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Robert’s order was called before mine. He stepped around me and took what I knew to be his usual black Americano. It was one of the things I had appreciated about him once we started spending time together. I liked a man who didn’t waste time with fancy coffee orders. He took his to-go cup and paper bag. The barista gave him a wide, toothy smile, which he barely returned. She looked disappointed when he turned away with a distracted ‘thank you.’ He came back to stand beside me, and I gave him a confused look, forgetting to pretend he wasn’t there.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“I figured I’d wait until you got yours,” he said, taking a sip of his hot coffee.
“Why?”
“Why not?” he countered.
He really was an odd guy. But if he liked spending time with women that clearly didn't want to spend time with him, then that was on him. Luckily, my order was called a few minutes later and I hurried to take it.
Robert followed me outside. “Skylar,” he called out and I debated ignoring him again.
But then I stupidly stopped and let him catch up with me.
It had started raining and his glasses were misting up, his hair plastered down over his forehead. “Adam tells me you’ll be at their house for dinner this weekend.”
I nodded a little hesitantly. “Let me guess, you’re going too?”
Robert grimaced. “Yeah. Meg’s been wearing me down for weeks. I finally caved.”
I laughed. I couldn’t help myself. “She could wear down the granite.”
“She’s a force, that’s for sure. Though I do appreciate how she keeps Decate in check. He needs a firm hand,” Robert smirked.
“You have no idea. He was such a pain in the ass when we were younger.” I stopped myself. I had almost forgotten how easy it was to talk to him. To open up to him. To let him drag things out of me that I hadn’t intended to hand over.
He was dangerous.
**
“Here you go. A housewarming gift.” Robert’s arms were full with a large gift bag and a twelve-pack of assorted microbrews from my favorite brewery in Philly.
I opened the door and waved him through. “You really know the way to this gal’s heart,” I joked, taking the beer from him.
Robert laughed. “After you went through the entire list of beers you liked from this place, explaining ad nauseam their ingredients, I figured it was one thing you’d appreciate.”
I closed the door behind him. He took his coat off and slipped off his shoes. One thing I had come to realize about Robert Jenkins in the past few months is he was incredibly considerate. He picked up on things that other people might not. Like how I always took my shoes off when I came home. Nothing grossed me out more than people wearing shoes in the house. So, after the first time he came over, he took them off every single time without my ever having to ask him to.
Edgar came bounding out of the kitchen, barreling straight for Robert. He went up on his hind legs, planting his giant paws on Robert’s chest, bathing his face in dog spit. Robert didn’t shove him off or make a face. He scratched behind my dog’s ears and gently lifted him down, still giving him a good fuss. “You’re such a good boy,” he cooed as if to a baby.
My heart melted watching this gorgeous man lather my dog with attention. You could learn a lot about a person by the way they treated animals. But I had yet to see Robert be anything but kind to everyone and everything. He was one of those rare breeds of men who were actually good by default.
“Come on in. I was going to attempt to make dinner but then I realized what I was considering. So instead, I gathered up all the take-out menus in my house to offer you a wide variety of options.” I led him into the kitchen and waved my hand over the table in a flourish where three paper to-go menus lay. “You have Chinese. Or you have Italian. And if you’re feeling crazy, there’s even Thai.”
Robert laughed but then made a show of seriously considering his options. “I don’t know. This is a bit of an overload. Why don’t we have all three?” he suggested.
I smiled. “My kind of guy.”
Robert’s eyes met mine and the air around us began to heat. Robert and I had been spending time together quite a bit recently. It started when Adam and Jeremy hired me to revamp the law firm’s website. Robert had become very “hands-on” with the project, spending a lot of time with me going over what their online presence should look like. I hadn’t minded though. Because we most often talked about all sorts of things that had nothing to do with why I was there in the first place.
