You sleep okay?
Alecia
I can think of ways I could’ve slept better
Melatonin?
Is that what the kids call it these days?
It’s ridiculous how easy it is to talk to him. How the space between text bubbles feels like oxygen instead of a candle snuffer. Sam’s in a meeting this morning, and I’m dying to talk with her about last night. Lunch can’t come too soon.
I’m lining up dielines when a knock raps softly at my open door. I look up and see Garrett framed there in a crisp shirt. “Hey. Do you have a minute?”
My shoulders tense. Garrett also doesn’t know what happened last night, and by the smile on his face and the box he’s holding, I’m thinking it’s not going to be a welcome revelation.
He steps in and sets the small black box on my desk.
“What’s this?” My voice is breathy. I’m already starting to sweat.
“A thank-you,” he says. “For last night. You were great.”
I open the lid and it’s a pen. Sleek, titanium. The clip gleams, our brand name embossed on the side.
Wow. Not at all what I was expecting. “Thank you. It’s beautiful.” It’s very . . . Garrett.
“Figured you’d appreciate it.” He tips his head toward my array of well-loved felt-tips. “Thought you could use something a bit nicer.”
Something inside me shuts like a trapdoor. Was this seriously what I’d wanted? To be noticed by him?
“Garrett,” I start, and then stop.
He misreads my pause as delighted awe, which is fair. Other women have surely trained him for this. He slips a hand in his pocket. “You saved me from a long night of shop talk. And you looked—” he waves a hand, searching for the right word “—fantastic.”
There it is again. A compliment that lands on the surface and refuses to sink. I’m sure I did look fine, but it was a wrap dress. I looked appropriate. Garrett doesn’t know the half of how fantastic I can show up.
I set the lid on the box down gently. “I should tell you something. And I want to say it before this gets weird.”
His smile hitchhikes toward concern. “Okay.”
“I did end up taking a lesson at Smash Point.”
His brows lift. “Oh. Nice. With who?”
I purse my lips. “With Calder.”
Something shifts in his expression. Small, but sharp. “You said?—”
“I know.” I put a hand up. “I started with a different instructor, he got injured, and that time fit my schedule. When I asked about Calder, I was . . .” I shake my head. “I don’t know. Trying to get your attention.”
He’s quiet a beat too long. Then he nods, his smile cooling a few degrees. “Right.”
“This is really kind, but I can’t accept this.” I nudge the box back across the desk.
He stares at it. “It’s just a pen, Alecia.” When I don’t take it back, he exhales through his nose. Almost a laugh, but not at all amused. “Okay. So you’re interested in him or something?”
“I am.”
Garrett shakes his head. “You’ve met him, what, twice?”
