it in the pic

Flexing so hard. Were you impressed??

Your bicep is very impressive lol

I don't skip leg day either…??

I could tell, all your pictures are of you doing various things with your head cut off… and far away

I'm shy

Keeping up your mystery persona

Technically you came up with my persona ??

Right right

You're a mystery to me too. Would love to know your name

PR_Princess changed their username to Grace

Hello Grace. A beautiful name for a beautiful woman

Just a heads up, I'm 30, that kind of flattery doesn't work on me anymore

But also, go on…??

I promise, I'm a man who means what he says

Fair enough

And I'm waiting…

For?

Did you want another pic…

No

Maybe…

… your name…

Don't be mad. I'm not ready

Yet you asked for mine…??

I know. Call me a dick cause it's true. This will sound cliche, but it's not you, it's me. I have had some bad experiences with online dating, but I also don't know how else to meet people. That's why I take this really slow. Talk for a long time before giving my real name or showing my face

Dick

Well deserved

But I also can't fault you on that. Maybe moving forward, don't ask for things you're not ready or willing to give in return

I can do that

We will abide by the rules of - I'll show you mine if you show me yours

Hahaha, yes. Sounds right

Speaking of…

Let's dial it back a bit…Tell me about your day?

It was uneventful and boring. Tell me about yours?

It's a long story

I have time if you do

"Our bosses look like shit today," Scarlett not so quietly whispered to Lucas. They were seated at the other end of the conference table.

Grace could hear her clearly, which meant Archer, who sat across from her could too.

Lucas looked up from his work to glance at Grace and Archer, gave Scarlett a sideways look, and then continued typing on his laptop without replying.

"I know why my boss looks like shit, but why does yours?" Scarlett pried.

"I don't know, maybe he had a late night. It's none of my business," Lucas murmured.

"Was your boss up all night speaking to their next mystery lover like mine?"

"Scarlett!" Grace blurted. She hoped her cheeks weren't as red as they felt. "Why don 't you take your lunch now? Then after, I'll email you the list of contacts we need contracts made for, and I'll get you to start organizing that."

"You don't want me to come back here? I have all the calls forwarded to this phone."

"Not necessary. I'll call you if I need you."

Archer was trying to hide his smirk while watching Grace dismiss her assistant.

"Lucas, you might as well go for lunch too. I'll send you the contract info as well, and you two can split the work, please."

When Scarlett and Lucas left, Grace took a deep, calming breath. When she looked up, she found Archer staring at her with an amused smile.

"My contact at city hall just emailed. They gave me someone to contact about getting footage from the street cameras. It's looking promising," she said, ignoring Archer's baiting smile.

"So did you give Bigfoot a chance after you ignored him yesterday, or are we on to a new one?"

"Bigfoot, I mean, same guy. Why?"

"I just want to make sure I'm nowhere near when you go out with him."

"What? Why?"

"Because your track record since I've known you is a little scary," he chuckled. "I hope you warned him of your curse."

"And here I thought you might actually be a decent person," she scoffed, but couldn't fight the smile that pulled at her lips. "It's probably nothing anyway. He just wants to talk. I don't even know what he looks like and he's not ready to meet me yet."

"That's his loss then," Archer said, letting his eye contact linger for a moment longer than necessary before turning back to his computer.

What just happened? she thoug ht, when she felt her cell vibrate.

Mystery_Man

Are you as tired as I am?

Grace

I'm exhausted. We stayed up way too late

Sorry I kept you up

"Everything okay?" Archer asked.

"Yup. Sometimes Scarlett messages the wrong cell, not paying attention."

"No doubt," he replied.

I'm not

I shouldn't be talking to you right now, I'm currently working with my boss

And we hate the boss, right?

Grace bit her lip, contemplating how to answer that. She had enjoyed working with him the last two days. His work ethic matched hers and it had become an easy working relationship.

Not hate, he isn't so bad. We just had a rocky start maybe

But I should be working. He is nice now, but he might not be if he finds me talking…to you

You're being sneaky. I like it. So am I ??

Oh?

I'm in a shared office space

Send me a pic?

Of what?

You, obviously. I'll let you decide on the level of clothing ??

You first. Would love to know who I am talking to. Again, all your profile shows me are pics of your body

Exactly, I'm just asking you to level the playing field ??

Grace burst out into a giggle, bringing Archer's attention back to her.

"Sorry. Scarlett is just going on another rant. I'm trying now to get her to stop messaging my cell," she lied.

And if I say no? Will you stop talking to me?

Try to keep me away

??

??

I really need to go now. My boss has been busy talking to clients while I'm over here flirting

Sucks to be your boss then

Later?

later ??

"Where the hell did my sticky notes go?" she heard Archer mumble. "I'll be right back."

As Grace watche d her boss leave the room, she suddenly felt a little daring. Without overthinking it, she unbuttoned the top two buttons of her blouse, took a quick selfie of her cleavage, and sent it to her mystery man.

Then she instantly regretted it.

It's fine, she reassured herself. You can't even see my bra. Scarlett shows more cleavage than this daily, so it's no big deal. Oh no! What if he thinks I'm some lame vanilla type person?

What if I am some lame vanilla type person?

A moment later, her cell vibrated, pulling her out of her self-induced freakout. At first, she tried to ignore it and started to put her phone back in her bag, when it vibrated a second time.

"Just look," she breathed.

…wow. Also…naughty ??

I guess it's only fair…

The second message had a picture attached. Grace had changed the settings in the dating app after the thumb incident, so now pictures would have to be opened, instead of instantly popping up on her screen for everyone to see. She didn't hesitate to open the attachment and was rewarded with a picture of her mystery man's chest and abs.

She could feel the heat rising to her face, her cheeks flushing with all the shades of red. Her mystery man was toned, firm, and she guessed from the mildly hairy chest and trail of hair running down his stomach that he had dark brown hair.

"Holy shit," she exclaimed.

"Everything alright?" Archer asked as he came in waving the pad of sticky notes he was after.

"Yes, Scarlett just finally stopped her ramblings," she said as she grabbed her bag off the floor and shoved her cell into it. When she lowered the ba g to the ground she remembered her blouse buttons and quickly did them up, hoping Archer didn't notice her indecent display.