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“Huh?” I blink.
“Let go of the door,” he says with a hint of amusement.
Oh yeah. Of course.
I lift my hands and take a step back as absolutely nothing happens. He reaches for the handle and swings the door open and closed, then again.
“Nailed it.” He fist-bumps the air.
“That you did,” I deadpan, and he gives me a panty-melting smirk in return.
There’s a beat of silence between us before I realize something. “Thank you,” I say. “I appreciate you coming out to help.”
“No problem.” He’s silent for a beat, then tacks on, “Any time. I mean it.”
I give a small smile in return because honestly I am not used to anyone helping me, besides my family, of course. It kind of makes me feel uncomfortable being in someone’s debt, you know?
“Are you heading home soon?” he asks as he slips his hand into his jeans pocket. “It’s getting late.”
“Yeah,” I lie. I still have so much to do, so I doubt I will leave anytime soon. With Sebastian out this entire week, just weeks away from the gala, my workload is insane right now.
We walk out of the kitchen into the communal office space where massive brown boxes are scattered everywhere.
“Wow. I don’t know how I missed all these boxes on the way in.”
A smile tugs on my lips because the packages are difficult to miss. He must have been a man on a mission.
“Yeah, just a bunch of stuff for the gala.” I wave my hand in front of my face to show that it is not a big deal, and I am definitely not stressed.
I don’t think I do a solid job selling it, though, because Calvin raises one brow and asks, “Need any help?”
“Oh, you were already so helpful! Don’t worry about it!” I try to blow it off. I don’t want to inconvenience the man. He’s already done enough rushing over here with no notice.
“Are you sure? We can order pizza, and I can help in any way you need it.”
At that, my traitorous stomach rumbles in defiance. Pizza does sound nice.
“C’mon,” he says simply, his eyes glued to mine, but I get the feeling my next few words are important somehow.
“If you don’t mind.”
“I don’t.” His words are strong and confident. “I’d love to help.”
Okay, then.
“Great, but let me buy the pizza tonight. It’s the least I can do since there’s a lot of work to do.”
“Deal.” He flashes his smile at me, and it’s kind of contagious because somehow a grin appears on my face too.
* * *
The next night, there’s a soft knock on my office door. I’m buried in office work, but my eyes shift over to my office entrance.
“Hey,” Calvin says while opening the door a few inches.
“Hey. Come in.” My eyes widen in surprise.
He steps through the threshold with a white bag in his right hand.
