I still need to ask my sister to pick it up from my apartment, so it doesn’t get swiped by one of my neighbors who moonlightsas a package pirate. Since I’m currently three hours ahead, I’ll have to ask her later tonight. Lara has a habit of forgetting things if you ask her far too early in the day to do something. I really don’t want to reach out to Help Desk and ask them to send me another replacement laptop, either.
“Do you need that many pens?” I ask when she returns to my side. We’ve been sticking to quieter, less populated areas for the three hours we’ve been here, circling the same booths while we wait for day one to wrap up.
“These”—she clicks it—“light up, baby.” Her words are emphasized with two clucks of her tongue.
I let out a stifled snort, then break into a snicker when she pokes my chest with the pen. It doesn’t last long, though. Not when I lift my head to glance up at the ceiling and my neck flares with pain for the nth time today.
Her smile slips. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I grit out, and my heartbeat ratchets up a notch when she steps closer andStewardess Barbiemakes a reappearance in my train of thought.
Which is absurd. There’s nothing obscene about her outfit—she’s wearing a frilly white blouse buttoned all the way up to her neck and navy slacks that match her jacket; her lips are a muted pink color; and her hair’s neatly pulled back into a simple ponytail.
Yet my subconscious refuses to cooperate with me and acknowledge the truth. I’m apparently into businesscore. It’s something I never wanted to discover about myself, such as enjoying a nice, long bath or worse, liking space jazz.
“Did you hurt your neck?”
“They taught you human anatomy in your marine biology classes?” A hiss escapes me when her fingertip prods a tender spot on my neck.
Her gaze searches mine, imploring. “You did, didn’t you? On the couch? Why didn’t you tell me?”
I lift my shoulder, wincing when I feel a sharp, prickling pain.
“Oh my God.” Her eyes go wide. “Carter, you should have told me.”
“It’s fine. It’s just a strained muscle,” I say. “I can handle it. By tomorrow morning, it’ll be as good as new.”
She huffs out a wry laugh. “Every time you’ve said those words? It always takes a turn for the worse.”
I groan. “Barb, we’ve goneonehour without arguing. Don’t you want to see if we can last two hours?”
“Now’s not the time to bait me with how long you can last,” she grumbles. “Oh God. I did this to you.”
“I didn’t realize I’m talking to the couch right now,” I say dryly.
“Come on.” Her fingers wrap around my arm. “Ethan, let me check it out.”
“They taught you massage therapy in these marine biology classes, too?”
“I’ll let you have the final say on the cover sheets if you can look to your left in the next five seconds,” she says without skipping a beat. “Well, Carter? I’m waiting.”
Only my eyes slice to the left, but my neck stings regardless. She touches me again, her fingers poking me with no rhythm whatsoever.
“I’ll be fine. Just gotta sleep it off.” If looks could kill, my body would be obliterated into smithereens.
“Is your mom okay?” she asks. Seeing the frown on my face, she tacks on, “You said she went to the hospital.Just hip surgery.”
It takes a few seconds to remember I told her about Mom’s surgery. I’m genuinely surprised at the sight of her eyebrowsknitted in concern. “Bee, you can stop now. I know you’re trying to butter me up?—”
“I’m not buttering you up,” she says matter-of-factly. “If I were going to do such a thing, I’d?—”
“Send my family another fruit bouquet?” I cock my head—a move I regret yet again when met with another round of stinging pain. “How did you find out where my family lives?”
“I’m a bot, Carter,” she says dryly. “Computers are supposed to know everything. Beep. Boop.” I have to fight my smile when she gently kneads my shoulder. “Aaron.”
“What about him?”
“He gave me your family’s address.” She pulls her bottom lip between her teeth. “A few days after you told me about it. Your name came up while he was helping me troubleshoot why I couldn’t connect to the VPN. He told me you wouldn’t want everyone at work all up in your business. I realized you knew each other outside of work and asked him for the address.”
