AllFreeNovel
Share Us
As she sat down and took a bite of her sandwich, she pulled her cell phone out of her bag and texted him.
“Guess what?”
A couple of bites later he answered, “Could I have a hint?”
“Someone just got invited to do a one-week fellowship in San Diego. They’ll be working with freaking pandas. I bet you won’t guess who!” she quickly typed.
“Holy crap, baby! That’s awesome. A whole week though?” he responded instantly.
She sighed as she typed her response. “I know. I thought about it, too. That’s the only sucky part. It’s only a week though.”
“Congrats, sweetheart. That’s amazing. I’ll miss you though,” he responded back.
“I’ll miss you, too. My boss said that Los Angeles may be getting a panda at some point, so that’s why we needed to go. That would be so freaking awesome.”
“Oh. Mike is going with you?” Evan asked.
“Well, yeah. I’m the most junior on the team. It makes sense,” she said.
She waited, taking another bite of her sandwich. She knew exactly what was running through his head. For a man who claimed to not be jealous on a whole, he was pretty jealous. As she popped the last bite of sandwich into her mouth, her phone buzzed.
“I’m being irrational. I know it. Tell me he’s old and married, please.”
Yep. There it was. Just as she’d suspected.
“I don’t think he’s married. But he’s pretty old,” she said, trying not to giggle as she typed.
A moment later, she added, “He’s gotta be like, forty.”
“A customer just walked in, smart ass. I’ll talk to you later,” he responded.
“Hanging out with Cora tonight. I’ll stop by if it’s not too late,” she responded, then slid her phone into her purse.
She walked back to her desk, and opened the bottom drawer. On impulse she checked her phone one more time and saw another text.
“Stop by even if it’s too late,” he had replied.
She smiled as she put away the phone and stuck her bag into the drawer.
* * * *
She waited just outside the gates of the zoo at 5:00 p.m. for Cora. When she saw the silver hatchback pull up to the curb, she tossed the bag containing her work clothes into the back and slid into the front seat.
“Best news ever,” Taryn announced as she got into the car.
Cora leveled a glance at her as she pulled out of the waiting area and said, “First. What the hell happened at the game last night? Evan looked pissed and you got really quiet.”
She knew it. She’d tried gloss over it when they’d gotten back to their seats, but she really sucked at that.
“I ran into Jeremy outside the bathroom. He was, predictably, an asshole. Evan almost hit him. There was a tense moment.”
“Oh, shit. What did that little dickhead have to say?” Cora asked as she maneuvered out of the parking lot.
“Do I really have to rehash this?” Taryn asked, her voice pleading.
“Yes,” Cora said. “What did that asshole say to you?”
Taryn ran a hand through her hair, uncomfortably, then said, “He told me I had put on some weight. Evan caught that as he walked up. I had to physically hold him back.”
