“I’d love to have dinner with you, Hannah. I thought I’d blown it. You know, with being late and showering you with coffee.” I indicated her still-wet pants. “I’d understand if you wanted nothing to do with me.”
Hannah pulled her purse up onto her shoulder and shrugged. “I need a bit more time to see if you’re worth the effort.”
I grinned. I liked her forwardness. Her dry sense of humor. Her sarcasm. I hoped she’d prove to be a nice distraction.
“Well then, I think we need to rectify that as quickly as possible. What about tonight?” I asked.
She held out her hand and I gave her a questioning look. “Let me have your phone.”
Without thinking, I handed it to her. It was only after she had entered her phone number that I realized I shouldn’t have done that. It was my work phone. My work emails and correspondence were on there. She could easily have seen them.
Why hadn’t I thought about that?
But she simply entered her contact details, including her address, and handed it back to me. I felt a little foolish for jumping to the conclusion that I was dealing with an evil mastermind.
I looked down at what she had saved on my phone.
210 Willow Park Lane.
“Pick me up at eight?”
It wasn’t so much a question as a request.
I noted the subtle difference. I appreciated her take-charge attitude, even if some sort of anxiety continued to cling to her like a second skin.
I leaned in close, mostly because I liked the smell of her. Vanilla and flowers. I hated overpowering perfumes. Hannah’s scent was discreet. Almost hidden.
Tantalizing. Just like her smile.
Damn, I was being ridiculous.
“Eight it is. I can’t wait.” I looked down at the white bag in her hand. “Since it seems your bagel is getting cold, how about I walk you to your car. I don’t want to be responsible for your tardiness.”
Hannah looked at her watch and cringed. “Too late.”
“Shit. I’m sorry, Hannah. I feel like an ass.”
Hannah put her hand on my sleeve and gave me one of those smiles I was coming to enjoy so much. “It’s okay. Just don’t be late tonight. Otherwise I may have to rethink the douche label.”
I briefly rested my hand over hers. “Deal. Now let me walk you to your car.”
I put my hand on the small of her back and steered her toward the door. She paused for a moment, looking up at me. “Aren’t you going to order anything? You must need a coffee IV drip with the whole working-since-four-this-morning thing.”
She was right. I needed caffeine. Desperately. And my stomach was starting to growl. But I wanted to spend a few extra minutes bantering with her first.
“Don’t worry about me. Coffee will be here once I make sure you get to your car safely,” I assured her.
Hannah grinned. “And they say chivalry is dead.”
We walked together out into the too-bright morning sunshine. I wished I had brought my sunglasses. My eyes were having a hard time adjusting today. An occupational hazard from staring at monitors all day.
I felt Hannah’s body angle into mine, her side brushing against me. “It’s awfully bright out here today,” she complained, shielding her eyes.
I chuckled. “I was just thinking the same thing. We may be the only two people on the planet who complain about the sun.”
We reached her car, a tiny, beat-up Mazda Miata. She jingled her keys in her hand for a moment, still standing close to me. “I guess I’m too used to being holed up inside with my head in a computer,” she explained.
I arched an eyebrow, intrigued again. “Oh yeah? Do you work with computers?”
