As the laughter rippled around the table, that weight lifted a little. Maybe this was my role after all—keeping us all from taking ourselves too seriously.
Later that night,I flopped onto my bed, the springs creaking in protest. My eyes landed on the battered copy ofTwenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seaon my nightstand. Iwas halfway through it, and I’d meant to keep reading tonight, but my mind was too full of… well, Jules.
I exhaled a long breath. How had this happened? One minute she was the uptight accountant making my life miserable, and the next …
I couldn’t shake the image of her in the pool today. The way her eyes lit up when she performed a perfect helicopter turn. The little victory dance she did when we surfaced. It was… unexpected. Charming, even.
I rolled over, burying my face in the pillow. This was dangerous territory. Jules was all about rules and order. I was anything but. We were as different as a shark and a sea turtle. And holy hell, could we set off a detonation with Mom. Could I even consider this?
And yet…
Yet I wanted to spend more time with her in a very non-teacher, non-student kind of way. The urge was so strong I’d asked her out after our pool session, though I hadn’t meant to. I’d managed to walk it all back, but my mind kept returning to one solid fact—surprise had been clear on Jules’s face and her response, but no anger. No refusal. Instead, she’d deflected by bringing up my family dinner.
So what did that mean?
After a long moment of watching the ceiling fan spin above me in its endless circles, I lifted my arm and made a flicking gesture with my right fingers. “All right, universe. I’m putting this one in your hands. If Jules and I are meant to be more than reluctant coworkers, I’ll leave it to you to figure out the details.”
I paused, half-expecting a bolt of lightning or something. When nothing happened, I shrugged and reached for the Verne book. If I was going to let fate steer the ship, I might as well enjoy the journey.
