Page 78 of While I’m Still Here

I should say no.

That would be the smart thing, but then again, I have never been a terribly clever person. Instead, I look at him, and his head tilts slightly, and the teasing expression disappears. “What?”

“Nothing.”

“That wasn't nothing.”

“It was literally a look.”

“It was a very specific look.”

I turn back towards my monitor as though the spreadsheet in front of me has suddenly become fascinating. It hasn't. I don't even know what I'm looking at. There are numbers. Possibly columns. One of them might be important.

Beside me, Danny says nothing.

Which is worse.

I let out a breath and stare at the cursor blinking uselessly on my screen. “You.”

For perhaps the first time in the nearly three years I've known him, I have rendered Danny Clarke completely fucking speechless. He isn't smirking or loading the next innuendo into the chamber. He's simply looking at me, and I realise with a strange little jolt that he's checking my face for the punchline.

There isn't one.

His voice is quieter when he finally speaks. “You've been postponing me?”

Heat creeps up my neck. “That sounds incredibly arrogant when you say it like that.”

“You said it.”

“I regret it already. I take it back.”

“Too late.”

I swivel my chair towards him properly now, because apparently if I'm going to humiliate myself, I'm at least going to commit to it. “We've been flirting for nearly three years.”

“Yes.”

“And we've done absolutely nothing about it.”

“Also yes.”

“Because you're the sort of man sensible women don't shag.”

The corner of Danny's mouth lifts. I know that expression. I realise my mistake approximately half a second too late.

“And when exactly have you been sensible?”

I stare at him. The bastard looks enormously pleased with himself. “You prick.”

“You walked directly into that.”

“I was insulting you.”

“You accidentally insulted yourself.”

A laugh escapes me before I can stop it, and for one brief second we're back on familiar ground. Danny says something outrageous, I insult him, and he enjoys it far too much. Three years condensed into one stupid exchange.

Except Danny doesn't laugh with me. His smile fades and something changes.