“Outside of family. With those I’m closest to, I do it. And I did to Arik recently and in the past.”
“Good for you,” Avery said, her eyes showing more humor than her smile. “Back to Arik. He makes you drop your guard. First, describe him to me.”
“Tall, about six foot. Not too big, not too thin, just the way I like him. His brown hair a little shaggy now, not as neat as it was back in college, but it suits him. There’s more scruff on his face too. Just enough to make you wonder if he even thinks about shaving or just goes with whatever feels right. It’s kind of irresistible, honestly.”
“Listen to you letting it out. Keep it up! Sounds as if he can do a lot of what he wants and when,” Avery said.
“He looks the part. He’s confident and cocky, but not arrogant. Not sure there is a difference, but there is.”
“There is absolutely a difference. Your brothers are both confident and cocky in their own right, but no one would ever say they were arrogant.”
“True. Maybe that is why I can recognize it with him. We had lunch together today.”
“No,” Avery said, her jaw dropping. “Natalie Bond who eats lunch at her desk in ten minutes while never tearing her eyesfrom the computer took the time and ate with someone else? Not even a work lunch?”
“I’m not that bad, am I?” Good lord, was that how everyone saw her?
“Sounds it to me from what I’ve heard,” Avery said. “But I get it. You love your job and are good at it.”
“I just want Hunter to know he can count on me. I never expected to get that promotion last year. It was huge and he created that job for me.”
She was the Director of Customer Relations. There was a manager there before but one that had different responsibilities.
When the manager left, she thought, or had hoped, the position would be hers.
Instead, she got a bigger title and thenshehired a manager.
The past year had been spent with her creating her position with Hunter.
She was supposed to be less hands-on, but that hadn’t happened. Completely her fault.
“Because he has all the faith in you to do it,” Avery said.
She knew that and it felt good in a way she hadn’t felt in a long time.
But it was also hard to break a lifetime of habits.
“We’re getting off track,” she said. “I had lunch with Arik and then he asked me on a date. This Sunday.”
“Good for him. Andyoufor saying yes. What are you doing? Where are you going?”
“The weather looks nice and he suggested hiking and biking in Provincetown. We’ll take the first ferry over and go from there.”
“That’s an amazing first date. You don’t have to worry about any awkward silences sitting across from each other. Especially if you’re on bikes.”
“I know. I thought that too. But there has never been anything awkward with him.”
“Wow,” Avery said, her hand coming to her face to fan it. “Did you have a crush on him? If the timing had been different in college, would you have dated him?”
She shrugged. She wanted to say yes, but it might have been a lie. “I don’t know. I’ve thought of that since I saw him again. I didn’t trust many back then. It seemed all the guys were the same.”
She dated but everyone had the same agenda. Party, get drunk, get high, get laid, have a good time.
No one was looking for more. Or it seemed the guys asking her out weren’t.
Even the few who didn’t start out that way never seemed to share her long-term goals. Why waste time with someone when you knew it’d never work out?
It wasn’t worth setting herself up again.
