Juniper had really started to look forward to their lunches together, the time they spent on their work together. She really enjoyed picking her brain and hearing about all theexperienceshe had criticized in their early days and weeks working together. Day by day it became easier to let the rest of the animosity go. And then there they were – in this confusingly hard to define gray territory, where maybe, just maybe, Juniper thought they were each entertaining the idea they might still find each other attractive.
“Should we work on the expansion plans some more?”Juniper asked.
“Sure,” Rowan replied, adjusting her eyes to meet hers.
Juniper couldn’t help the small smile that started forming. She pushed off the door frame with her hip, and she saw Rowan’s eyes flick back down before immediately catching herself and raising her eyes back up. She scratched the back of her neck.
Juniper bit her bottom lip to prevent the smile from spreading. She normally liked gloating, but somehow stifling the smile made it feel even more seductive. Tempting.
Caught you, twice.
Then she saw Rowan’s eyes shift once again, but this time to the lip she was biting before dropping her gaze to her desk, where she suddenly became very interested in organizing papers.
Really, Birdsong? Three times?
“Seem nervous, Birdsong.”
“Um, no. I’ll meet you over there in a few minutes. I just need to finish something up first.”
“Okay, whenever you’re ready.” She let her smile spread. What a convenient excuse.
Juniper crossed back into her office and was nearly blinded by the late afternoon sun beaming in through the windows where she had left the blinds drawn all the way up from earlier.
“Fuck,” she cursed out loud as she threw her forearm across her eyes.
She quickly moved across the room and tried to use the cords to draw the blinds closed, but they were stuck somehow, caught in the lever mechanism up at the top. She climbed in the chair and reached across to fiddle with the cords.
“Let me help you,” she heard Rowan say from behind her.
“No, I got it,” she insisted.
Rowan sighed. She was now standing next to her. “The chair is in the middle of the window, and you’re leaning all the way over to the edge. You’re being stubborn.”
Sharpening all her consonants to a razor-thin point toconvey her aggravation, Juniper huffed, “I’m not stubborn.”
“You’re going to fall.”
Rowan’s tone was so matter of fact it sent Juniper over the edge. Juniper knew what she was doing, damnit. She let out a frustrated groan and sharply turned her head.
“No, I’m not,” bellowed out of her mouth, just as she teetered on one heel.
She felt Rowan’s hand wrap around her inner thigh to balance her, as she absorbed the weight of her flailing body against her side. Juniper let out a breath that caught in her throat like a whimper. Her fingers curled around the slats of the blinds, staggering sunlight around the room like broken shards of glass.
“I’m so sorry. I just reached up, ” Rowan stammered, quickly moving her hand to support Juniper’s elbow instead.
“It’s okay, thank you,” Juniper blurted out, just as quickly, in one long breath. Her eyes were still closed, fingers still gripping the slats.
“Can I… will you let me help you down?”
Juniper opened her eyes and unclenched her fingers. “Yes,” she managed to say, taking Rowan’s other extended hand and stepping down off the chair.
Even though their bodies were almost pressed into each other’s, they didn’t look at each other. Juniper sidestepped and grabbed a notebook from her desk and sat at the center table. Rowan fixed the blinds, easily, given her added height, before sitting across from Juniper. They definitely needed to sit across from, not next to each other.
Juniper adjusted, then readjusted her position in her seat, the ghost of Rowan’s touch on her thigh, again, unsettling her. She cleared her throat but still couldn’t manage to look up from her lap.
“Thank you, again, for approving the job description.”
“Of course, hopefully it’s posted soon. I can help with interviews. If you want.”
