If I didn’t know any better, he was flirting with me, but I wasn’t sure if I should feed into it or not.
“I mean . . .”
“You don’t have to admit it.” He winked. “What’s this little one’s name?” he asked as he stroked the top of Cashmere’s head, and he actually let him.
“This is Cashmere. He thinks he’s bigger than he is. What about yours? Can I pet him?”
“Little man syndrome, huh.” Kairo removed his hand from Cash’s head, then patted his dog on his back. “This is Shadow. You’ll see him sometimes at work or when we take walks together.”
I was surprised by what he said, because I wasn’t expecting us to go on walks together or see each other outside of work at all.
“We’re taking walks together?”
Kairo rubbed the back of his neck and looked around behind me before he refocused on me.
“Yeah. We’re neighbors and coworkers. I don’t see anything wrong with that. Unless you got a man that might get jealous.”
Of course, he meant as coworkers. He may have looked at me like he wanted to fuck me, but unless he came right out and expressed an attraction to me, I wouldn’t look too much into it. Anyone could be attractive to someone, but that didn’t mean it would go beyond that.
“Nope, no man. I don’t mind walking with you some mornings. I have to make sure this little guy is okay with Shadow.”
“Put him down and let them greet each other. Shadow knows how to respond to smaller dogs.”
I hesitated for a second, but I put Cashmere down, and he slowly sniffed Shadow, and he just let him. A few seconds later, Shadow sniffed Cashmere, and they seemed to be okay.
“See. Usually, I walk earlier than this, but if you like to walk later, then some days, I’ll push the time back.”
Warmth spread from my head to my toes. This man was willing to adjust his schedule to walk with me, and he didn’t know a thing about me. I was confused but also afraid to ask too many questions.
“Um, yeah. That’s fine. What time do you get up?”
“Every day at four a.m. I don’t go outside right away, but that’s the time I get up.”
“Sheesh. I’m definitely not getting up that early. Six is early enough for me.”
“Around this time will work. I’ll let you go for now, though, because I know you have to get ready for work. I heard your new boss is a stickler for being on time.” He winked.
I didn’t know how serious he was, but I would hate to be late for work on my first day. I would report directly to Kairo, but there were other people that would talk if I came in late.
“I guess I better go then. I’ll see you later, Chief Kairo.” I turned to walk away, but I felt Kairo grab my wrist.
That same spark that I felt the other day came back again.
“Just Kairo is fine. Even when we are at work, it’s still Kairo.”
“Yes, sir.”
“See you soon, doll baby.”
Heat filled my cheeks as I walked away. I could feel Kairo watching me, but I didn’t want to turn around and make things awkward. I wasn’t sure what transpired between us, but the day had already started out great.
I made it to work on time, and I even had a chance to get coffee. I picked up a gift card for Kairo since I messed up his shirt the other day.
It didn’t take long for me to learn the lay of the land. At least the basics for the time being. I met Donna and a few officers. I didn’t have my own office, but I did have a big desk and a comfortable chair. My desk was set up right outside of Kairo’s office, and he had a big window, so he was able to look right at me if he wanted to. He spent most of the day out of the office, so I didn’t get to see him. I kind of wished I did after our interaction in the morning. I wanted to see how he would react to me in a professional setting.
Since he wasn’t in his office when I came in, I had put the gift card on his desk.
Everyone was nice and helped me whenever I had questions. I tried not to overthink the interaction with Kairo, but I couldn’t help it.
