Iswallowed against the anxiety tightening around my throat. “I thought you weregoing to bring up—”
“Youmeanthe kiss?” she asked, planting a hand against her hip. “You saidyou were drunk and it wasn’t going to happen again, so we figured it wasn’t abig deal.Unless…”
“No,you’re right,” I brushed her off hastily, opening my briefcase and sipping at mycoffee. “Now, I need to get back into the swing of things here, guys. So, ifyou could just—”
Alexraised his hands into the air and shook his head. “Oh no, honey. Hold up just asecond. You came back to work a new woman. I don’t know why I didn’t notice thisthe second you walked through the door. Jessica, will you please assess ourfearless leader and tell me what’s different about her?” He walked to standbeside my desk, gesturing his hands toward me like he was a model on agameshow.
Itold myself there was no way they could tell I had indulged in anuncharacteristic night of meaningless sex. It had been over twenty-four hourssince I’d shared a bed with Sebastian. I’d had two showers since then, fourspritzes of perfume, and a whole night of sleep separate from him. And still, Ifound myself afraid they could tell, afraid they’d want details, afraid they’dsee me differently.
“It’sher hair,” Jess nodded after a moment of assessing. “You never wear your haircompletely down like that.”
“Bingo.”Alex ran his long fingers through the lengths of my hair, humming with delight.“God, lady, your hair isgorgeous. That weekend must’ve done you somegood, because this is a new, free you. Iloveit.”
Relieflifted a massive weight from my shoulders and I sat up a little higher,smiling. “It really was great. Sebastian has one of those waterfall showerheadsin his bathroom, and it really is as luxurious at it sounds. I should have oneinstalled in my place, but who has the time for that?”
Isighed, remembering the shower we had taken after fully waking up on Sunday. Theway he had insisted on washing my hair, which seemed like such a silly thing atthe time. I was a grown woman fully capable of washing my own hair, thank youvery much, and that’s exactly what I had told him. But he wanted to, andalthough I rolled my eyes and felt ridiculous, I found that it was one of thesimplest joys I’d experienced in recent history. Just having someone else washmy hair.
Ihad smelled like him all day, at his parents’ house and even driving home. I hadavoided showering again until I woke up this morning, just to keep his scentaround me a little longer. I’d told myself that the one and only reason for myhesitation, was simply that he smelled good. Nothing more.
“What’sthat face for?” Jess accused, tipping her head and jutting her hip.
“What?”I asked, focusing my eyes onto the papers on my desk. “What face?”
“Youdisappeared for a second,” she mentioned gently, nodding. “You had this littlesmile on your face. You looked the way my dog did the day he got his paws on adead squirrel in the yard.” Jess and her husband had adopted a Lab puppy a yearago who had a penchant for retrieving everything he could, including the occasionaldeceased animal. Can’t take the Retriever out of the Labrador, they alwayssaid, and they were right.
“Oh,I, uh, was just thinking about how crappy my shower is in comparison,” and thatwasn’t entirely a lie. “You really wouldn’t think it’d make that much of adifference, but it actually does.”
Icleansed my mind and body with a deep inhale and a full exhale, tapping myfingers against my desk. “Okay, guys, seriously. I need to get to work in here.I need to call Mrs. Worthington and Roman and get the ball rolling on thesesales.”
Withan exaggerated yawn, Alex excused himself from the room and Jess stepped towardthe desk. “What’s the plan with that?”
Pullingout a stack of paperwork and shuffling it into neat piles, I replied, “Well, Icould technically make the sale on the Worthington house now. Roman could movein right away, while I sell his Manhattan house remotely.”
“But?”Jess offered expectantly, pinching her lips.
“But,I want him to meet with Mrs. Worthington before I make any decisions. She hasapproved or disapproved all potential buyers thus far, and I want her to be asinvolved as humanly possible. Roman can be in the area, he says, in a few weeks,so they’ll be able to meet then. Unfortunately, that means I’ll be sitting onthis deal for at least that long, but there isn’t much else I can do in themeantime.” I shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t know why he can’t be here sooner thanthat. It could be a day trip for him, just to meet the old woman for a fewminutes.”
Jesshummed, bobbing her head. “He’s a busy guy.”
“Yes,he really is,” I agreed.
Iwas disappointed when Jess grabbed the chair across from me and pulled it closeto the desk. I really did have work to do, things to think about, but I knewher gossip face when I saw it, and I braced myself.
“What’she like?” she whispered, leaning forward over the desk.
“Who,Roman?” She nodded eagerly, and I instantly felt my cheeks flush. “He’sactually kind of amazing, honestly.”
“OhGod, is he one of those men thatoozeswealth? Because I just got thisfeeling, and with a name like that?Roman Dolecki…” She released agroan that would’ve been inappropriate had it not been the two of us in myoffice. “Yes,please.”
“Prettymuch,” I laughed, shaking my head and taking another sip of coffee. “And he’sso nice,” I added.
Edgingcloser over the desk, Jess asked, “Is he hot?”
Andbecause the conversation was distracting her, and myself, from any thoughtsabout the weekend or Sebastian, I nodded. “Uh, yes. Incredibly.”
***
“Howwas your drive home?” Roman asked, his deep voice caressing my ear through thespeakerphone in my office.
