Profound in that I needed to hear it. Assholish as in he was questioning going out to lunch with Harry today. Though I could be reading too much into it. Men didn't actually think that much, did they? Pesto dropped onto my bare foot and I cursed as the sauce squished between mytoes.
As I cleaned my feet up, I pondered what Martin said to me. Did he know something I didn't? Was today as exhausting for him as it was for me? I stood up, tossed the rag into the sink, and leaned against the counter staring at the closed door. Martin was an interesting man, though I needed to remember to keep this professional. Well...as professional as I could considering our rocky start and me almost bashing his brains in with one of my good rollingpins.
The next morningI rolled into work a little late. I wasn't going to come at all, but I still needed money. I decided early this morning that I could deal with whatever life threw at me today. But when I entered my office and saw Harry sitting there waiting for me, it totally discombobulatedme.
I stopped with one foot in the door. "Harry?"
He spun around and gave me a charming grin. Today he was dressed in a pair of slim fitting black slacks and a white button down shirt. Two buttons were undone at the top, giving me a tantalizing glance of golden chest. His lighter hair was style a little less messy today and his eyes had dimmed from a bright golden to more of a coppery color. He had his beast well in checktoday.
"Hey, Katie." He gave me an awkward littlewave.
"Do you have an appointment?" I couldn't hide the suspicion in myvoice.
Surprise widened his eyes. "No! I mean no, I'm not here for an appointment." His chuckle was self-deprecating and if I wasn't mistaken, he looked a little nervous. "I'm here to see if you'd like to have a drink with me afterwork."
I stepped into my office and shrugged off my jacket. He hurried over to help me with it and hung it neatly on the coat tree. I wasn't feeling all that great today. Making the trek into work today was strange to say the least. Everyone was staring at me and one person even had the nerve to run up to me to ask if I could give them the winning lottery numbers. So to say I was pissed off would be a slight misinterpretation of how I was reallyfeeling.
And Harry...he'd thrown me off balance today and I wasn't sure if I liked it. "Oh, um..." I hedged as I bent down to stow my purse under thedesk.
"Oh God," Harry said. "You're weirded out." He scrubbed a hand over his face. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to come on so strong." He gave a nervous laugh and grabbed hisjacket.
"Harry."
He waved a hand at me. "No. No, this is my fault. I'm intruding into your personal space. Don't worry about it. I'll stop being creepy and try to think about how to approach this differently nexttime."
I couldn't help it. Nervous Harry was adorable. I laughed. "No," I said on a sigh. "Please. Come back in." I slid into my chair and sighed as my back hit it. "This week has been... alot."
"No kidding," he said as he cautiously came back in and sat in front of me. "I can't even imagine. Do you still have an audience at yourdoorstep?"
I let out a snort. Boy did I. "I had to contact the police this morning. They set up barriers forme."
Harry winced. "It's like The Bachelorette with possible restrainingorders."
I let out a snort laugh. "It's the worst, that's what itis."
"Yeah," he agreed. "So about that drink..." Harry let out a loud chuckle and looked at mehopefully.
He was cute. It was too soon, but Harry was cute. And self-deprecating. And he had a good smile and an even nicer butt. A girl like me could do a lot worse than Harry. I pretended to think about it, but I'd already made my mind up but was trying not to sound too eager. "I guess," Isaid.
He clapped both hands over his chest. "I've never heard a more ringing endorsement!" He winked at me and stood. "I'll leave you to your work. How about I pick you up at7?"
I nodded. "I'll be ready. Where are wegoing?"
He waggled his eyebrows. "It's a surprise. I'll tell you when we're on the way." He slid that adorable grin my way and slipped out of myoffice.
"Cute. Super cute," I murmured to myself as I helped myself to staring at his butt on the wayout.
The restof my day was kind of weird, but it went by pretty fast so I couldn't complain. My clients who came in were polite and professional, though I did know one of them who seemed super nervous to make her wish. I finally had to reassure her that the paperwork she'd signed before even stepping into my office contained a non-disclosure agreement and anything she wanted to discuss or ask of me would be covered by it. Except crimes. She let out a sigh of relief and relaxed. The other people who came in were strangers to me, so they were unaffected by the weirdness that was now mylife.
When it was time to go home, I gathered up my stuff and stepped into the bar area. It was almost like a record scratched with the way silence mostly fell. I knew a lot of people in here this time, so I did the only thing I could do. I waved at them like an idiot, smiled, and hurried my way out to mycar.
The only shining spot in my life right now, my car was a beauty. And something I'd never been able to drive to work because it would have given my identity away. It was a deep black, 1967 Chevelle in close to pristine condition. The transmission was standard, but I could live with it and had, in fact, gotten used to it, but I had it modified with a modern air conditioning and radio setup. It rumbled like a contented cougar and ran like a dream and every day I got to drive it made me want to hug it. I trailed my fingers over the shiny black hood, unlocked the door, and gotinside.
I smiled to myself as it started up with a purr. I didn't have a lot of things, but my father had restored this for me and given it to me when I was supposed to get married the first time. When I tried to give it back after Lance had left, my father pulled me into a hug and whispered that he would have given it to me anyway, but my mother made him hold on to it because 'a woman wouldn't appreciate this car as much as her husband would.' We'd laughed because we both knew my mother didn't have a clue about the attachment someone could have for a car and then we'd taken off on the highway screaming rubber and blaring tunes for the next two hours. It made me smile every time I thought aboutit.
I made my way home and rushed into the house to get ready before Harry showedup.
Martin was still inside hammering the gods knew what. I waved at him when he glanced up and pushed my way into the bedroom to getready.
