I throw up my hands. “You’re not helping! I need you to tell me how to move on from this...crushI seem to have developed.”
“Well, you’ve come to the wrong place, because I amwaytoo invested in hooking you guys up.” He claps his hands gleefully. “Project! Okay, first things first. Are you sending him any signals that you’re interested? Meaningful glances, lingering touches, risqué comments? Anything?”
I shoot him a frosty glare.
“That’s not your idea of a suggestive glance, is it? No wonder nothing’s happened.”
“What do you expect me to do? Pass him a note in study hall that says,Do you like me, check yes or no? Drape myself across his desk and say, ‘Take me’?”
He purses his lips. “Either of those would probably work.”
I groan and bury my face in my hands.
He snaps his fingers. “Wait, why don’t I drop some hints? I can be your middleman. Your wingman. Your fixer!”
“You clearly have no idea what a fixer does, Olivia Pope. And don’t you dare.”
His eyes spark with mischief. “You could do something tomakehim notice. Something not evenhecould miss.”
I hold up a hand. “I know where you’re going with this, and you can stop right there. I’m not going commando or braless. No accidental nudity. No nip slips.” I know how Stephen’s twisted mind works, and I need to cover every base. “Besides, if anything is going to happen here—and I’m not saying it will—he has to make the first move. I can’t be the one to put myself out there this time. Not with him.”
I heave myself out of my chair and cross to the window to peek out the blinds. Ben’s office still sits dark and empty and I’m irrationally disappointed.
As hard as it is to admit it, I think it’s time Stephen and I acknowledged the uncomfortable truth we’ve both been dancing around:
Ben Mackenzie is just not that into me.
I hear his voice before I see him, laughing with Stephen just outside my office. My stomach’s twisting before Ben even pokes his head in the door.
“Lunch? I’ve got thirty minutes.” He raises his eyebrows expectantly.
“Lost my appetite.” I nod at the TV.
Right on cue, Senator Hammond’s voice pierces the air between us:“This isn’t commonsense gun reform. This legislation infringes on the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding gun owners, and that’s why it got defeated today.”The same sound bite they’ve been running all morning.
“Universal background checks go too far, huh?”
Ben’s face stays carefully blank.
“You think Senator Hammond would be interested in cosponsoring a bill adding guns to school supply lists? Looks like kids will need ’em.”
“I can see you’re looking to bait me into an argument and normally I’d be all over that, but you’ll have to take a rain check. The clock is ticking on my lunch and I’m starving.”
I tilt my head. “How hungry are you, would you say?” I ask, reaching for my cooler.
His face lights up. “Did you bring me something?”
I pull out a Tupperware that holds one of the two wraps I made this morning and slide it across the desk. He pumps a fist in the air and shuts the door, then folds himself into one of my desk chairs.
“You’re an angel.” He opens the lid and takes a deep inhale, breathing in the bouquet like a sandwich sommelier. “Were you not even going to tell me about this? What if I hadn’t come over here?”
“I figured your homing beacon would guide you this way sooner or later.”
He smirks, nodding at the TV screen. “Mind if I shut that off? You know I can’t stomach CNN while I’m eating.”
“Sure. You’re already eating my food, why don’t you commandeer my TV too? Anything else I can get for you? A cold beverage, perhaps?”
“If you have one, that’d be great.” He winks as he gets up.
