Eden tilted her head. “I come here most mornings.”
“No way!” Tennie exclaimed. “So do I.”
“How have we not run into one other before?”
“Hmm, maybe because we hadn’t met yet.” Tennie raised her brows and gazed around the room. “We were probably doing what everyone else is, staring at our phones.”
Eden followed Tennie’s gaze and chuckled. “You’re probably right.”
“I’d have remembered you though,” Tennie said.
“Oh?”
Tennie nodded. “You have beautiful hair, Eden.” She shrugged. “I’d notice because I don’t.”
Eden took a moment to gaze at Tennie. She’d admired her short haircut the night of the event. Tennie left it a little longer on top and swooped it over so bangs fell across her forehead. The sides were short, giving her a clean look. “I don’t know.” Eden paused. “Yours is very cute.”
She watched as Tennie dropped her gaze and noticed her cheeks slightly pinken.
“Thank you.”
Susie called out Eden’s name and after she’d gotten her coffee she asked, “Are you on your way to work?”
Tennie looked down at her clothes then back up at Eden. She was wearing jeans and had rolled the sleeves of her shirt up to her forearms.
“Yes, but this isn’t my usual business attire,” Tennie replied.
“You don’t usually wear boots to work?”
Tennie chuckled. “No. I’m going out to a work site today.”
“What do you do?”
“That’s right,” Tennie said. “I didn’t get the opportunity to tell you what I do the other night. I’m in real estate. We secure the land, meet with home builders, and develop residential areas in large subdivisions. I occasionally go out to work sites to be sure everything is on schedule.”
“Oh, so you’re the boss checking up on the builders to make sure they're doing their jobs.” Eden smiled.
Tennie grinned. “Something like that. Most days I’m in the office behind a desk, so I enjoy getting out and seeing things come to life firsthand.”
“Today will be a lovely day to do that.”
Tennie nodded. “What about you?”
Eden could feel Tennie’s eyes look her up and down. Today, she’d chosen to wear a suit with a skirt and a favorite pair of high heels. “I’m on my way into the office. Revenues, expenses, and profit margins await.”
“Randi mentioned you were a financial person, but not what line of business.”
“I work for a marketing company,” Eden explained. “You know how publishing houses have marketing departments to sell their authors’ books?” Tennie nodded. “We work with independent authors in an effort to give them more exposure.”
“Oh, so it goes along with your love of reading,” Tennie said.
“Yes. I’m the numbers person. I guess you could say I’m the chief financial officer, but we don’t really do titles in our firm. We’re small, so we like to work as a team. We want to provide independent authors with marketing strategies and opportunities so they can concentrate on writing more books. I’m not on the creative end of things, but I do get to read a lot of new books, often before they come out.”
“That’s fun,” Tennie said.
“Are you a reader?”
Tennie nodded. “I do like to read.”
