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“It’s just math.” With a swipe of my hand, I corralled my papers. “I’ll let you enjoy your coffee and roll.”
“No. Stay.” He hopped to his feet which had him looming over me once more. I swallowed hard at his command, and the earnestness behind it. “You never even got your drink.”
Yeah, I didn’t get it. He did. All over him.
He twisted and raised his arm to signal Eve, who somehow understood the hand gesture and held up a replacement iced coffee she’d already made, this time in a to-go cup.
He grabbed it from her and brought it to the table, setting it beside my papers. “There. Like nothing happened except I now get to have coffee with a beautiful woman.”
My mouth fell open, then I snapped it shut and bit my lip to keep it that way.
Beautiful? Me? Right. I didn’t dare look at him because I didn’t want him to be a bullshitter. My sister, Lindy, always pointed out I could be beautiful if I put some effort in, and I knew I hadn’t put any effort in this morning. Not with my boss always eyeing my ass. It was better–and smarter–to look as unfeminine as possible around him.
“Aren’t you going to have some of your drink?” he asked, sitting back down. He cut off a section of cinnamon roll and ate it.
“I’m afraid to touch it and spill it on you again,” I admitted, looking down.
I was afraid I would be clumsy, but not afraid in general. He didn’t give off that vibe. In fact, he oddly felt… safe. I was also in a coffee shop in broad daylight with Eve as a chaperone. He seemed nice, except for the lie about me being beautiful. I couldn’t figure out what he wanted from me for saying that.
I ran my hand over my hair absently and came across the pencil I’d tucked behind my ear.
God, soooo beautiful with my geeky pencil. I practically whimpered in mortification.
He set his fork on his plate so the tines faced down. “Did it ever occur to you that getting covered in coffee was just as much my fault? I stood right behind you.”
I lifted my gaze and met his, surprised. What?
“I–”
He narrowed his eyes in such a way that had me snapping my mouth shut once more before I could argue.
“Drink your coffee, baby.”
I took a sip of my drink. Why? To appease him? Because I was too stunned by the endearment again to do anything else?
“I… I really do have to get back to work,” I told him, holding the full to-go cup between my hands.
I did, but I wanted to leave because sticking around made me feel desperate. That I was lingering because I wanted some scraps of praise from him, that I really did want to be beautiful. Except after what I did to him, sticking around only made me feel like I was desperate for exactly that: attention and affection from a handsome man.
Besides, we learned last night the owner of the company, my boss’s boss, was coming to town to inspect the progress of the resort and to go through the issues we were having. Jason, who didn’t know his ass from his elbow because he consistently looked at mine–ass, not elbow, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he eyed that too–expected a report to share, which meant I had papers to review. Numbers to crunch.
This guy was only being kind. Nothing more. It wasn’t as if he’d be interested in me, regardless of the compliments he gave. Thinking there could anything real was stupid, and everyone knew I wasn’t that.
I wasn’t looking for a man. In fact, after what happened at college and with Jason, all I wanted to do was hide. I definitely wasn’t on a manhunt like my sister. Lindy wanted a husband and a family, and she wanted them five years ago. Of course, she was thirteen years older and as she said, her clock was ticking.
Me?
I wasn’t even remotely close to getting my own shit together, let alone be girlfriend material. If Lindy saw me right now, she’d lose her shit that I was sitting here in public and hadn’t done anything with my hair this morning besides pull it back in a hair tie. Or that I hadn’t touched any of the makeup she’d given me as a passive aggressive Christmas present last year. Or any of the other reasons she’d find flaws with my appearance.
In front of this guy! God, I was being ridiculous, drooling over him. Feeling things from his words when I shouldn’t.
Beautiful.
Baby.
It was definitely time to go and get back to reality.
“Thanks for the cool shirt,” he replied, pointing at his chest, but all I took notice of was how it highlighted every muscular inch of a man I couldn’t have.
