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But what wasn’t normal was that she stared out the window on the way to work, instead of asking me questions. Or the way she’d avoided my eyes in the elevator. Or the way she’d gone straight to her desk and ignored me the rest of the day. Even after I’d gone out to get us some lunch, she’d taken hers back to her desk and ate it alone.
I’d made a big fucking mistake, apparently, when I’d kissed her the night before. But I wasn’t sure if my mistake was kissing her at all, or if it was in the fact that I let her believe I did it for Megan’s benefit.
The kiss…well, the kiss was everything that a kiss is supposed to be. I’d been replaying it in my head all night long. And in the shower. And in the car. And in the elevator. And while sitting at my desk, I’d replayed how it felt it when she’d stepped up on tiptoes and pressed her lips against mine. I’d felt it all over. Everywhere. But now, it was like she’d slammed the door that kiss had opened. She’d slammed it shut and locked it, and I didn’t know what to do about it.
So, I did what I felt was right.
I walked into the outer office where she was working and rapped on the desk with my
knuckles. “You feel like taking a walk?” I asked.
She looked at the work scattered around her. “Right now?”
I squared my shoulders. “No time like the present.” Then I added, “We need to see and be seen, Shelly, if this is going to work.”
“Oh.” If I wasn’t mistaken, she deflated a little, but then she squared her shoulders and stood up. She toed the shoes she’d kicked off back toward her and slid her feet into them.
“Can you walk in those?” I asked. Shelly always had on four-inch heels and, while they were sexy as fuck, I wanted to be sure she would be comfortable.
She scoffed. “Can I walk in these? Of course I can walk in these.”
I smiled at her, but she still wouldn’t meet my eyes. She wouldn’t even look in my direction.
When we stepped into the elevator, I asked, “Is everything okay?”
“Define everything,” she replied.
I motioned from me to her and back. “Me and you. Are we okay?”
She finally looked at me, confusion flashing in her eyes. “Why wouldn’t we be?”
“I don’t know,” I hedged. “I guess I kind of feel like you’ve been avoiding me all day today.”
“What makes you think that?”
I took her hand in mine as we stepped onto the sidewalk, and I gave it a squeeze. She finally looked at me. And I mean really looked at me. “I thought maybe you were feeling a little uncomfortable after that kiss last night.”
“I’m not uncomfortable,” she said. She closed her eyes tightly in a full-face wince. “I’m just confused.”
I squeezed her hand again. “About what?”
“I just don’t know how you’re feeling.” She sucked in a breath. “It’s hard for me to read people.”
I gave her hand another squeeze as we continued down the sidewalk toward the park. There, the path was paved, so I felt like Shelly would be more comfortable with her shoes. “You could just ask me.”
She looked at me and sucked in a breath. Her eyebrows rose in surprise.
“You can ask me anything.”
“But would you tell me the truth?” she mused. She gave me a fake smile.
“I don’t have a reason to lie.”
“Why did you kiss me?” she suddenly blurted out.
I didn’t even have to think about it. The truth was resting right there on the tip of my tongue, ready to present itself. “Because I’d been wanting to do it all day. Every time I get close enough to smell your lip gloss, all I can think about is kissing you.”
She mulled that over in her mind for a bit. “So it wasn’t for Megan’s benefit.”
