Page 19 of No Headlines Please

How long had I been standing here doom-scrolling through my family's greatest hits?

Somewhere downstairs sat the most attractive man I'd seen in ages, and here I was, spiraling over Easter trauma.

There was no way I'd make it on time, and I hated the thought of making him wait – and not only because he was so stupidly hot.

It was because, well…it would be incredibly rude, no matter who the person was.

Damn it. I knew what I had to do.

I just hated the thought of it, that's all.

7

Early to Be Late

Maddox

When the elevator dinged, I glanced up from the lobby's sofa.

And then I blinked. Emerging from the elevator was Delaney Sinclair, looking – well, just the same as before.

Same dirty shirt.

Same windblown hair.

Same dirt smudged across her cheek.

I glanced at my phone, confused. She was ten minutes early.

Huh.

When she saw me looking, she rushed forward, calling out, "Sorry I'm late!"

I stood and stared at her for half a beat. "You realize you're early, right?"

She hustled toward me, stopping a few feet away. "Yeah, but I'm not technically early. Mostly, I'm really late. I just thought I should warn you."

I didn't get it. "Warn me?"

"Yeah, so you weren't left wondering." She looked down and grimaced. "As you can probably guess, I haven't even showered." She looked up. "Or changed."

Her face froze and then she winced. She reached up, touching her own cheek, as if suddenly recalling the smudge from earlier. "Don't tell me…my face is still dirty, isn't it?"

Before I could answer, she threw back her head and groaned. "Damn it. At least I could've cleaned that up. I had paper towels and everything."

She looked at my shirt and did a double-take. "Wait…your shirt – how'd you wash it so fast?"

"I didn't." I gave a loose shrug. "Different shirt."

"Oh." She glanced toward the elevators. "Uh…yeah, I guess that makes sense. I mean…why stand around dirty when you can dash up to change, right?"

I said nothing.

I hadn't dashed anywhere except to my car, where I'd changed in the back seat under the cover of tinted windows. I'd been gone for less than five minutes before returning to the lobby.

Delaney blew out a long, shaky breath. "Anyway…it seemed really rude to make you wait, so I figured I'd pop down and let you know, especially if you're on a schedule."

I made my own schedule. And yet, I wasn't known for waiting.