“I kinda don’t want the day to end,” I confessed, my voice softer than before. If I could, I’d freeze time and stay here forever.
“Me neither.” Nathan gave me a rare smile.
And as the soft flutter of butterflies brushed against my stomach once again, I knew with certainty they were here to stay.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
ELISE
DATE #2: The Football Player
THE ONLY GOODthing that came out of working on the same day as my next date was that it left me little to no time to agonize over it.
Normally, I’d spend hours worrying about what I should do with my hair, makeup, and clothes; it was the part of dating that I didn’t miss at all. But I had to admit it was nice getting dressed up again in something other than a pencil skirt and blazer and having something to look forward to that wasn’t pizza and a movie on my couch. That was probably why I had a little sway to my hips as I walked out of the bathroom at work Friday night dressed and ready for my second blind date.
This is one was with Daniel, the wide receiver for the Los Angeles Chargers. I knew absolutely nothing about football, or any sports really, but Kelsey assured me that wasn’t a dealbreaker for Daniel. She also assured me that Daniel and Iwould get along great. I knew I could trust Kelsey since she was my best-friend after all and it wasn’t like her to steer me wrong.
I was done for the day but I did have one more task to complete before I could leave.
I gathered up the documents on my desk and—
Ouch!
There was a quick but sharp pain on my pointer finger and I looked down to see the tiny cut on my finger.
Paper cut.
I’ll never understand how something so small could cause so much pain.
It wasn’t bleeding, thank God, but it was reddening and I shuttered at the sight.
And that, dad is exactly why I will never be a doctor in this lifetime or the next.
I sucked in a breath. The little sucker stung like a motherfucker, but I wouldn’t let it damper my mood or stop me from completing my last task for the day, so I forced a smile on my face before knocking on Nathan’s door.
“Come in.” was his throaty response and I took another second to compose myself before I opened the door and let myself in.
Nathan sat behind his desk looking as gorgeous as ever in a crisp white shirt and immaculate grey suit. Cucinelli if I had to guess. The man had a personal relationship with the designer himself.
Nathan didn’t bother looking up from the documents he was in the middle of going over when I entered the room.
“I have those contracts you wanted to review.” I announced as I erased the distance between the two of us.
“Just leave it on my desk.” Again, he didn’t look up.
I fought the urge to roll my eyes but did as he wanted and placed the contracts on his desk.
“If that’s all, I’ll be leaving for the night.”
“Okay, that’s fine.” Nathan finally looked up and his jaw locked when he saw me. His eyes roamed my hair (high ponytail), my face (nude lip combo), and my clothes (a satin brown spaghetti strap dress). When his eyes landed back on my face they were unreadable. “Going somewhere?”
“I have a date.”
“Another one?” It wasn’t hard to miss the annoyance in his voice and a small part of me was thrilled it was there.
“Yes. My friend has a line-up of dates for me to go on. Remember, like the one I was supposed to go on last week but you ruined it?”
He didn’t take the bait.
