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“You should have seen how red his face got. It matched his jersey.”
Hazel laughs, delighted. “How much did you have to pay the a cappella group?”
“Not as much as you’d think,” I say. “A couple of the guys hated Wagner so much they did it for free.”
Hazel shakes her head at me, mock scolding. But I can tell she likes what she just heard.
Her approval warms my chest in a way I don’t want to examine too closely. “What’s next on your list of questions?”
“I heard a rumor you ran track but got kicked off the team when you skipped a big race to hook up with a girl on the rival team,” she says.
“I can neither confirm nor deny,” I say, straight-faced, and she laughs again.
It goes on like that, her asking questions about college, and my friendship with Cooper, and stuff that doesn’t really matter. Stuff that’s surprisingly easy to talk about.
When Joey pops his head in to remind me I have a meeting, I’m surprised to feel regret that our interview is over.
“How is any of this helping you write my book?” I ask Hazel, as she packs up our lunch. There’s not much left over. I hadn’t realized how hungry I was. “People can’t be interested in this stuff.”
“I’m in the research stage. I’m learning your voice, how you tell stories. But I’ll also mix in some of these details when it’s time to write about more important stuff.” She waves her hand vaguely. “For example, if you have a story about standing up to a bully at work, I might start that chapter with the story about you being the one to stand up to a bully the whole school hated.”
“No one has ever bullied me at work. I’m aDewinter.”
She heaves an exaggerated sigh. “I forget how literal you corporate types are. It was a hypothetical example.” But she’s smiling while she says it.
“Come to dinner with me,” I say on impulse.
Her eyes widen.
Shit. Did that sound like I was asking her out?
Was I asking her out?
“You can interview me more,” I say, making sure to sound like I’m dreading the process. “Might as well get this over with.”
“Oh. Right. For the book.” She nods. “That makes sense.”
Does she look disappointed?
My eyes drop down to her mouth. For second, I’m hit with the urge to press her back against the wall and kiss the disappointment away. I wonder if she’d make that little noise of satisfaction in the back of her throat, grinding against me helplessly, searching for the release she’s too shy to ask for.
She’s Cooper’s sister, I remind myself.Your employee.
“Eight p.m. Gray’s tavern,” I say abruptly. “Now get out of my office. I have a meeting.”
Hazel blinks, startled from her thoughts, and I’d give more than I should to know what she was just thinking about.
“Eight p.m. Gray’s tavern,” she repeats. “I’ll be counting the hours,” she adds sarcastically, as she heads out the door.
The undignified truth is, I think I mightactuallycount the hours until I get to see her again.
Fuck.
7
HAZEL
Ishow up at the restaurant out of breath. I’m running late after changing into and out of three different outfits. In the end, I kept the outfit I was wearing earlier, but I swapped out my cowboy boots for high-heeled midnight blue ankle boots embroidered with silver moons and stars, and freshened up my makeup.
