“Do you feel like we’re cheating on Dakota’s place?” I asked, my voice a whisper.
“A little,” she said, her cheeks blushing a bit.
“If we were closer to that place during our lunch break, you know I’d be there in a heartbeat. I like Dakota’s place. I like Dakota.”
Her eyes narrowed a little. “What do you mean by that?”
I held my hands up in protest. “Hey, just that I like Dakota. I like all of you guys. It’s nice having all of Hazel’s friends as part of our crew. That’s all I was saying. Dakota is a nice woman, and I like her kid.”
“Okay, sorry. I’m a little overprotective when it comes to my friends.”
“Shocking,” I said, and she rolled her eyes at me before she stabbed her salad with her fork.
I mixed mine up, even as I watched the way she ate hers in little pieces. I held back a smile at that. If I could coat everything with dressing and mix it all up so I got a little bit of each thing in every bite, I would. And would be happy. Paris seemed to like things one at a time.
That was probably why I developed things, and she broke them apart and tested them out.
Or maybe I was thinking a little too hard on all that shit.
“So now that we’re out of the building, you doing okay?” I asked. I could have slapped myself for asking.
All the easy camaraderie we had established fizzled like a balloon being popped.
“It’s just normal work stuff. I think Benji has a burr up his butt, even though me doing my job doesn’t reflect on him at all. He liked your predecessor about four people ago, and they were good friends.”
“Seriously? I didn’t know that.”
“Yep. When that guy was let go, though we didn’t know he’d been fired, Benji took it personally.”
“And…he blamed you.”
“He either blamed me because I was the one testing the software, or because I’m a woman. Or maybe he simply doesn’t like me. I don’t know, but I had nothing to do with it. I don’t even know why the guy was fired. It’s none of my business. My job is to get the work done and try to enjoy what I do. And despite Benji and the Shark comments that he likes to spread around, I do like my job.”
“That’s good. I don’t know if I could like a job where I had to be on guard all the time.”
“Considering you’re only visiting our branch for six months and you’re going to be the new guy for a while, I would assume you’d also feel on guard.”
I shrugged before taking another bite of my salad. “I’m used to fitting in where I need to. And if I don’t, I make do.”
“That must be nice.”
I shook my head, smiling. “Sometimes. And other times, I’m the loud, annoying brother that my siblings make fun of. It works. We all find our places.”
“Maybe. Or perhaps we’re stuck in this egocentric, esoteric world where we don’t know where we are, and we’re left to an existential crisis.”
“That was a lot of big words, and I’m very confused now,” I said, laughing.
“Well, I try.” She smiled then, her eyes brightening. I liked it when she smiled like that, it meant that it actually hit her, rather than her pretending in order to make everybody feel better.
My phone buzzed, and I looked down at the readout, smiling again.
“You mind if I take this real quick?” I asked, and Paris shook her head. I answered, pulling back from the table so I could go outside and not annoy everybody with my phone call.
“Hey there, babe,” I said, walking out of the building. I noticed Paris staring at me as I did. I waved before standing right outside the glass windows. Our table was right on the other side of the windowpane, and if I talked loudly enough, I had a feeling that Paris would be able to hear everything I said. Not a big deal, I just didn’t want the whole building annoyed by me talking on the phone.
“Hey there, love.”
Love? Since when did she call me love? We weren’t quite at the whole love stage, at least I didn’t think so. Neither of us had said it, and while I was enjoying our time together, I wasn’t ready to take the next step. I might joke a lot, but I was actually slow in determining certain aspects of what I wanted.
That might not be the best reaction for most people, but it usually worked for me.
“I’m on a lunch break, what’s up?”
“I was hoping you were on your lunch break. You brought your own, right? Or did you want to meet up quick?” she asked, her voice warm.
“I brought my own, but I ended up needing to take a coworker out for lunch. Kind of a bad day, so we decided to get out of the office and breathe for a bit. My salad is fucking good, though.”
“Oh? I wish I had known that. I could have met up with you guys.”
“Sorry, it all happened kinda fast. We’re still on for dinner tonight, right?” I asked.
“Yes. Well, give Benji my love. Or at least tell him hi.” She laughed. “Got to go. Talk to you soon. Bye, babe.”
“Bye,” I said to silence. She had already disconnected.
I hadn’t had a chance to correct her, and now I felt like a heel. Even though Paris and I were just friends, and there was nothing romantic between us at all, Allison didn’t like Paris. She didn’t like the fact that I hung out with women at all. And she didn’t like that she had been late to our date, only to show up and see Paris and me having a drink together. Later, she had yelled, ranted, and I had apologized. It had probably looked bad from the outside, but I hated the fact that she didn’t trust me.
So, it was my job to make sure that whatever I did now, she could trust me at all times.
I shook my head, stuck my phone into my pocket, and went back inside to finish my salad.
“Allison?” Paris asked.
“Yes.”
“Is she upset that we’re eating lunch together?” At my look, she continued. “She wasn’t a huge fan of me from what I could tell after our impromptu drink that night.”
“Ah,” I began. “No, she wasn’t too happy.”
“I don’t know if I blame her. It did look pretty bad for you.”
“The fact that she thinks I’m with Benji for lunch right now is probably not going to be any better. I’ll have to correct her assumption later.”
Paris narrowed her eyes. “Why didn’t you tell her?” she asked, glaring at me.
“Because she assumed and then hung up before I could correct her. I didn’t want to get into a fight over the phone. I should have corrected her, and I will. That’s on me. I swear, nothing hinky is going on.”
“Oh, I know nothing hinky is going on, considering I’m the one telling you that. But now she’s going to think you’re cheating on her with me, and I’m going to be the bad guy.”
“No,” I said, angry now. “She’ll be fine. She just gets jealous over every single little fucking thing,” I growled out. “And I didn’t want to get into it over the phone. But I will set things right as soon as I see her tonight. Promise.”
“As long as she doesn’t come and try to like…slice my tires or something.”
“Allison’s not like that,” I said, and Paris sighed.
“No, but she’s going to be hurt, and that’ll be on me as much as you.”
“You’re right. Fuck.” I pinched the bridge of my nose. “I handled that wrong.”
“Yes, you did.”
I looked down at my salad and then pushed it away, shaking my head. “I can’t eat anymore. Now I’m just pissed off at myself.”
“You can fix it.”
“I will. But I need to get back.”
“Me, too. I’m done anyway.”
“Sorry this lunch turned out to be a bust,” I said.
“I ate, and I got to yell at you, I’m going to count that as a bonus.”
I rolled my eyes, and we went back to work. Benji wasn’t in the office since he was on his lunch break. I counted that as a win because I wasn’t in the mood to deal with anything else right now.
&nbs
p; By the time we got back to our desks, I was pissed off at myself and quickly shot off a text.
Me: By the way, I was out to lunch with Paris today, not Benji. Didn’t correct you on the phone before you hung up. Sorry about that, babe.
Allison: What?
Me: She had a shitty day, and I needed to get out too. We each paid for our own meal, but I didn’t correct you. I’m sorry.
Allison was quiet for long enough that I had a feeling I had made a big fucking mistake. Allison always blew everything out of proportion, and I really didn’t want to deal with it over the phone just then.
I shouldn’t have lied by omission, though. Fuck.
Allison: I get it. I shouldn’t have figured it was a man right off the bat. You work with women too. Hope you had a good lunch. I’ll see you tonight?
I blinked, wondering exactly what had just happened.
Me: I’ll see you then.
Allison: Sounds good, babe.
And then she didn’t say anything else. I blinked, wondering exactly what had just happened.
I shook my head, put my phone away, and went back to work. It had been a long time since I’d had a serious girlfriend. And I’d never had one who tended to get as jealous as Allison did. Maybe I was overreacting.
Or perhaps I needed to get my head out of my ass and get back to work. I could deal with my problems with Allison and whatever I was feeling later. Because I had no idea if I loved my girlfriend. And considering that we had been together as long as we had? That was a fucking problem. It didn’t have anything to do with the work in front of me at the moment, though. The project I needed to focus on.
By the time I was ready to knock off for the day, my mind was clear, and I was fucking proud of the work I had accomplished.
We were getting far on this project, and I was happy to see where we were headed. I couldn’t wait to see what Paris thought about it, because she could always pick apart the pieces that I was having trouble with and sometimes get me back on the right track—or even a better one. Even if I didn’t always think those were the problem areas to begin with. That was what a team was for.
I packed up my stuff, including the lunch I hadn’t eaten, then made my way to the front where Paris happened to be, as well.
I raised a brow, and she rolled her eyes.
“Why are we on the same schedule today?” I asked her.
“Because it’s my schedule. Therefore, it’s the best schedule,” Paris said, and I laughed. I didn’t miss the way Benji narrowed his eyes at us.
Fuck, it was going to be fun working out the rest of my contract if this was how Benji was going to act.
“You ready to head out?” I asked, and Paris nodded.
“Let’s get to it,” she said and turned away from Benji, even though I knew she had seen the glare he’d shot us. There was nothing we could do about it. It was something that would have to be taken care of soon, though.
We made our way towards the parking lot, and Paris’s shoulders stiffened as she looked around.
The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end, and I frowned, looking around with her.
“What is it?” I asked.
“I don’t know. It felt like someone was watching me.” She looked towards the building, and I followed her gaze. We didn’t see anyone in the windows.
“Think I’m losing my mind. Tough day.”
“You okay getting home?” I asked, my gaze peeled for any danger. Ever since the attack on Hazel and my brothers, I didn’t take my safety for granted anymore.
She shook her head. “I’m fine. I think I’m just tired.”
I nodded, searching her face. I didn’t see any lies in what she’d said. “Drive safe,” I said.
“You too. And work things out with Allison,” she said, and I nodded.
“I already texted her, and she said it was fine.”
Her brows rose. “Oh?”
“Yep. It turns out I’m an asshole, but at least I’m a truthful one.”
She snorted and then got into her car, waving as she did.
“Thanks for being a good man.”
“I’m trying,” I said, and then got into my own vehicle, waiting for her to pull away before I did.
I didn’t like that she’d felt like someone was watching her, but I hoped that we were sensing things that weren’t there. After all, we’d been through enough. And considering that we’d had a hard workday, it could just be that.
It couldn’t be anything else.
At least, I hoped to hell it wasn’t.
Chapter 4
Paris
* * *
This time, I was going to make our plan work. Dakota had promised me that the man was sweet, wasn’t a condescending asshole, and was an excellent tipper. The fact that we were now at the bottom of the barrel when it came to men we had met in our lives, just told me that this was going to work.
Why?
Because, honestly, there wasn’t another alternative. It was either the date in front of me or find an app to find partners for one another. And while a few people in my life had done that, and said it had worked out or at least they hadn’t turned into a bleeding ball of fire, none of us really wanted to do that. Honestly, it wasn’t what we were trying for. Our goal was to find dates for each other.
And that meant not going on an app and swiping or clicking or loving or hoping a hookup was inevitable.
And although I missed sex, and a hookup would be nice, I wasn’t ready for that.
No, what I wanted was a connection.
Honestly, I didn’t think that was going to happen anytime soon.
I tossed that thought from my head, annoyed with myself. It really wouldn’t happen if all I did was complain about it.
I pushed those thoughts away and smiled at my date.
The man seemed like a nice guy. I was going to count that as a blessing. We were sitting at a little Mediterranean restaurant that I had been to a couple of times before because the naan they served at the beginning was twice the size of my head and came with the best olive oil and feta cheese with seasonings dip ever.
“I love this place,” I said to my date, grinning. “Have you been here before, Kansas?” I asked.
Yes, his name was Kansas. And my friend Dakota had introduced me to him. All of us had thought Dakota should have been the one going out with him for the name thing alone, but she had pushed him my way. She thought we would be good together. I figured it was because it wasn’t her turn and she didn’t want to have anything to do with dating.
For a group of women who had gone into this wanting to find a connection with someone, we sure were hesitant when it came to the actual dating part.
Probably because of how everything had started with Hazel. But again, I didn’t want my thoughts to go down that path, so I focused on Kansas.
He had dark blue eyes behind wire-rimmed glasses. His spiky hair was thinning a little bit at the corners, but that didn’t bother me at all. I was probably losing about as much hair as he was at my age.
It honestly made him look more regal.
He had a soft smile, a firm jaw, and was pretty built.
What I liked beyond the looks that gave me warm feelings was that he had already made me laugh once when he met me in front of the building. It had been some stupid joke about parking, but it had made me laugh, and I counted that as a win.
See? Tonight was already going better than the last date I’d been on. And he wasn’t connected to any murders that I knew of.
I should probably throw salt over my shoulder or knock on wood if I was going to state things like that in my head.
“I’ve been here once. I liked the kabobs.” He smiled again, a little blush right under his wire frames. I warmed, leaning in. That was cute. Only…why was he blushing?
He must’ve seen the look on my face because he turned even redder. “Sorry. I usually just end up cooking at home or ordering in Panda Express or a hamburger.”
I shrugged,
shaking my head. “Why would you be embarrassed about that?”
“Because your name is Paris. And look at you. You’re all cosmopolitan, and you probably go out to eat at fancy places like this all the time.”
I didn’t think this place was all that fancy, but I guessed it was, compared to fast food. This restaurant was quite reasonable compared to some of the other restaurants in Boulder. I didn’t say that, though. Instead, I smiled. “I don’t think I’m anywhere close to cosmopolitan. I haven’t even been to my namesake.”
His eyes widened. “For real?”
“I’m a Colorado girl. I’ve never even been out of the country. And Boulder isn’t that cosmopolitan. The mountains right there kind of make it hard,” I said, and he smiled at me again. I liked that expression. I could get to appreciate that smile.
“Oh, this place is very cosmo for me. Though I don’t even think I’ve had a cosmo before.”
“I’ve had one because it was all the rage back before I was legally allowed to drink, thanks to Sex and the City. They’re a little too bright pink and sweet for me.”
“Well, good thing this place is a bring your own bottle establishment, and we can’t bring the hard liquor in with us.”
“True. But I’m fine with water or iced tea.”
“Sounds like a plan to me.” The waiter came over and handed out that beautiful naan that smelled so good my mouth started to water. And then he walked away since neither of us was quite ready to order.
“I could probably gorge myself on this naan,” he said.
“I was just thinking the same thing,” I said with a laugh.
“Although, I was looking at maybe getting a little kibbeh to start with. And then I could probably fall into the chicken shawarma or even a Greek moussaka.”
His browse rose. “I was thinking maybe a chicken kabab. I don’t know if I’m that adventurous.”
“You could taste some of mine. That is if you’re not going to be too full from all the naan.”
“Oh, I don’t share food. As it is, I’m kind of shaking even having to share the naan right now.”
I held back a frown.
“I’m sorry. I can ask our waiter to get a second one. Or maybe we can cut it into pieces and get a different plate. I didn’t even think about that. I’m sorry.”
From That Moment Page 4
