“Oh,” he muttered, face falling. “I’m sorry. I just thought that maybe you’d want to nerd out about school.”
“No, no…” I trailed, guilt slicing through me. I was acting like an ass. “I’m sorry. That was a lame joke on my part. I work over… well, you know where I work. We could meet up one day this week?” It beat having lunch alone at my desk or with the seagulls.
“Really?” he beamed.
I nodded, sidestepping the mop that was now swooping at my toes. Maybe he could give me some pointers on surviving it all. I felt like I was drowning in assignments.
“Oh wow, well, jeez, can you meet tomorrow?”
That was quick. But the sooner, the better for my sake. “Yeah, time and place?”
His lips twisted in thought before they fell into a frown. “Crap. I have a lunch meeting. Can you meet here after work? We can grab some pho at that new place down the street.”
“Oh, uh…” I stammered, not really anticipating the dinner twist. It wasn’t like I had plans, but dinner felt more date-like than a simple lunch. Then again, I grabbed dinner with Ethan all the time. It was harmless. “That’s fine.”
He handed me my fresh latte from the barista, smiling ear to ear. “I promise I won’t ruin this one,” he teased. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Keely.”
Keely
It look a lifetime to get ready for work the next morning. I didn’t want Rick to get the wrong idea about dinner afterward. Not because he wasn’t a catch. He would make any woman happy with his gorgeous green eyes, squared jaw, and slow smile. Any woman but me, of course.
My type was more specific. Six-foot-five, blue eyed, and athletic. A man that liked his coffee black and his liquor pricey. A man by the name of Ethan Barrett.
I was still holding out hope he would call, but when I hadn’t heard from him by lunch, I started getting sniffly at my desk and blotting my eyes between entries. It was silly really, but dammit, how hard was it to text me back? To say, hey thanks for the sex, but let’s stick to being friends, k thanks. Would that kill him? Seriously? I deserved a heads up.
I never thought I’d be thankful for a copy machine meltdown, but the faulty machinery at least gave me something to focus on other than him all afternoon, calling around town for price quotes before picking a place. One whose repair guy was both rude and slow, making me late for dinner with Rick.
When I walked into the quaint pho shop, he had already claimed a booth tucked in the back, effortlessly chic in his white button-down and blue slacks while he browsed the news on his cell, still rocking leather shoes that likely cost more than my entire outfit and then some.
“Keely!” He stood to greet me with a warm hug, enveloping me in man and musk, his spicy cologne heavy.
Usually, I wouldn’t hug someone I didn’t know well, but I welcomed one in hopes it’d soothe the ache deep inside. “I’m so sorry. I got held up with a repairman, and…”
“No worries,” he assured, shaking his cell from side to side. “I had plenty of reading material. Big news day.”
We slid into the booth and ordered, Rick opting for a chicken concoction while I stuck to tofu and sprouts, small talk about the horrors of grad school admission stirring up laughs until the food arrived.
It felt great to shut off the emotional side of my brain and relax, the constant worry falling into the background. Rick was funnier than I pegged him for and knew the trials of grad school all too well. Nothing beat talking to someone who understood the difference between tired and grad student tired.
“When you graduate, are you planning on working for the state or a private agency?” Rick poked at a wad of veggies in his dish, apparently not keen on sprouts judging by the pile left untouched.
“Most likely the state.” It wasn’t my dream employer, but it would get my foot in the door. If everything worked out, I hoped to someday work at a girls’ home like I’d stayed in as a toddler, not that I’d confide in a stranger about it. I could carry my own baggage, thank you very much.
He nodded as he slurped up a coiled rice noodle, the end disappearing behind his thick lips as they pursed. Lips Lil would want to eat up. “Working for the state gets a bad rap, but a lot of people enjoy it.”
“It’ll pay the bills and get my feet wet.” And in such a huge field, that was a good start until I found my footing.
“Hey…” he trailed after studying me for a moment, eyes narrowing ever so slightly. “I promised myself I’d never talk about work outside of it, but I swear I saw you last weekend. I meant to ask yesterday but forgot.”
“Oh yeah?” I ventured, hoping to god he hadn’t seen Ethan and I sucking face at Bowie’s. “Where at?”
“I was covering an art auction at Public Gardens.”
I finished chewing a nugget of tofu before responding, mentally vowing to make the tofu pho a lunch-hour regular as I swallowed it down. “Yeah, I was there with a friend.” A friend that I wasn’t sure was one anymore.
He laughed, flashing his pearly white smile that made me self-conscious about my own. My teeth were white, but he looked like he’d never had a sip of coffee in his life. “Ok, good. I thought I was going nuts at the time!”
“That whole night was nuts,” I muttered, stabbing another hunk of tofu.
“Didn’t like it?” he asked with an eyebrow cocked high. “You seemed to be having a fun time with your friend.”
“We can have fun anywhere,” I explained with a laugh, my stomach in knots as I spoke. “Unfortunately, we both weren’t big
