His eyebrows lifted and his lips pursed. I wasn’t going to get out of this unscathed.
“Fine,” I said, exhaling the word like it offended me. “I went surfing. With Niko.”
“Oh, wow. That’s a big deal. I’ll hold back my comments about howhegot you back on the board and notme, you know, your best friend.” He rolled his chair away from me and pouted, his arms crossed over his chest. Such a baby.
Rolling him back, I said, “Sorry. Don’t be mad. He came up with it, and I didn’t want to say no. It was for our first practice…thing.”
“You mean your first practicedate? Just call a spade a spade.” His tone was all mischief.
“Tomato, tomahtoe. Anyway, I can’t remember if he and I ever talked about him loving surfing, but it was amazing to be back out there. I’m still riding that high and can’t wait to go back. Let’s go together this weekend.”
“I don’t need your pity surf.” He was so ridiculous.
“Please stop. It was so great. Not just being out there, but being with him. We laughed and talked. It was just perfect.”
“Oh man, the moony eyes are back,” he teased. “Did you get any details on who this woman is?”
My smile disappeared. “No. We talked around her, not about her. I gave him some tips on how to talk to her, but I swear, it felt like we were actually talking about me. I know it’s crazy, but the things he said. It was like we were on an actual date.”
“Ohhhh. Youlovehim. You want to date and marry him.” His singing voice ruined his impression of the incomparable Sandra Bullock.
This was my fault, having a best friend who I forced to watch romcoms with me for years. He could recite all the good lines without missing a beat.
“Don’t quote Miss Congeniality to me, and you are categorically incorrect,” I said, turning my back on him so I didn’t smash that pastry into his smug face.
“Gotta say. Did not see that coming. Man, Sofia was right.”
Swinging my head over to look at him, I squealed, “What? Right about what?”
“You and Niko. She said after everyone left the other night you two would fall in love and soon.” He looked me up and down and smirked. “By the look on your face earlier and your reaction just now, I’d say my wife was right.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. She and Vicky have been teasing me for weeks. They just want to get me out of my man ban.”
“Yeah, speaking of the man ban, Niko seems to be an exception, am I right?”
“How many times do I need to say it’s a pretend date?” I already knew what was coming.
“Andyet.” Here it comes. “You just said it felt like a real date.”
Looking up at the ceiling, I grunted. Walked right into that one.
Turning back to him, I exhaled. “Yes, I did. But he’s interested in another woman, in case you’ve forgotten that little tidbit.”
Shrugging, Luke gathered his things and stood up. “All is fair in love and war, kiddo.” He shoved my chair hard, sending me rolling into the table like the jerk he was, and left.
For the next week,Niko and I were like ships passing in the night at work. Checking my phone to see if he’d texted had become an Olympic sport. Knowing I was being ridiculous, I stayed as cool as I could when I was around him.
We’d run into each other in the hallways or the elevator, but stuck to work-related topics. I could see how uncomfortable he was, and it seemed he wanted to say more, but he never did.
In meetings, I would glance over and find him looking at me. He would startle, then smile and look away. Finally, on Friday, I couldn’t take it anymore and went to his office to talk.
Knocking on the doorframe of his open office door, I waited for him to look up. He was engrossed in whatever he was reading, so it took a minute for him to realize I was standing there.
When he finally looked up, he jetted out of his seat and stood. I loved it when he did that. So old-fashioned and frankly, attractive as all get out.
“Sorry, I didn’t hear you. How long have you been standing there?”
Chuckling, I said, “Just a minute or two. Ididknock.”
