Her smile was infectious.
I smiled back.
There was no doubt she was happy to see me. I’d been anxious about her reaction.
I unlocked the passenger door as she approached. She pulled the door open and slid in. The space was instantly filled with her scent—a hint of shampoo and an undertone of something soft that was just her.
“Is this how it’s going to be? Stalking me in front of my apartment?” she teased, the broad grin still there, and her eyes sparkling with laughter.
I pulled away from the curb. “Was that a‘Hi, Anton, I’m so glad to see you’? No, I don’t think it was.”
“I’m just surprised. I expected you would already be at work, not parked here, waiting for me.”
“We’re going to the same place, and this is on my way,” I replied.
She shook her head, chuckling. “How long were you waiting there for me?”
“Only twenty minutes, but I was prepared to wait longer.”
Seeing her face this morning and how glad she was to see me meant that I would be in a terrific mood no matter what happened today.
“Everyone knows you’re the earliest one at work. What will they think if they see you come in after eight o’clock?” She gasped in mock shock, pulling a stray hair away from her face. “And imagine the rumor mill circulating when they find outI’mthe reason you missed your precious before-eight-o’clock solitude.”
I felt heat creeping up my neck. “So, you’ve heard about that.”
What else had she heard about me?
“Of course, from the first week,” she replied.
Now that Celia had caught my interest and was my colleague, the firm felt like a field with a landmine where I had to put each foot in front of the other carefully.
“I wanted a chance to speak to you without the risk of anyone at the office overhearing. Go on a date with me. Tonight.”
From the corner of my eye, I saw her tilt her head, eyes wide. I’d surprised both of us because this wasn’t how I’d planned to ask her. But I couldn’t keep it in any longer.
When I had the impulse to pick her up this morning, I wasn’t sure how she would react. But seeing her, and being with her, confirmed that it was probably a tremendously rash decision I might regret. People at the office were bound to talk if they saw us arriving together.
I didn’t care about that, though. The truth was, I wanted to spend time with her however I could.
“I can get a dinner reservation. Or we can do something else, anything you would like.” I glanced at her, waiting for her answer.
I could see the cogs turning in her head. “When you said, ‘we’d figure it out,’ I didn’t know this was what you meant.”
“So, youdon’twant to go on a date with me?”
We were a few minutes away from the office. I wanted to finish this conversation before we arrived; otherwise, it would be impossible for me to get any work done.
“No,” she quickly replied, her cheeks red. “I do. I just think a dinner reservation is too serious for a first date.”
I raised both brows. “Really? What’s a good first date activity?”
She relaxed back into her seat. “I went to a firing range one time. That was cool.”
A firing range?
She glanced at me. Noticing my expression, she laughed, filling the car with her sound. “I meant somewhere fun, like an arcade or a bowling alley.”
“So, you’re agreeing to go on a date with me tonight?” I took the ramp down to the underground parking garage and stopped the car in my designated spot.
