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I felt betterthe next morning. Amazing what a good night’s sleep could do for clarity. Besides, I’d see Oz this morning, he’d sign off on me completing my apprenticeship, and then I’d stop by Loading Java and visit Violet and have ice cream and coffee for lunch. I was an adult; I could make decisions like that. I wasn’t going to mix them together or anything. Though, if it was the right kind of ice cream…
I picked out a black pencil skirt, and a button-down teal blouse to go with it. There was no on-site work today, and this made me feel pretty and professional. I also paid more attention to my makeup than usual—blush, eyeliner, and lipstick, instead of just a dash of mascara and lip gloss.
An actual job may be out of my grasp right now, but I could dress for success. Tell myself if Graham could see me, he’d be sorry he was an ass.
Not that he deserved any more space in my head. Nope, I was banishing him from my thoughts. He was a silly little girl’s silly little crush, and I was far too proudly weird to simply be called silly.
The outfit did more for my confidence than I expected, especially with the appreciative glances I drew as I got on the bus. The trip was spent sifting through job postings. I wasn’t a convicted felon anymore, and I had wicked programming skills. I could own any of these positions.
I reached the building where Oz’s apprenticeship company had its headquarters and headed for the entrance. The steel and glass structure was four stories of simplicity in the middle of an office park that was a lot the same. Oz’s office sat on the first floor, near the rear entrance. The most understated suite here.
Few people had any idea he owned the entire business park.
The assistant working reception smiled at me when I walked in. “Cole is waiting for you. Go on back,” Holly waved me down the hallway.
I walked the familiar, industrial grade carpet. This was the last time I’d do so as an apprentice and there was a sense of accomplishment in the thought. Oz’s door was open, and I knocked lightly on the frame.
He glanced up from his computer, raised an eyebrow, and gestured to the table in the opposite corner of his desk. “Come on in.”
I liked this room. Not just because it was his, but it had warmth. Personality. Richly stained furniture. Photos of his family on matching wood bookshelves—his parents, his sister, her kids. Him with all of them. There were also pictures of him with some of his former Rinslet colleagues. The only indicator in here that he had anything to do with the other company.
Oz stepped past me to close the door, then took the chair next to mine at a table big enough to sit four or five. He slid a manila folder to me. “This is your certificate of completion. All your finalized paperwork. It’s been wonderful working with you, and I’m always available for a reference.”
“Same. I mean, thank you. I mean…” Sigh. “You know what I mean.” Such a dork.
Oz smiled. A rare sight, and as alluring as most everything else he did. “I do. Any questions for me about this?”
I shook my head. That was a safe way to answer.
“Then your apprenticeship is officially over.” He stood and offered his hand.
I rose as well and shook it. His grip was firm and warm. When he let go, and moved a finger to my chin, my heart leaped into my throat.
He lifted my head and searched my face. “This feels like an asshole move, doing this right after what happened last night.” His voice rumbled over me.
“I don—”
Oz bushed his lips over mine, and my mind stalled. What in the what? He drew his thumb along my cheek as he cupped my face, titling his head to lean into the kiss. He was tender but unapologetic, the way he introduced his tongue to mine.
When he pulled away, I couldn’t find my voice.
“Luna?”
“Wow.” In my head, a chibi me was clapping and dancing and squealing.
His smile was back. “You’re not going to slap me for waiting until there was another guy in the picture?”
Double what? He couldn’t mean Graham. That assumption needed to be corrected post-haste. “There’s no other guy.”
“Sure.” Oz still cradled my face—that felt so good. “There are days when you talk non-stop about Graham, and he never stopped looking at you last night.”
Because Graham was the asshole. I frowned.
“What’s wrong?” Oz asked.
I didn’t want to get into this now, but I didn’t want to hide anything, either. If Oz didn’t like what he heard, it was better he have a chance to back out now. “There’s nothing. I guarantee it. I kissed him last night.”
A frown whispered across Oz’s face and vanished behind his more typical mask of blankness.
