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“I’m proud of you,” Denver whispered. “I know you wanted to go full ninja on her.” When he spoke, his lips brushed the top of my ear. I shut my eyes, telling myself I didn’t want this man. I didn’t. I didn’t want to turn to mush in any guy’s arms, let alone Denver’s. I didn’t like the feeling of losing control. Why had I thought I’d want a non-boring job?
“See, this just demonstrates how little you know me,” I ground out.
“How’s that?” I could sense his smile, even if I couldn’t see it.
“I’m not the full ninja type. More like Incredible Hulk. I’m more blind-rage than skilled butt-kicking. Would you agree?”
“I would. I’ve seen you in dodgeball.”
“I will get you.”
“Not without cheating.”
“We’ll see.”
A silence settled between us, which was not a good thing. Denver would eventually notice the way I was trembling. Or that my heart rate was picking up speed, along with my breathing. If there was a symptom chart for finding Denver stupidly attractive, I met all the criteria. Yeah, he was stupid-hot. But it was also stupid to be attracted to him. Both. It was totally both.
I grasped for something new to talk about. “My dad watches the morning show. I’m hoping today’s an exception. If he sees me, he will have so many questions.”
“Have you told him about your job?” Denver’s hand, the one wrapped around my upper arm, coursed up and down against my skin before settling again. The sensation was horribly wonderful.
“Just briefly. Of course, I didn’t know I’d be doing you-know-what with you when we last talked.”
“Doing you-know-what with me?” Denver’s chest shook with quiet laughter.
I tried to elbow him, but he dodged. He always dodged. Maybe he knew me a lot better than I thought.
“Shut up. I meant being your partner.”
“Mm-hmm.”
I was making it worse.
“Being your partner here. On this date.”
“I know Sadie. I’m just teasing. When I told my parents this was my new career twist, they were quiet for a full minute. I think that’s a new record for them.”
“Shocked quiet or disappointed quiet?”
“Shocked. They’re pretty supportive of anything I do.”
Somehow that didn’t surprise me. Denver’s confidence had to come from somewhere.
The news station’s theme music started up, and the perky newscaster called out, “Good morning, Arizona!”
We echoed it, and then began to cheer. Well, the people around me cheered. I’m sure I looked like a deer in the headlights. A smiling deer. Right. Poster. I held it up in front of my face until the newscaster stopped talking. Take that, news-crew-lady. My voyage into newsraiding was finally ending. As soon as the crew called it a wrap, I untangled myself from Denver and went to talk with other people. The café was within walking distance, so we all headed over together.
After our breakfast, where I stuffed myself with chocolate chip pancakes, thank you very much, I felt more like myself. More in control. Our drive home was quiet. When Denver pulled into a parking spot in front of my apartment complex, I gave him a wave and ditched out of his Jeep faster than he could say, “Do you want me to—”
No, I did not need him to get my door. Or walk me up. Or give me a goodbye hug or fist bump or goodbye ANYTHING. It felt so nice to close my door and lock it, like I was locking out that part of my day and starting a new one.
I passed out on my bed for several hours before Jenny woke me up. She’d been out wedding dress shopping with her mom and obviously needed to talk. She looked about as undone as I felt.
“What’s the matter?” I asked. I knew she’d picked out a dress, because she was holding it in its special garment bag. The bag was a pearlescent white. Fancy. I couldn’t even imagine what kind of dress it held inside. Wedding dresses were so foreign to me. Gina, my stepmom, hadn’t worn a traditional wedding gown. I didn’t have sisters or close female friends. Jenny had been my first close friend in a long time.
She carefully hung up the bag in the closet before sinking down on the end of my bed with a sigh. “I already know you’re the perfect person to talk to about this because you haven’t even demanded to see it.”
“Am I supposed to demand to see it?” I asked, sitting up. The sudden movement sent a wave of dizziness through my head, but I wasn’t so out of it that I couldn’t pay attention to what was important.
