She sounded like she didn't believe me but I was saved from embarrassing myself when Ben came up behind her.
"Thanks, Cass. I locked up the shop. The guys are about to head out and I think Tyler is waiting in the car for you. See you tomorrow morning."
"Bye, Boss." She waved at me. "It was nice to meet you, Sierra."
"Nice to meet you, Cassie."
She skirted around Ben and walked out of the front door a few seconds later, a purse over her shoulder. She turned to lock the door and gave us both another wave.
Ben waited, watching her until she climbed into the passenger seat of a truck with a guy about her age. Once they took off, he shut off the main light in the lobby and closed the door to his office, giving us privacy from anyone who might pull up and look inside.
"Will you grab some drinks out of the mini-fridge in the corner?" he asked.
"Sure, what do you want?" I asked.
"A water."
Water with pizza? The guy needed to live a little.
I did as he asked, grabbing a Coke for myself. He pulled a small package of paper plates and matching napkins out of his filing cabinet. The plates read "Happy Birthday!" in a rainbow of colors, as did the napkins. He also grabbed a straw, which he handed to me.
"Happy birthday to me," I murmured.
Ben grinned. "They're leftover from Cassie's birthday. Tyler, her boyfriend, set up a surprise party for her a couple of months ago but we didn't use all the stuff."
I brought the drinks over to the desk and plopped down in Ben's chair. He didn't say anything, but his smile grew as he sat in the chair on the other side. The one reserved for his customers.
I threw open the lid of the top pizza box and dropped a couple of pieces of pepperoni and jalapeno pizza on a plate. Ben grabbed the box and moved it so I could open my cheese pizza.
I put a couple of pieces on my plate and we settled down in our chairs to eat.
I took a huge bite and moaned at the delicious blend of cheese that melted in my mouth. Ben's eyes came to me and they were hot.
Crap. Moaning over good food was probably a bad idea since we were trying this whole friends-only thing.
I chewed and swallowed, trying to ignore the way he was looking at me. "So, does Cassie clean your office?"
He shook his head. "Nope. She's got her own desk and computer and she handles invoices and stuff from there. Why?"
I shrugged a shoulder and put my pizza to the side to open my can of Coke. "It's just tidier than I expected from a guy."
His eyebrows lifted. "That's sexist of you."
"Probably." Shoot, maybe I should feel guilty for being mad about the whole trash incident from Sunday night, after all. Here I was thinking he couldn't keep a clean office because he was a guy. Talk about a double standard.
He chuckled at my response. "When it comes to business, I like to know where everything is. Plus I don't spend a lot of time in here, so it doesn't get too messed up." His eyes focused on me. "What about you? Do you only work on your couch?"
"Most of the time. Sometimes I go to a coffee shop or a bookstore, but I usually need privacy to work. Or I need to work on my desktop if I'm on a big project." I glanced at his computer. "Speaking of that, when was the last time you bought a computer for your office?"
Ben laughed. "You look like you just smelled something nasty."
"I kinda did." I took another sip of Coke. "Seriously, when was the last time you got a new computer?"
"I've had that since I opened the business six years ago." He took another bite of pizza and smirked at me.
I would have clutched my chest but my fingers were a little oily from the cheese pizza. "Ouch. That's painful. Please tell me you at least have it backed up."
"Backed up?"
