Patiently, she waited for him to acknowledge his cuddling history with Claudia.
Only ... nothing happened. His next finger didn’t curl in on itself.
“William?” She nudged a knuckle against his shoulder blade. “You owe me a finger.”
He choked a little at that. “I, uh—I don’t believe so, no.”
Maybe he and Claudia hadn’t taken the time to cuddle afterward?
Or ... was something else happening here that Nina hadn’t grasped?
There was no point in getting her hopes up, and she knew it. But she couldn’t help herself. She had to find out for certain what had happened between him and Claudia. Even if it was technically none of her business.
Once more, she trampled over the usual rules of the game and took another turn. “All right, then. Never have I everkisseda colleague.”
Still no movement, other than the slight rocking of the vehicle in the wind.
“William?” she prodded again. “Where’s your finger?”
“Um.” He eased an inch away from her at that, and she could actuallyfeelhis stare on her face. “It’s exactly where it’s supposed to be? Because I haven’t done that either?”
Did he not want to be kissed on the mouth, à laPretty Woman, until he and his sexual partner had made a real commitment to one another?
Or had she misunderstood absolutely everything?
She licked her dry, cold lips. Took the verbal leap. “I thought you and Claudia ...?”
“Claudia and I ... what? I don’t ...” He went utterly still. “Wait. You think Claudia and I aretogether?”
She couldn’t seem to breathe. “Aren’t you?”
“No.” He sounded shocked. “Why would you think that?”
Letting him go, she threw her hands in the air, irritated beyond belief and elated beyond measure. “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because you spent the past two days basically Krazy Glued to one another? And because Claudia’s amazing and brilliant and gorgeous, and you should be so lucky?”
“Oh.” He shook his head a little. “No. I mean, yes, she’s fantastic and smart and very pretty, of course. But we don’t feel that way about one another.”
To be fair, Nina had never seen them actually touching. Only whispering and sequestering themselves away for endless private conversations. Which raised a key question: If they hadn’t been canoodling and flirting that whole time, what in the worldwerethe two of them talking about?
A potential answer floated through her thoughts, but no. That couldn’t possibly ...
“Have you everwantedto kiss a colleague?” she asked slowly.
His voice was deep and quiet. “Yes.”
“If not Claudia, then ...” She gathered her courage. “Who?”
The wryness in his laugh tugged at her heart. “How can you not know, Nina? Claudia says I’ve been making heart-eyes at you since the day you walked into the cubicle farm atthe library. I grew this”—he tugged at the neatly trimmed hair on his chin—“because I once overheard you telling her you found beards hot. I gave up my favorite desk to Sukeerth in exchange for the cubicle next to yours.”
Thatwas the reason for his move? He hadn’t simply grown tired of working directly under an air-conditioning vent and having to wear a far-too-flattering cardigan even in the dog days of late August?
He’d transferred the entire contents of his office ... forher?
He kept rolling, heedless of her shock. “Even as a committed introvert, I took a monthlong job that requires daily crowd control and extensive socializing, all whilst riding aboard an enormous traveling penis, just to be near you. Which Claudia recognized immediately but managed to keep to herself until two days ago, when her patience ran out. So she’s spent the past forty-eight hours giving me advice about how I should court you.”
Nina literally couldn’t believe her ears. Because how often in a person’s life did she get exactly what she desperately wanted? Without even trying? When she’d been sure her greatest, most secret desire was so far out of her reach, it might as well have existed on the far side of the moon?
Never, in Nina’s experience.
