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Sunshine: I’ll be there in five minutes. I expect a cheese danish and a mocha waiting for me when I arrive.
I spend those five minutes ordering her drink and pacing. Max follows me as I pace from one end of the sidewalk to the other, his tongue hanging out of his mouth. July in Portland isn’t hot the way July in Los Angeles is, but it’s hot enough.
Five minutes later, Sophie appears around the corner. She’s wearing a blue sundress that I’ve never seen her wear to the office, probably because of the way it dips down low between her perfect breasts. The yellow sandals on her feet are sensible but cute. My heart twists at the sight of her. My dick gives a hopeful little twitch too.
Holding out the paper cup with her drink, I smile at the wary expression on her face.
“Good morning.” Her words are laced with uncertainty. If she’s hoping I have any idea what I’m doing, she’s going to be disappointed.
“Morning.” I fumble with the end of Max’s leash. “Did you sleep okay?”
Sophie stares at me, her eyebrows drawn together, a cute little wrinkle forming between them. “Did you just…did you really just ask me if I slept okay? Who are you?” Before I can answer, she holds up a hand, stalling me. “Sorry, don’t answer that. That was rude. I’m just…”
“Flustered? Confused? Completely unsure of what to say or do next? Worried you’re going to say something to upset me?” I offer. Sophie nods and I shrug. “Me too.” Again, I offer her the paper cup that she still hasn’t taken from me.
This time she takes it, her fingers brushing mine, before retreating a couple steps. I suppress my need to pull her close at just that little bit of contact. “Yeah, but you invited me here. You didn’t have a plan? You’re—” she waves a hand up and down my body. “I assumed you had a master plan.”
We’re still standing an awkward distance apart in front of the coffee shop, Max sniffing hopefully around the legs of the table next to me. I take a sip of my latte to stall for time. Sophie mirrors me by taking a sip of her drink. Her eyes close for a moment while she swallows, savoring the sip with a hum. That hum sends a little more blood away from my brain and I rock on my heels to shake it off.
“I told you, today I’m just Teddy.”
Sophie cocks her head to the side, eyeing me. “Just Teddy?”
I hold out the cheese danish I got for her, paper bag rustling with either the breeze or my shaking hand. Sophie takes it, looking around. “Well, Just Teddy, did you want to sit down or…?”
I point at Max. “I was thinking maybe we could take him to the dog park?” I pray that Sophie will go along with it, trusting in my favorite play of “fake it till you make it” to get past the awkwardness. I know we’ve already been out together once. I know what her lips taste like, how easy she is to be around. And I know she knows some of that about me too, but she doesn’t know that I know. And I’m going to tell her, just…not yet. For some reason, it feels like something I need to tell her face to face, not over the phone, and not when I’m looming over her at work.
With Max leading the way, we stroll in the direction of the dog park, the same one where I met Emma. We make it half a block before Sophie speaks. When she does, the questions pour out of her.
“I’m so confused, Mr. Sutton. I don’t understand why I’m here. I know you said it’s not work-related. I don’t need a thank-you coffee, or whatever this is, for finding your dog. Anyone would have done the same. And if this is because of the text I sent last night, I’m sorry. I realize it was probably inappropriate. I’d had a couple glasses of wine and…I don’t really know why I texted you, or what the point was. I was just…”
She trails off, inhaling deeply. “Lonely?” I offer up the word with a smile before taking a sip of my drink.
Sophie stops walking, turning to face me. “Why me?”
Instead of answering her, I keep walking down the street, letting her catch up. “You know I don’t date, right?” I glance down at her, catching the way the sunshine paints her golden hair as she nods. “The other night, I was supposed to attend a fundraiser with my sister, but since her husband whisked her away on a last-minute vacation, I found myself dateless.”
“Would that be such a bad thing?”
I shrug. “Personally, I don’t care. But any time I show up at an event like that Morgan—” I catch myself before I give away that I know she met him. “My mentor will use it as an excuse to set me up with one of his many nieces, cousins, grandkids, or various hangers-on.”
“I take it you don’t care for the kinds of girls he sends your way?” She’s picking at the paper sleeve of her cup. Is she nervous? Has she figured out that I know she’s Elinor?
“No. I prefer to spend my time with people I can have an intelligent conversation with.”
“Oh.” Her response is so quiet I almost miss it.
The gated fence to the dog park on my right has Max tugging on the leash. I pause my story to open the gates and let us all in before unclipping him. He takes off at a sprint around the space, like he always does, and I pull Sophie by the elbow into the shade of the same tree her Max got stuck in.
Her blue eyes are wide as I look into them, her bottom lip caught between her teeth. “Imagine my surprise when I had Ms. Masterson arrange for Elinor Price to accompany me and you showed up.”
“I can explain…”
I shake my head. “No need, I know what a pen name is. What I don’t understand is how you thought I wouldn’t recognize you?”
Sophie doesn’t answer, her eyes still searching mine. I take a chance on stepping closer, not enough to touch, but enough to let the warmth of her skin soak into me. I don’t like the dejected look on her face, the way her teeth are worrying her lip. “Do you think I don’t notice you because you’re the receptionist?”
“Something like that, yeah.”
