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She steps into my office, and my eyes trail down to her outfit. Black jeans and combat boots, per usual, but she’s wearing some kind of dark green sweater that makes her eyes pop like crazy.

She also looks nervous.

“Um… Well, as uncomfortable as this makes me, I was kind of hoping I could ask you for a favor,” she starts bluntly, shuffling where she stands.

You could ask me for anything, I want to respond. I’m yours to command.

Christ. This infatuation needs to chill the fuck out.

“Sure, what do you need?” I say instead.

She pulls in an inhale. “I meant to ask you this morning, but I forgot I’m the only one who considers 11 a.m. their work start time.”

I let out a snort, which seems to relax her a little bit. Enough to take a step forward.

“Anyway, I wanted to ask… Can you make a quick run with me to my apartment today or tomorrow? I don’t need you to lift or help or anything,” she hurries to add, “I just need a car to transport some stuff. And I have to get my bike out of the garage.”

I still can’t believe she rides a motorcycle.

I try not to make my immediate answer obvious as I rearrange some of the papers on my desk, just to have something to do with my hands. “Yeah, of course.” I glance at the schedule on my screen. “You okay if we go at three?”

Charli nods. “Yeah, sure. Whatever works for you.”

“Perfect. We’ll leave at three then.”

She nods and spins toward the door, then suddenly spins back and says, “Thank you. I promise it’s the last thing I’ll ask of you.”

“Charli,” I sigh, “you can ask anything you want. If I can’t help with it, I’ll say no, but otherwise…” I shrug. “I like you. I’m happy to help. That’s all there is to it.”

Charli seems confused by that. It once again makes me wonder how many people she has in her corner.

“Okaaay,” she says slowly. “Uh, I’ll see you at three.”

The moment she’s out of my office, I’m buzzing Samantha from my desk phone.

“Samantha, can you reschedule my afternoon meetings, please?”

Ten minutes before the clock hits three, I’m knocking on the conference room door.

Charli’s sitting at the table, chewing on her thumb, but looks up when I enter. “Hey.” Then she frowns and straightens. “Wait. Am I late?”

I shake my head as I drop into a chair. Looking around the room, I realize she’s started to write more on the whiteboards. “You’re not, I just finished a meeting early.” Lie. I just couldn’t sit in my office any longer. “How’s the research going? Anything pop up yet?”

She slumps back in her chair. “Not yet. But there is something here, I can feel it. I just…” She sighs. “Can’t find it.”

That’s not great to hear, but in a way it’s also a relief. It means we were right to go digging. “So then where will you look next?”

Charli studies the board in front of her with a frown. “I’m going to look at the people. Most often when I can’t find issues in the numbers, they’re in the people.”

I hum thoughtfully. “Looks like you’re in a groove right now. Do you still want to go? We can go another time.”

“No, no, I’m ready. I’ll finish working at your house.”

I don’t let myself analyze why the sound of that pleases me.

We’re quiet as we make our way out to the parking garage to my car. When we pass by a parked motorcycle, I’m reminded of the reason she’s asking me for this favor.

“So, what kind of bike do you have?”