I have never been more thrilled than in this moment, watching Connor try and wrangle himself back into seriousness. Every time he gets his smile tamped down it slips free again. Flustered Connor is my new favorite Connor, I will accept no other.
I step forward, but he stops me, catching my shoulders and holding me at arm’s length.
“I realize you’d rather saw your arm off than have this conversation with me,” he says. “But we need to haveit.”
“I’m listening,” I say, but really I’m just looking at his lips.
“About yesterday,” he says gently. “It’s not that I don’t like you, Annie. It’s that Ido.”
My gaze travels upward. His eyes are like gooey molten chocolate.
My brow furrows. “Sorry?”
His arms drop away. “I like you a lot,” he says, looking me dead in theeye.
My smile blooms. “Well, that’s nice,” I tell him. “I thought you didn’t.”
“I panicked,” he tells me. “When I came to meet you yesterday, I wasn’t thinking about what could happen. I just wanted to spend time with you. And then when you kissed me, I realized with stunning clarity how easy it would be for you to blow my lifeup.”
“Bit dramatic.”
“Is it?” he asks, searching my face. “I don’t know, Annie. Sometimes I get the impression that none of this is serious to you.”
I frown at this. “What do you mean?”
“Work, me, all of it. It’s all just a lark,” he says, lifting his arm and running it down the back of his head. “There are moments when I think you like me too, and then others where it feels like you’re just passing the time. But—”
I can feel him hesitating, weighing up whether or not to keep going.
“It’s not that for me. I know you think this place is stupid but I care about it a lot. And I’m technically your boss and we’d be working together, and I just had no idea how to deal with any of it. It felt like everything was on the line all of a sudden. And I let all that get in the way.”
Is that what it seems like, that I don’t care? I almost laugh; if he only knew.
“So to recap,” I say, trying to parse everything he’s told me. “You wanted to kiss me so badly that you…refused to kissme?”
“I felt like such an idiot afterward.” He laughs. “I wanted to slingshot myself into outer space.”
“You are such a loser.”
“I know,” he says, bashful again. “I guess we’ve settled the question about whether or not I have any game.”
“Well,” I say, stepping toward him. This time he doesn’t stop me. “You might have some game.”
I skate my fingertips lightly over his chest, and he reaches up to clasp my hand.
“Can I have a do-over, please? Maybe ask you on a date, properly?”
“Is this you asking me now, or asking to askme?”
He shakes his head. “I’m doing it again, aren’t I? I’m asking you now.”
I squint at him. “Have you ever talked to a girl before?”
“It’s been a while,” he admits. “Will you please go on a date with me this weekend, Annabelle?”
“I will go on a date with you, yes,” I say. “But not this weekend. My sister is visiting, remember? Consider that your punishment.”
“I accept that.”
