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She flutters her glued-on eyelashes. “He’s what, hon? Hot? Sexy? Makes you want to—”
“Shush!” I yelp. All bets are off when my coworker gets on a roll. I shoot a glance toward the kitchen window and find Charlie is all ears. My cheeks burn. When he looks away, I dare a peak at Marlene, who’s waiting with baited breath. She won’t let me off the hook, I know this about her. “Yes, John is handsome.”
I freeze when her eyes bug.
“Oh. My. Gosh. Girl, all this time we’ve worked together and that is the first time—no, theonlytime—you’ve ever acknowledged a man was hot!”
I feel my face get…hot. “That isn’t what I said.”
Giggling and smiling ear to ear, she shimmies. “Oh, yes you did!” Bless her, at least this time she lowers her voice to the closest she ever gets to a whisper. “Has he kissed you yet?”
I slap the dishrag onto the counter. “It isn’t like that, Marlene, and you know it!”
She punches her fist into her hip. “Only because you won’t let it be, girlie. Loosen up and live a little.”
An hour later, my hatchback’s underpowered AC is doing its best to combat the late-season heat. Mostly I think it’s just blowing around my breakfast-shift stink. How do my office coworkers stand it every afternoon?
I take my phone out of my purse and suck up my courage. I don’t exhale until John’s voicemail picks up, I’ve stumbled through a message of gratitude, and I’ve dumped the cheap phone back into my purse.
Vaguely let down, I shake out my ponytail. I find my hairbrush and make the best of the stinky fluff of hair on my head. One foot is on the pavement when my purse sings. Peeking at the screen, I bite my lip and slide the phone to my ear. “Hello.”
“Hey, sorry, Hollie.” I swear there’s a smile in John’s voice.
Surely not.
“Sorry I missed your call. I stepped out to get some coffee.”
“I hope it’s as good as my coffee?” A gulp consumes my throat. That almost sounded like…flirting. Worse, it sounded stupid, because we never got around to coffee the night he came for dinner, and Charlie’s coffee is disgusting.
His overlong pause has me cringing. “I’m guessing that’s ano. Breakroom sludge is the worst, but I need something to keep these eyes open.”
Yes, I hear a smile.Maybe he wanted to hear your voice, too.
Pfft. That’s dangerous thinking there, girl.
“You’re not sleeping?” I blush at the thoughts I’ve had about him at night.
I’m a mental case, aren’t I? Last meeting, I gave John a bird’s-eye view of my neurotic self. Today, I flirt—or something like it. Once upon a time, I was a normal teen and pretty good at it.
“You there, Hollie?”
I let the car support me. “I’m here. You were saying something, weren’t you? Sorry, it’s been a crazy morning.”Not as crazy as you, lady.
“Nothing important. I said I’ll sleep when I’m retired or dead, whichever comes first.”
“John! That’s horrible.”
“Eh, I’m used to it. How about you? How are you holding up?”
“I’m making it. I will say I’ve slept slightly better since meeting with Ben on Sunday.”
“I’ve been wanting to call and ask how things went, but…”
But he must not have known what kind of welcome his call would receive.
“Well, that’s why I called, actually. I wanted to tell you that Ben was helpful and to thank you again for the referral.”
“Not a problem, Hollie. Glad I could help.”
