Mackenzie held up her palms in a guilty gesture.
“Anyway.” Lincoln turned back to Jeremy. “My parents used to decorate and booby-trap my brother’s and my doors on Christmas Eve so that on Christmas morning when we opened them, we’d have to free ourselves before stampeding down the stairs to the presents. One time there was an avalanche of balloons waiting for us when we opened the door. Another time it was a spider web of buffalo-plaid duct tape.”
“I guess I should feel privileged to be considered your brother today, since my desk got messed with too?”
Lincoln tapped his chest with a closed fist. “That’s an everyday privilege, bro.”
Annabelle and Rosa saidawww.n unison. A quintet of blended male voices with a Southern California vibe of decades past broke through the moment.
As Jeremy turned, he caught Mackenzie looking at him. He’d noticed a few of her furtive glances before but had never stopped to wonder what she might think of him. As a principle, he tried not to care too much about others’ opinions. If he lived his life with integrity, then he shouldn’t worry about outside conclusions of his character.
But he did wonder what she thought. He did care about her opinion. Maybe because he was getting to know Mackenzie as more than just the quiet woman at work who kept to herself. Shewas opening up little by little, and every small taste of her only made him hungry for more.
Her gaze moved back to her computer screen. Jeremy should follow her example and get to work. He had a social media ad campaign graphic to design. The parameters on some of the platforms only allowed for a small percentage of text, so the graphic really needed to catch the consumer’s eye as they scrolled.
A couple of hours later, Jill showed up with a bag in each hand. Jeremy saved his document before intercepting her.
“Please tell me there’s nothing too shocking in there.”
“Just shocking enough.” She winked and handed him and Lincoln each a bag.
Lincoln opened the door to the restroom. “I’m pretty sure this question doesn’t need to be asked, but have you ever danced before?”
“If you count swaying side-to-side at middle and high school dances.” Jeremy eyed Lincoln. “Don’t tell me you’ve got moves hiding behind that flannel.”
“Like Jagger.” Lincoln brushed at his shoulder. “You remember the talent show in tenth grade? I crushed it with my hip-hop routine.” He jumped and spun on his heels.
“I vaguely recall that the only locking and popping happening was everyone’s jaws as they dropped in horror when you attempted a jump split.”
Lincoln held his arms out wide and started a wave motion from the tips of his left fingers, up and down his arms to his right fingertips, and back again. “Don’t hate because you don’t have any rhythm, white boy.”
Jeremy patted Lincoln’s back. “Sure, let’s go with that.”
They each entered a stall to change into whatever Jill had packed in the bags. Jeremy reached in and pulled out the first item. Unfolding the article of clothing, he let out a sigh of relief. Instead of something half the diameter of one of his thighs that he’d have to try to shove his legs into like a sausage casing, heheld up a pair of joggers. The sweatpants were more on the fitted side, but they were still sweatpants. Everything that needed to stay inconspicuous would remain so.
He quickly changed out of his pants, working so none of the material or his sock-clad feet touched the dirty public restroom floor, and slid his legs into the stone-washed grey athletic wear, tying the drawstring at his waist.
With that done, he reached back into the bag. His hand came out grasping a T-shirt at least two sizes too small for his frame. He guessed this was what Jill had meant by nothingtooshocking.
“Your wife has a wicked sense of humor. And I don’t mean that in a New England way either,” Jeremy said as he unbuttoned his shirt.
Lincoln laughed. “You have no idea.”
Getting into the white cotton shirt turned out to be a workout of its own. Once Jeremy had finally managed to battle the hem down to meet the waistline of the joggers, he was slightly out of breath.
He looked down at himself and bit back a groan. The point of this whole endeavor was to perform an act of embarrassment. Success already, and nobody had even seen him yet. Besides being too tight, the shirt had a deep V-neck, exposing a large patch of chest hair. He wasn’t a prude, but he preferred to look a certain way—professionally attired—while in the workplace.
Jeremy clenched his molars. He was going to do this. And not with his head down like he had something to be ashamed of. No, he was going toownthis ballet. He’d sashay with his shoulders back and pirouette with his chin in the air. He’d look every single person in the eye and dare them to laugh in his face.
Lincoln’s stall door opened at the same time Jeremy opened his. Jill hadn’t been more kind to one of them than the other. They wore matching outfits.
“Ready to do this?” Jeremy asked.
Lincoln looked down, taking himself in. “Not really.”
Jeremy clapped him on the shoulder. “Come on, Jagger, time to get your moves on.”
Jill waited for them at the bathroom entrance. When she saw them, her face broke out into a huge grin. “Wait right here. I’ll go put the music on. This is going to be so epic.”
