Flirting with the HR Girl

Chapter 45

On Saturday night, Jennifer was staring into her closet, trying to decide what to wear. She still had her gorgeous boots and her new jeans. Since Zack's inhaler was safely purchased, she'd decided to keep the clothes to celebrate the submission of her job application. She didn't know whether or not to save her slinky black top for when she could hopefully celebrate her promotion with Austin.

Normally, when she went out for drinks with Selena, she would just throw on something she would wear to work. Glancing at the clock, she needed to leave to pick up Selena soon. She petted Kelly absently while staring into her closet hoping something would jump out at her. She finally decided on a simple white-T shirt that was cut low and tightly enough to look a little too sexy for work. She put on her new makeup and dashed out the door. She turned around and blew a kiss to Zack, promising to be back by ten for his steroid pill.

"Hey, girl!" Selena said as she hopped into the car, wearing a much tighter red shirt that was cut much lower than Jennifer's. Her makeup was on point, as always, and she had the red stiletto shoes she had been eyeballing. "You ready to have some fun celebrating tonight?"

"For sure!" Jennifer gave her the answer she thought she wanted but couldn't help but laugh. She had a lightness in her stomach that she hadn't had since her date with Austin. The idea of seeing him and not even having to do anything was making her happy. She tried to tell herself it was that she was one week closer to being an HR manager and being free to date him but she knew it was more than that. When they arrived at the bar, they found Todd and Austin parked right in front of a karaoke stage.

"You didn't tell me this was a karaoke bar!" Jennifer accused her friend.

"It must have slipped my mind," Selena said with a shrug, but her evil grin gave her away. "I knew you wouldn't come but here you are!"

"You little-" Jennifer didn't get a chance to finish her sentence because Todd and Austin were already greeting them.

"Hey," Austin said towering over Jennifer.

"Hey," Jennifer said resisting the urge to run her fingers through his hair and pull his head down for a kiss. Her entire body tingled at the sight of him. She knew right then that this was a bad idea.

"I'm not going to sing tonight."

"I wouldn't dream of asking," Austin said as he held out her chair.

"Don't be such a spoilsport, Jenny," Todd said waving the server over for a round of drinks for all of them. "Karaoke is a way to free yourself and share your feelings with the world."

"I'm pretty sure that's the last thing Jenny wants to do," Selena said with a giggle, grabbing Todd's beer and taking a sip.

"I'm picking the next place and making you all play pool with me instead of this singing nonsense," Jennifer said with conviction, but they just laughed at her.

"So, what's our first song?" Selena asked Todd.

"I've Had the Time of My Life, of course," Todd said standing up.

"From Dirty Dancing! You read my mind!" Selena said, promptly leaving Jennifer alone with Austin.

It wasn't just the karaoke that made Jennifer uncomfortable. It was the fact that she and Austin would be alone most of the night again. She knew she was in danger, girl.

"How can those two enjoy singing together so much?" Jennifer asked, trying to fill the silence between her and Austin.

"I guess they just really like to sing," Austin said looking completely at ease, sipping his beer and watching her over the top of the bottle. Had he been in on the karaoke selection? Was he that untrustworthy?

"I mean it; we're going somewhere else next time," Jennifer said before taking a sip of her beer.

"As long as there is a next time," Austin said, and he held up his beer. "To you becoming the next Peterson's HR manager in the greater St. Louis area."

"Hopefully," Jennifer said clinking his glass gently and then taking a sip. She was embarrassed by his toast but also thrilled. They easily fell into conversation with her updating him on how to take care of Zack after an asthma attack. He listened with interest as she described his medicine schedule. He also told her about his new hires and how he thought they were going to work out. He thanked her again for helping her find just the right people.

"You know how to do it, I just had to point you in the right direction," Jennifer said, unwilling to take a compliment without trying to throw one back. One of these days she would learn to say thanks.

"I think it's about time," Austin said, throwing off her train of thought and wondering what he was talking about. He finished his beer and set it on the table.

"Time for what?" she said seeing that Selena and Todd were still up, howling one of Meatloaf's songs now.

"Time for you to getover your fear of karaoke," Austin said taking her by the hand and trying topull her out of her chair.