“Well, Declan O’Grady told me that no, I can’t play for the Grays anymore,” he says wryly. “I guess I listened to that one.”
“That probably doesn’t really count,” I say.“You didn’t listen, you just didn’t have another option.”
“Good. I hate being soft.” He gives me that sexy-cute half-smile again.
I grin. “You’d rather be hard?”
“Since I met you, I don’t remember being any other way.”
I giggle and roll my eyes. I saw that coming and I let it happen.
Because I really like flirting with Alex Olsen.
We carry everything to my truck, and with Alex’s help, it only takes one trip.
“Thanks,” I say.
“Give me a ride home?” he asks. “It’s right next door to your office.”
“Of course.”
It’s a ridiculous four blocks from here. I had to drive from my office at City Hall because of all the stuff I had to bring, butI can see City Hall and the roof of Perks and Rec—and Alex’s apartment—from here.
But I want to extend my time with him.
Even though it’s a bad idea, I know it.
Sure, I could sleep with him, enjoy it for seven months, and not be heartbroken when he leaves because I know better than to make plans beyond that. And I probably will. Sleep with him and enjoy it, that is.
But spending time with him, talking and laughing and flirting andlikinghim, is where it gets more difficult to believe that my heart will be totally intact when this is over.
We make the short drive, and without a word, Alex helps carry all the stuff from my truck up to my office.
I twist the knob and push the door open.
“You don’t lock this door?” he asks, following me in.
I hit the light switch just inside the door. “No. City Hall is locked up, but I don’t lock this one.”
“Why not?”
“Why would I?”
“So people can’t take your stuff,” he says, as if that’s obvious.
“If someone needs markers or posterboard or a confetti canon, they’d come ask and I’d say yes anyway,” I say with a shrug, carrying the snacks to the countertop near the fridge.
“What about your computers and other expensive equipment?”
I point toward the closet where the poles and sheet are stored. He heads in that direction, and I start unpacking the treats.
“I guess I just don’t think anyone would do that,” I say when we meet in the main outer office area.
“You’re very trusting.”
“I am,” I agree. “I haven’t been given a reason not to trust people in this situation.”
“But with your heart…that’s a different story.”
