Page 46 of Man Flu

“Why? Please just save me the pity, and tell me the damn truth.”

“Are you always like this?”

“Like what?”

“So … uptight?”

“No!”

“You have everything I want, Hannah. Is that so hard to believe?”

“I have what you want? What is that supposed to mean?” I’m verging on infuriated, trying to figure out what the hell his agenda is. If this weren’t my house, I’d leave.

“Okay, folks, I’m going to take this brief intermission and sneak out before things get any more heated—or iced,” Brielle says as she jogs down the steps toward us. “Oh, and one piece of advice—just bang bongos, already.” Then she stops halfway down the stairs as if she forgot something. “Oh, wait. No, bongos tonight. Wait until the next night, yeah. Those are the rules, okay?” She shakes her head around as if she heard something loose rolling around in there, then continues down the stairs. Bongos?

Brielle is one for leaving with the last words, and those particular words are just the icing on the cake.

She slams the door on the way out, and now it’s truly just the two of us here. That thought makes me anxious because I’m still wondering what it is he wants with me.

I cross my arms over my chest, feeling my shirt tug against the tissue bra I’m wearing. This is so stupid.

“You’re gorgeous. You have your life together, even though you think you don’t. You have a career and manage to care for your daughter better than most moms I see. You don’t let people get too close because you’re smart enough to protect yourself. You’re mature, but a little immature. You’re what I’ve been looking for in a woman, and if you add up all those qualities, it makes for a pretty long list. I feel like when I meet someone who gets all the check marks on my list, I shouldn’t just waste the opportunity … even if she pukes all over me.” He hesitates before that last phrase, then adds it with a smirk, and a sparkle in his eyes I can’t help finding a bit adorable.

I want to respond, but words aren’t forming in my head. I make up some guy’s crazy checklist? This must be another delusional daydream again. “I don’t even know what to say.”

“Thank you? I find you attractive too, and you’re okay … I guess.” He speaks the words he’d like to hear me say, and maybe if I thought he was serious a moment ago, I would have said them instinctively, but I’m still hesitating. Maybe Nick and Taylor set up this practical joke to pay me back for “stealing” a promotion one of them could have had. I wouldn’t put it past either of them.

“You know you’re attractive. Why do I need to tell you?”

“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, darlin’.” I’m not sure what he means, but he’s making it sound like he feels the way I do when looking at my reflection.

“I don’t understand you,” I tell him.

“Probably because we’ve only known each other a few days now.”

“Exactly,” I agree. “So, this is kind of quick to be going on a date, don’t you think?”

“Considering people are in the habit of skipping dates and instead just meeting up for sex because a phone app said they’re compatible, I’d like to think it was appropriate that I at least asked you out. What else was I supposed to do? Court you first?”

“Well—”

“Plus, you’re sort of my boss, so before I steal your job from you, I want to say I slept with my boss.” A smirk plays over his lips. He’s kidding, but he’s not kidding. He’d fit way better in the office than I have or ever will, even though it’s a company running a mom magazine. “Plus, behind every product for a mom, is a great guy.”

“Funny,” I chide.

“You’re smiling,” he says. “So, I’m obviously a little funny.”

“Okay, but you aren’t stealing my job, so don’t bother trying. I have the law on my side—the whole equality in the workplace thing.”

“This has obviously crossed your mind already then, huh?” He’s toying with me. He’s trying to get under my skin … or clothing. He’s doing a fine job at both.

“If jerking cars around until your junk is grabbed isn’t how you pick women up, is this your game? Antagonizing them until they fall to their knees?”

“No, but I like the way you think.”

He’s taking steps toward me, and I bet he expects me to take some steps backward in response, just to give him the power of control. I’m not moving, however.

The closer he comes, the more his cologne penetrates the air around me, and it’s like a delicious-smelling salt, awakening every part of me. “Where are you taking me tonight?” I ask him, proving a sense of confidence I think he’s doubting in me.