He stepped closer and my heart sped up. Was he going to try to kiss me? Should I let him? The question was settled when his lips brushed my cheek.
“Good night, Eve,” he whispered in my ear, sending chills skittering down my spine. He grabbed the pizza box and with a parting wink, walked out of my office.
I sat down at my desk, flummoxed. Obviously, I wasn’t going to be getting any more work done tonight. My brain was totally occupied with Jack—the way his eyes crinkled at the corners when he laughed, the way his hands holding my waist felt strong and warm, and the intensity in his eyes when he dipped me. And that song—had he meant those words for me? The chills returned and had nothing to do with the temperature in my office.
I sighed, packed up my briefcase, and headed home.
Chapter 12
At home, I took off my clothes, ran a full tub adding bubbles and lavender and slid in. I needed to unwind. And to think. What was Jack up to? It was, I had to admit, delightful to be pursued like this. A handsome, famous man wanting to spend time with me was a big boost to my ego. Plus, all my efforts at rejection just seemed to slide off him. He was always cheerful and flirty. The number of times I’d said no to him would have most men either slamming the door on the way out or pouting. Jack was just… happy. And confident. Like he knew it was just a matter of time till he got his way.
And what did that way look like to him? Was he after a hot night between the sheets? He’d had a couple of opportunities, but he hadn’t tried to pressure me at all in that direction. He annoyed me, but I never felt in the least bit threatened by him.
What did he want? If he just wanted a female companion, all he had to do was sneeze and there would be a crush of women trying to hand him a tissue. Why me? He could pick just about any single woman, and she’d be more than happy to be added as a notch on the bedpost for him. And plenty of married women, too. Ugh.
He’d never told me what he wanted. With his puppy dog brown eyes and his nibbling on my neck, he’d definitely let me know he was interested. But maybe I never gave him a chance to tell me what he wanted. Maybe I’d been so busy plugging my ears and shouting “La la la not listening” that he really hadn’t been able to tell me.
Should I give him the chance to tell me? Would it be so bad to go for a ride on the Jack Garcia Good Times Cruise? No, it wouldn’t be bad at all. It would be amazing. I knew that. But would he want more? Was he capable of more? I knew my track record, and it scared the crap out of me to think about repeating that train wreck.
When the water was tepid and my fingers resembled raisins, I got out, dried off, put on my pajamas and went to bed. I slept restlessly, weird dreams of dancing on a golf course plaguing me.
When I got to the office in the morning, Diane was already there. She was in the process of tidying up my office. Oh no. I’d left all the trash from our evening there. Empty wine bottle, plastic glasses, the plates, the empty cookie box, and the Famous Vinnie’s tote bag. Seeing me, a knowing smile broke out on her face.
“I was just cleaning up in here,” she trilled. “It looks like someone had a party here last night.” She smirked as she handed me a coffee. “Is there something you’d like to share with the class, Eve?”
I took a sip and sighed. I just knew this was going to get blown out of proportion. And passed along the gossip chain. “It was no big deal. Jack just called to ask me—"
I was cut off by her squeal of delight. “I knew it! I knew he’d call! Do I get to be a bridesmaid? Where are you going to honeymoon?”
“Diane, you can stop jumping around like a 5-year-old hyped up on birthday cake in a bouncy castle?” She stopped bouncing but looked like it was an effort to be still. “Yes, he called. He invited me out to dinner, but I said I was working late. So, he brought me dinner.” I didn’t mention that he’d shown up in a pizza delivery guy outfit. That tidbit would send her over the edge.
“He brought you dinner?” she repeated. “Oh my gosh, how sweet. Was it wonderful? Did you cuddle? Did you make out?”
I tried to keep a serious face, but I could feel the smile breaking through. “No, we didn’t make out. But we did dance.”
Her hands flew to her face. “Oh. My. Gosh! I’m about to collapse from sweetness overload! Did you just melt? Was it amazing?”
I chuckled a little bit and answered, “Yes, I kind of did melt a little. He’s a really good dancer. It felt…yeah, it felt amazing.”
Diane opened her mouth to say something, shut it, opened it again, shut it again.
“Diane, you look like a goldfish. Whatever it is you want to say, just say it.”
“I’m just so happy for you, Eve. You deserve a truly great guy and he just might be it!”
“Thanks, Diane. And I appreciate you cleaning up the trash. Sorry we left a mess.”
“No problem. I’ll get this taken care of and bring you your schedule for the day.” And she went out the door with a wide smile on her face and a little extra bounce in her step.
Fortunately, I had a lot of work to bury myself in today, to keep thoughts of Jack at bay. I would just plow through the stacks of files on my desk and not once think of those hands on my waist. I would not. Or dipping, supported by his strong arms. Or the electric fizz of his kiss on my cheek. Wait, was I humming? That tune was…. “Everything.” Yup, today it was going to be tough to keep my thoughts on work.
I tried to focus. I really did. But my thoughts kept drifting back to Jack. He hadn’t said he’d call me. He had only said good night. No promises were made. But his eyes and his hands made promises. If only I knew what those promises were.
Just as I was looking at the same page for the twentieth time, my phone buzzed. It was a text. From Jack. I couldn’t help it—I was smiling as I opened it. There were no words, just a gif of a couple dancing the tango, bodies pressed together, eyes locked on each other, ending in a steamy dip. I laughed out loud. OK, maybe he was thinking of me as much as I was thinking of him.
I replied with a gif of a penguin in a ball cap delivering pizza. That got a smile emoji back. Oh, this was fun. But I reminded myself that I had an actual job to do and couldn’t spend company time flirting with my…what was he? Not a boyfriend. We weren’t actually dating. My…friend? That didn’t seem to cover it. Friends without benefits. I guess that summed it up.
I texted “Need to work.”
