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Hale shrugged, a smile that looked like sad resignation on his face. “Are you sure?”
We stood just outside the restaurant, something new between us, something comfortable and awkward at once. Were we friends now? Were we something else? I thought of the way his thumb had rubbed across my fingers and shivered again. “Yeah, I better go.” I spun on my heel and began walking. “Thanks,” I called back over my shoulder.
I was running away. I just wasn’t sure from what. Before I’d gotten to the corner, his footsteps fell in beside me.
“Just so you know, I’m not following you. I parked in front of the coffee shop, Holland,” Hale said, grinning at me. It was clear he knew I was running away from him. And as he took the laptop bag from my shoulder and lugged it onto his own, it was clear he wouldn’t let me.
We walked in silence back to where we’d begun our day.
“Walk you home?” he asked.
I shook my head, still off balance. “Thanks for everything,” I said. “I don’t know what I’d have done without you.”
“Are you all set now?”
I thought about what remained to be done. We both knew I still needed his help. I could see the knowledge lighting the arrogant glow in his eyes, lifting his mouth in a sexy-as-hell half-grin.
“Not really,” I admitted.
“Same time tomorrow, then?” he suggested.
I wanted to jump at the chance—more because he intrigued me and I wanted to spend time with him than because I desperately needed his help, though both were true. The realization of my non-work-related interest set off warning bells in me. I was getting distracted. Shouldn’t I care more about the presentation, the meeting? Why, then, did I find myself more interested in the guy helping me prepare?Say no,I told myself. “Okay,” I agreed.
Hale grinned at me, and I turned, walking slowly through lengthening shadows with full awareness of his eyes on my back, my ass. I was conscious of every muscle in my legs, every swing of my arms, and I turned the corner toward home feeling like a dancer darting into the wings, leaving the spotlight of the stage behind her. Reluctance and relief together. Hale had me drifting in contradiction.
CHAPTER 9
Oliver
Holland and I had a lot more in common than I’d realized. Was that why I was so drawn to her? Did my soul recognize a kindred spirit? It wasn’t the kind of touchy-feely shit I generally dealt in, but it seemed like it could be true. I thought about that as I walked to my car. I was tempted to tell her everything about me, to pay her back in kind for what she’d shared. I had already owed her—no one else had been able to tolerate me in the past months, or maybe I hadn’t given anyone the chance. Either way, just being around her felt like some kind of salvation, and I wasn’t ready to let it go. I felt like I was doing a lot of taking and not much giving, mostly because I had very little to give at this point. I had done my best to be less of an ass than usual, and was rewarded when she agreed to meet again the following day.
I knew that for her, agreeing to see me again was about needing my help with her presentation, and if I wasconvinced that was all she wanted, it still might have been enough. There was something else between us, though. Maybe. And she wasn’t the only one who needed help. Holland made me feel human again, gave me a glimmer of a reason to think maybe not everyone around me was completely full of shit.
The following day, we worked again for hours. We were heads-down straight through lunch and into the afternoon before we took a break. Holland’s focus was unwavering, and if I leaned back in my chair and stretched, angling for a few minutes of her attention, she kept her eyes on the screen, even as my eyes scanned her. Something had shifted overnight, and I got the sense Holland had decided to keep things on a work level, to ignore whatever tension or interest was growing between us.
“What’s going on?” I asked, knowing I shouldn’t push but unable to stop myself.
She looked at me, her eyes finding mine for several seconds before darting back to the screen. “Nothing, I just . . . I’m worried about this, that’s all.”
“We’ve got it,” I assured her. Three hours of solid focus had gotten us through the more intricate parts of the presentation, and at this point we were just glossing it up. “You’ve got it.”
She nodded, eyes still on the final slide. “Good.” She glanced at me, then dropped her eyes to her lap. “Okay. Good,” she said again.
“Yeah, you said that.” I leaned in to catch her eye. “Holland. Did I do something?”
She shook her head, the glossy waves falling over her shoulder again, making me wish I could reach out and push them back. I imagined the silken feel of her hair, the weight of it in my hand.
She was deciding something. I could feel it. Panic threatened to rise in me because I knew she was about to stand up and walk away from me. I couldn’t let her. I threw out a line, hoping she’d take it.
“Let’s get out of here.”
She didn’t argue as I dropped bills on the table. Holland packed up her bag and stood, following me out the door of the café and onto the brightly lit sidewalk.
“Walk on the pier?” I suggested, taking her laptop bag from her and slinging it across my shoulder.
She looked uncomfortable as I took it, her jaw flexing and her eyebrows moving together above her sunglasses.
“I’m not going to steal it, Holland. It’s heavy. You shouldn’t have to carry it around.”
