“To mind their own damn business.” He laughed, giving me a shocked look. “What?”
“That’s the old Anderson coming out again. You couldn’t have told them I was working on a project?” I asked between bites. “People appreciate the truth.”
“Sure, but how is it their business?” His brows furrowed, like he didn’t get how he was rude. “If I wanted to tell people, then I would’ve. I wanted to keep your business private.”
“Okay, then,” I said, sighing under my breath. “You’re…what’s the word—loyal. That’s it. You’re a loyal guy.”
He scoffed, setting his pizza down and staring me down. “Why do you sound surprised?”
“Uh, I don’t know?” I grimaced, avoiding his stare. “Sorry?”
“Don’t apologize. I’m incredibly loyal to those I care about. That goes without saying. I thought you knew that.”
My heart skipped a beat again, but I hid any reaction. “Now I do.”
“Good. Glad that’s settled.” He gave me a curt nod, going back to his pizza. I tried not to watch his jaw with every bite he took. I failed, miserably so. It was perfectly sculpted, and my fingers itched to touch it. Shit.
Focus, Grace.
Friends, remember?
Oh, and he is your boss. Keep it classy.
“Can I ask you a question?”
Brock’s hesitancy made me nervous. I gulped. “Of course.”
“Do you think you would ever work at the stadium again?”
“Hell yeah. I love it more than I thought I would. No, it’s exactly what I hoped it would be. It’s challenging, yet not so hard I’m frustrated. It’s exhausting, but I leave happy every day.” I smiled like a goon as the truth of my answer settled around us.
“That’s a hell of an answer.”
“It’s the truth.” I pursed my lips. “Why do you ask?”
“If a position opened up, I was just curious.” He looked away, his shoulder sagging a little bit. “Would you uh, work withmeagain?”
I wanted to shout “duh” at him but held off. Did I? Did I want to battle this attraction to him every day when it was clear he wanted to be friends? I must’ve waited too long to answer because he tensed. He sat up straighter, and the smile was nowhere on his face. My stomach dropped, and I coughed. “Yes. Yes. I would work with you again. You’re amazing at what you do, and I think we generally have a good time. Right?”
“Right,” he answered with a clipped tone.
I rolled my eyes, hitting him in the shoulder with my hand. He looked at me with disbelief. I made my eyes go wide and grinned when one side of his mouth lifted just enough. “Did that hurt?”
“Did what?”
“Smiling. You act like it’s a chore sometimes. You’re temperamental.” I stood, grabbing his plate and napkin from him to set in the sink. I had to reach up to grab an extra towel from the cabinet and groaned as my hip hit the counter. The bruise from the night before throbbed a bit. But, before I could do anything, Brock stood right next to me with a huge frown. “What?”
“Let me look.”
“Look at—hey!” I swatted at him as he lifted the end of my shirt up. He lifted it maybe two inches, exposing the purple bruise on my hip. “What are you doing?”
“Examining this. I saw it from the table.”
His breath hit my face as he eyed the bruise. He touched around it, pushing on the skin slightly, and I flinched. “Sorry. Just checking. You eat a lot. I check injuries. We all have our quirks.”
I laughed nervously as he kept his fingers on my bare skin a second longer. I prayed he couldn’t see my heart beating furiously in my chest because it was going at an embarrassingly fast rate. “Is it true putting a banana on a bruise heals it?”
“Um, it won’t heal the injury but maybe change the coloring of it.” He didn’t look affected by me at all. Calm, cool, and collected Anderson turned me into a damn fool.
