I begin to clear my napkin and empty plastic cup. Time tells me that I need to get a move on. Mr. Tight Ass, literally, requests 6pm sharp for departure.
Standing up, Hailey takes my cue as a sign she can now pull out her laptop from her bag to work a little. “I’ll let you know if I survive, and if you hear that there is a dead body at the bottom of the river tomorrow, it’s completely and utterly not my fault.”
Hailey just chuckles as if she doesn’t grasp my seriousness.
Which is fair enough because… I hate Keats a little less lately.
“I hate your car.”I cross my arms as we continue our drive. I’ve only been with Keats for five minutes and his cologne and suit jacket with no tie and button-down are already pissing me off.
Keats glances at me then returns his view to the road. “No, you don’t.”
“Okay, I don’t,” I give in.
In that moment, I make a point to adjust my dress. It’s black because you can’t go wrong with black, and it stops just below my knees with heels on.Except, when I sit down, the soft fabric can slide up to above my knee if I use my hands just right. Which is exactly what I do.
I don’t need to look in Keats’s direction to know where his eyes might have wandered.
“Esme, you look… beautiful. Can I say that without you questioning me?”
Be still my heart that turns gray around this man, but he appears genuine.
I’ve always been told to accept a compliment. “Thank you.”
“I don’t really see you wear a lot of solid-colored dresses. You are more a jeans or patterned skirt kind of gal.”
Lines form on my forehead. “Spying on me now?”
He grins. “Sometimes I see you outside, remember, I’m your neighbor?”
Do not blush. No. No. No.
“It’s easier to wear jeans or skirts when taking photos, especially if I have an outside shoot,” I explain.
“That makes sense.”
“I guess you kind of wear it all. Suits with no tie for work and jeans and tight tees when casual.”
Keats throws me a knowing grimace. “Spying on me?” he counters.
Softly, I grumble, “Okay, we’ve established that we bothmighthave noticed what ourneighborlooks like.”
“Anything else we should clear the air about?”
“No. Just tell me how tonight is going to roll.”
For a second, Keats focuses on turning at the next light. “It’s more an operations and back team event, with the Spinners owner also appearing. So if you were counting on checking out any hockey players then you are in the wrong place, although most of the Spinners are in their mid to late 20s, you little cougar you.”
I snort a laugh and not because I’m annoyed, it’s just, well, Keats can be funny. It comes naturally to him. On the outside, Keats is the powerful lawyer, always serious and grumpy. However, at random moments he surprises me.
“But seriously, I just want to make an appearance. Probably two drinks tops. Everyone was bringing their other half and it felt like if I didn’t then I would be getting a few set-up date requests. Maybe I also want people to see that I have a personal life too. It softens them up and makes them more accommodating when I have a work crisis. Gives the office staff a little extra oomph to hurry things up when I request it.”
Looking at him, I grow concerned again. “You had me nearly sympathizing when you mentioned wanting people to see another side of you, but it quickly went downhill when you turned it into a business transaction.”
He snickers a sound. “What? It’s logistics.”
“I can’t believe I agreed to this.” I slump back into my seat and notice that the woods outside are building up, which means we are getting closer to the vicinity of Lake Spark.
Nature calms me. By no means will I hike all day, but sitting in nature or driving through it is nice.
