“Mr. Uhlig,” someone called, and before we could get through the hallway to the lobby, a man stepped in front of us. I glanced up. It was Neal Calabrese. He was a manager ofsomething, but I could never remember what. He destroyed his keyboard a lot. Pop. Glue. Coffee. Everything landed on this man’s keyboard, at least once a month. He had an eyebrow popped in my direction, and my face burned like the sun. Maybe it had been a bad idea to do this. Fuck, I’d known it was stupid, but Casey only cleared his throat and glared until Neal returned his attention to him. “You had fuckups on pages fifteen and eighteen of the file you sent. Since we were on a time crunch I fixed it myself.”
Neal winced. “Sorry, sir.”
“Our clients deserve accurate information. They use our analysis to hire and fire people. It’s a nonstarter if our numbers are fucked. Do you have enough people right now in your department?”
“Uh, we’re down two.”
“Get new hires in here. I don’t have time for this.”
“Yes, sir,” Neal said faintly, and I understood what it was like to be on the other side of that glare.
Casey put a hand on my back and urged me on toward the lobby. “I—”
“You’re fine,” he said, only loud enough for me to hear.
“That was… he saw….”
Casey’s laugh wasn’t nice. “He has his own shit to worry about, trust me.”
Frustrated and concerned, I walked with him outside. The cold bit my nose and cheeks, but I was warm otherwise. “I don’t like people noticing me.”
Snow came down and stuck in his dark hair, and I liked the way the flakes landed on his eyelashes and didn’t melt right away. For a split second, I could see the delicate patterns. He blinked the fluff away and shielded his eyes. “But you dye your hair and wear things that stand out.” He caressed my lip piercing, and I shocked the hell out of myself when I turned and kissed his fingertip. The smile he flashed had me ready to float away.
My face burned like the inside of a lightning bolt, hotter than hot, and I shrugged. “Maybe I want them to see me.”
He laughed. “But you just said you don’t like it.”
“Yeah, it makes no sense, but that’s how I feel. I like those things, my hair and piercings. I didn’t do them for anyone else. I hate attention. Maybe I want it, too. I don’t know.”
“I like everything about you.”
My stomach shivered with what was fast becoming a familiar happiness. “Thanks.”
He laughed and wrapped an arm around me. I was confused when we didn’t go to his car, but instead we walked down the street. A block and a half north of the office, he stopped outside a restaurant I’d never been in, Warm Heart of India. People came out talking loudly to each other and a group went in ahead of us. When I peeked in the big window, the place was packed. There was a long table of food along the back wall, but there were people in front of it scooping food onto their plates, so I couldn’t make any judgement calls on whether or not I wanted it.
“Buffet? I’m not sure I like this kind of stuff.” I stared hard at the colorful sign.
“If you don’t like it, I’ll have food delivered this afternoon,” he said.
“I don’t know. Do I have to try it?” I felt like digging my feet in and arguing. I’d already tried hard today to do something I hated—talked on the phone with people. Raven was there and carried most of the conversations, but I did my best. I really wasn’t sure about this.
He smiled. “You’re going to go in there and try it,” he said in a stern tone that had my spine straightening.
“But—”
“They have desserts. You have to try some of the lunch food first.”
That magic D word—my second favorite one—had me perking up. I gave him my best smile. “All right.”
We let another group go in ahead of us, and he held the door for me. Maybe it was stupid, but my stomach swooped when he put his hand on my back and stepped close. Inside there was indeed a buffet set up like most of the Chinese ones I’d seen, only there was a distinct sweet and spicy aroma in the air. The room had an interesting red elephant mural on one wall and large palms between each of the tables. The effect of the greenery was that the crowded restaurant still managed to have pockets of intimacy for the guests. Casey had brought me on a real date. I tried to ignore that idea as I sniffed and couldn’t quite place the fragrances. “What is that smell?”
“Probably cumin, cardamom, and garlic,” he said. “Curry.”
Unlike the rest of New Gothenburg, this little slice of the city seemed to be warm enough to function without fifteen layers. I took off Casey’s coat and rather than make me hold it, he draped it over his arm.
“We’re just, uh, doing this then?” I asked as we stood near a Wait to be Seated sign. “Like… we’re going to start, um, going places?”
“Do you mind?” He glanced at me like my answer mattered.
