“No doubt.” She pulls a face. “Does that mean you’d be interested in?—”
“Natalie!”
She gives me an overly innocent look. “What?”
I try to silently beam my thoughts directly into her brain and communicate how awkward it would be to spend the next month working with this guy, but the way she blinks at me proves she isn’t getting any of it. “Dorian has way too much going on.”
He shoots me an enigmatic expression, and I’d give up breakfast and lunch today to know what he’s thinking. Which, come on. That’s a sacrifice.
“Besides,” I tell her. “I’ve reached out to Hannah?—”
“Brandt?” he asks, surprised. “You still talk to her?”
Heat climbs up my neck. He’d dated her briefly—like a blip during sophomore year. “Not much, really.” His expectant look drives me to keep talking. “But I thought she might be a good candidate.” And I’m getting desperate, I don’t add.
He glances between us. “I don’t mean to put myself out there…but if you’re really in a bind, I can step in. Just until you find someone else.”
Natalie beams.
My entire body goes up in flames with embarrassment. Of all the people to Superman my situation, I didn’t want it to be him. “You don’t need to do this, Dorian. I know how busy you are.”
“It’s only four classes?” He looks down at the flyer on the counter. “You said a month, right?”
“Yes, every Tuesday night for four weeks,” Natalie says. “We convert part of the store into a classroom and hold the course after hours. There’s already an outline if you want to use it, but you’re welcome to write your own curriculum, too. Whatever you’re comfortable teaching.”
Dorian doesn’t take his eyes off me the entire time Natalie explains the situation. “It’s not a problem.”
“There are other guests lined up to co-teach two nights,” I say, “but we can easily divide the time in half if you’d prefer to go on your own.”
“Easily,” Natalie echoes. “We’re grateful you’re willing. Should we work out the logistics now, or would it be better if we emailed you?”
Dorian pulls out his phone and looks at what I assume is his calendar. “I can return this afternoon.” He glances up, his brown eyes landing on me. “Will you be free then?”
“Ravi is covering the store at one,” I say. “I can step away at that point.”
“You can step away anytime,” Natalie says with a pointed look.
My eyebrows hitch up. “You two still need adult supervision when you’re both on the clock.”
She glares, and Dorian ignores it. “Great. I’ll see you then.” He starts to walk away, then lifts a hand to Natalie. “It was nice to see you again.”
Her expression shifts, her grin so wide I fear what’s coming next. “Likewise!”
The moment the door closes behind him and the bell rings through the store, I head toward the door that leads up to my apartment.
Natalie is fresh on my heels. “You two have a history, don’t you?”
“Why do you always make crazy assumptions?”
“You mean, why am I so good at reading body language?”
“The CIA should hire you,” I mutter.
“I am vastly underutilized. But also, you make it obvious when you keep trying to push away the most perfect and willing candidate for saving all our bacon. So what happened? You mentioned a rivalry last night.”
I shove the door open, and Natalie leans against it, watching me walk up the stairs to my apartment. “Nothing. We just didn’t get along in college. If I’d known he was D.M. James, I would’ve had you cover for me during the signing. It’s just kind of awkward seeing him again now.”
“Didn’t feel awkward on my end,” she calls up the stairwell. “He seems eager to see you.”
