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When he turns to leave, something catches my eye. I look over and see Mr. Knight watching Eric walk away. The expression on his face is hard, and if I’m not mistaken, it seems malicious. When he looks back at me, the emotion is gone and is replaced by something I’ve never seen from him before. My eyes must be playing tricks on me, because for a minute I swear I see blatant desire written across his face. My heart flutters and my breath hitches at the look. It’s fierce and unconcealed.
I blink and give my head a little shake. By the time I look back at him, the look is gone.
What the hell was that?
Mr. Knight looks at me, emotionless, for a couple more seconds, before saying, “I’ll see you tomorrow, Poppy.”
“See you tomorrow, Mr. Knight,” I tell him, and watch as he turns on his heel and walks back into his office, closing the door behind him.
I look at the door for a while longer, still unsure if I saw what I think I did. Mr. Knight has never looked at me in such a way before, and the look he gave Eric as he walked away was one of pure menace. If looks could kill, Eric would be lying lifeless on the floor right now.
I open the bottom drawer of my desk and grab my purse as Liv walks up.
“You ready?” she asks.
“Yep.”
As we ride the elevator down, we make plans for the weekend to have lunch and go over some wedding details. I can tell she’s jonesing to get on the ball with the planning. Her face lights up as we talk, and I can’t help to be just as excited with her.
“I still can’t believe you didn’t tell me you had a date with Eric this afternoon,” she complains for the third time today.
“First, it’s not a date. It’s just two coworkers going out for dinner. And I didn’t tell you because it’s not that big of a deal.”
Our heels echo off the concrete walls as we walk across the parking garage. I’ve always found the noise creepy, reminding me of the movies where a woman gets chased down and hurt in the dark by a mysterious man. Even now, it sends goosebumps down my arms.
“Come on, Poppy. You can’t be that naive. The man has the hots for you. I’ve seen the way he looks at you,” she confirms, coming to a stop at her car.
“He does not!” I whip around, surprised. Eric has always been nice, but he’s never shown interest like that in me.
“Oh, Pop.” She shakes her head in sympathy. “You really need to open your eyes more. The man is gaga over you.”
“Really?” I ask, brows pulled down, thinking back to all the times Eric’s stopped at my desk to talk with me. Could I be so naive to have not noticed his interest? I don’t have much experience with men, but I would have thought I would know interest when it was there.
She smiles at me and reaches over for a hug before getting in her car. She doesn’t answer my question, just continues to give me her knowing smile. She starts her car and then powers down her window while I stand there, still contemplating her words.
“Have fun. And let me know what Sterling has to say about your date tomorrow.”
Before I get a chance to respond, she winks at me and speeds off. I walk to my car, slide inside, and exit the parking garage, driving toward the small Mexican restaurant I’m meeting Eric at, the whole time thinking about him and Sterling. Now that Liv pointed it out to me, I can see why she would say what she did. There’s been signs of Eric’s interest, but I’ve never paid any attention to them, playing it off as him being friendly.
My mind again wanders to Sterling and the fact that I didn’t tell him. Will he find out? And if he does, will he be angry with me? I reiterate to myself that I don’t owe him anything. However, for some reason, he believes I’m his, and a small, irrational part of me feels the same way. But a bigger part of me won’t allow that to happen until I meet him, to get to know the man he is.
When the waitress seats me at a small table, I let her know that I’m waiting for someone else to arrive and give her his name. A few minutes later, she brings me a glass of water to hold me over until Eric arrives. Twenty minutes pass and my gaze keeps straying to the front of the restaurant. I glance down at my phone that’s on the table with a worried frown. He said ten minutes, and it’s been well over that. We exchanged phone numbers on Monday, and I would think he would call if he was going to be late.
The thought no sooner enters my mind when my phone chimes on the table. I pick it up and see Eric’s name displayed across the screen.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Poppy,” comes Eric’s smooth voice. “I’m so sorry, but I’m afraid I’m not going to be able to make it. I must have run over something this morning on my way into work. I’ve got two flat tires, and only one spare. I’m waiting on the tow truck now.”
“Oh, okay.” I feel both relief and disappoint wi
th the news. “That’s okay. I understand.”
“I really am sorry,” he says, sincerity plain in his voice.
“Don’t be. It’s not your fault. I can just grab something on the way home.”
“No,” he rushes out. “I’ve already called the restaurant and had them set up a tab. Stay and have dinner on me. It’s the least I can do.”
