I shivered and ithad nothing to do with the cold weather.
A manager walkedover a few seconds later and asked if I was making a delivery. I explained thatthe hostess had gone to find Ezra. He stood next to me and waited to find outif I was telling the truth or not. Because in my wide-leg trousers and cold-shouldersweater, I apparently looked like a dangerous criminal.
Ezra arrived thirtyseconds later, mouth already turned down, eyes already laser focused.
“Molly,” he greetedin his usual way. “Let me get those.” He shot a glare at his floor manager andscooped up the centerpieces before I could object.
“Uh, thanks.”
He tilted his headtoward his office. “Walk with me.”
Not waiting for myreply, he turned around and headed back the way he came. I glanced nervously atthe snooty floor manager and clueless hostess.
Neither offered anycomfort or help.
Ezra paused justbefore he reached the dining area and noticed I wasn’t directly behind him.“Molly,” he clipped out.
His terse order gotmy feet moving and I reluctantly followed him around the outer edges of therestaurant toward his office.
Nerves jumped andbuzzed in my stomach, my fingers tingled and I tried to build my case quicklyagainst this man I didn’t know what to think about anymore.
It was the way hesaid my name, I decided. That was how he kept getting me to do his bidding.
I’d always dislikedmy name. Even as a child I had realized it sounded like a child’s name. Now asa grown-up it was the farthest thing from mature. It was on the opposite sideof the spectrum from sexy and sophisticated.
Molly.
It sounded like atoddler’s name. Or your best friend’s name. Or the eccentric cat lady thatnever left her apartment.
No wonder I’d beenfriend-zoned so often. No guy could imagine themselves married to a plain,boring Molly.
Except when Ezrasaid it, Molly didn’t sound boring or plain or friendly. He said my name like acommand. He glided over the consonants and caressed the vowels. When Ezra saidmy name, I was anything but the crazy cat lady. I was bold, beautiful, andeverything defiantly female.
I responded to Ezrabecause he said my name how I had wanted to hear it my entire life.
“Shut the door,” heordered as he set the spice racks down on the center of his desk.
“Am I in trouble?”I asked archly.
His back was to me,but I heard him clearly when he said, “Only if you’ve brought tropical birdswith you.”
“They’re in my car.I’m telling you, it’s a world-class menagerie.” When Ezra didn’t laugh at myreference, I tried to help him out. “Aladdin?You know the Disney movie?”
He turned aroundand planted his hands on his hips. “I’ve never seen it.”
“Are you serious?It’s like a staple of my childhood. Vera and I would constantly fight over whogot to be Jasmine.”
He shrugged. “Ididn’t have a Disney movie kind of childhood.”
Instantly, Iregretted every word I’d spoken in the last two minutes. I wanted to snatchthem out of the air and shove them back in my mouth. Instead, they buzzedaround the small office like biting flies. I knew he’d had a tragic past. Iknew his mom had died when he was a kid and he lived out the rest of his childhoodin foster care. I knew he hadn’t known his dad until he was almost dead. But Ionly knew any of that because Vera had told me. So it wasn’t exactly like Icould bring it all up now.
I settled on a weakand pathetic, “Huh...”
His gaze moved overme, noting my fitted sweater and the cutouts over my shoulders and biceps. Asmile tugged at his lips but he refused tolooseit.“Thank you for bringing these by. I’m sorry Meg didn’t reach out to youdirectly. She can be spacey.”
“It’s not aproblem,” I told him. “Don’t you think they’ll be cute?”
He lifted the topone up by the corner. “They are symbolic.”
