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Whiskey
We were skating on thin ice, and I knew it. However, for some reason, I was tempted to keep moving forward.
Earlier today, before Lydia left, she called Paul and told him to come up immediately to give me a tour. Obviously, she didn’t want me around Zack, and I wondered if that was because she had an interest in him.
When she left, she patted my shoulder, saying, “You’ll thank me later.” Then she zipped out of the building to pick up her child. I hoped Smoke would return before Paul did, but that wasn’t the case.
Paul was a lovely man and extremely attractive too. As he showed me around the plant, I wondered if Smoke would have said the same things, given me the same examples, and looked at me the same way.
Well, he did kind of look at me the same way. I saw interest in Paul’s eyes, but not as blatantly as I did in Smoke’s. Smoke didn’t try to hide his appraisal of me, but I kept catching Paul checking me out from time to time.
Shortly before we finished our tour, we had stepped inside the office area, and he had taken my hard hat from me, then stared down into my face, his gaze going to my mouth for a moment. I sidestepped him and thanked him again for the tour.
I had been hoping he would have left me there, but he left his hat on a hook and walked me back toward my desk. I had to admit that I was happy to see Smoke waiting for us, although Smoke didn’t look pleased as we approached.
Now, I sat in his car and stared at him after he basically just said that he’d be happy to sleep with me. How did I even answer that?
Part of me wanted to crawl over the console and climb on his lap, but that part was a tiny, cowering sliver back nervously in the corner. I was never one to initiate intimate situations, even though I had wanted to many times.
Another part was screaming to get out of the car and run away. Go back to the office and hide under my desk to avoid any problems.
The last part of me was waiting for him to make the first move. If Smoke had leaned over the console and kissed me just then, I would have kissed him back. That was the part that filled the majority of my lonely soul right then.
He didn’t, though, and finally, after another few seconds of silence, he opened his car door. I quickly climbed out before he could get to my side, and he waited for me to join him in front of his vehicle. We walked into the restaurant side by side in awkward silence.
We were seated by a young, overly pleasant hostess, and I busied myself with the menu for a few minutes. The waitress greeted him excitedly, and I looked up.
“Smoke, where have you been? The guys were just asking if I had seen you.”
“Hi, Vera. I was traveling for a couple of weeks. How are you?”
“I’m peachy keen, just like always.” She turned to me, quickly looking me over and rudely jutting her thumb towards me. “She has to be a client. She’s not your usual type.”
Usual type? What was his typical type of woman, and how did she know his type?
He chuckled. “You are wrong on both accounts. Lilly just started working for us. She’s Lydia’s assistant, but Lydia had personal things to attend to.”
“Oh, so you’re swooping in, huh?”
“Not how you think.”
Vera gave him a look that said she didn’t believe him. “Yeah, okay. You want your regular?”
“Yes, please.”
Well, he came here enough to have a regular. The waitress turned to me. “And for you? The cobb salad is pretty good.”
I blinked at her. What was with this town? Obviously, Smoke’s type of woman ate salads. “I’d like a bacon cheeseburger with mayo on the side and fries, and I’d like a glass of water and a chocolate shake.” Both of them stared at me for a moment. “What?”
Vera shook her head. “Nothing.” She turned to Smoke. “She is most definitely not like your regulars.” With that, she walked away.
I leaned my elbows on the table. “So, how many women do you bring here, Zack?”
He shrugged. “It’s my favorite place to eat.”
“You bring all your dates here?”
He folded his arms on the table and grinned. “Are you saying this is a date?”
