“Seethat guy?”
Kellinodded.
“Whatdo you think of his outfit?”
“Ithink he feels good in it.Lookat how confident his walk is.”
“Butwhat do you think of the color of his sweater?”
Shegave him an amused smile that said she knew what it was he wasreallyasking. “Ithink that color would look great on you.Why?Didyou buy one like it while you were out shopping today?”
Hechuckled inside.Shevery much didn’t understand why he was asking.Hepushed further. “Whatdo you think about it paired with jeans, though?”
Hegot that same amused smile from her, and she motioned at his pants. “Youlook mighty fine in jeans,Parker.Howabout the hair?Ican compliment the hair, too, if you’d like.”
Thistime, he laughed out loud.Buthe pushed, making sure he was specific this time. “Butif you’re talking style, the color of the sweater is fine when worn with jeans?”
Shegave him a look that told him she was confused as to why that could possibly be something he was wondering. “Ithink people should wear whatever they like, especially if it makes them feel great.Ifwhatever you’re wearing makes you feel as confident as that guy looks, what you’re wearing is going to look good to everyone.That’sall anyone needs to worry about.”
Heleaned back in his seat and smiled.Hemight be sitting next to the least judgmental woman he’d ever known, and she’d been right under his nose for two-and-a-half years.
Eleven
Kelli
Kelliwasn’tthe only one crowding around the points board in the family room before heading to the activities building to make gingerbread houses.Afew people were trailing and probably had no plans to catch up.Shehad hoped that she was enough in the lead to skip gingerbread house making, but she was sitting at eleven points and so wasParker.Anda couple of people were only one point behind them, so she couldn’t risk it.
Especiallybecause it was a two-point activity, and especially because she really,reallywanted to win that weekly lunch for her team.Andclose behind that was her desire to not letParkerhave her parking space for a full year.
Addisonmust’ve noticed her looking atParker’spoints, because she glanced around to make sure he wasn’t in the room and then said, “Youwork with him, right?”
Kellishrugged. “Notreally.We’rein the same department but on very different teams.SoIsee him daily, but all along we’ve been rivals more than anything else.”Shefelt like they still were, but they were also something that they weren’t before, and she wasn’t quite sure what exactly that was.Butshe found herself wanting to figure it out.
“Doyou know if he’s seeing someone?Orhoping to?Becausehe said he was single, butI’mhaving the hardest time getting him to pay any attention to me.”
Kelliopened her mouth but had no idea what to say.Luckily, she was spared trying to come up with a reason becauseAddisonsaid, “Shh.Nevermind—he’s coming in.”
Atext on her phone buzzed, so she stepped away from the points chart and to an area where she was alone and pulled out her phone.Itwas fromValeria.
VALERIA:Hey, girl!How’sthe vacation?Fullof the magic ofChristmas?
KELLI:Youknow it.
VALERIA:Doesthat magic include a certain single man?
Hercheeks blushed just thinking aboutParkerbefore she realized thatValeriahad probably been asking aboutDavis.Shehad danced with him twice more at theTinselandTidingsBall, but withParker’svery timely help,Davishad seemed to understand that she didn’t want anything resembling serious or exclusive, and he had backed off and just danced with her for fun.Davisreally was a good guy, and at another point in her life, she would’ve gladly dated him and probably would have been happy.Daviswas a light in the darkness.
ButParkerharnessed the power of the sun, and her mind couldn’t seem to do anything other than crave its brightness and warmth whenever she wasn’t focused enough on what she was doing to keep her mind from wandering.
Shehesitated a moment, staring atValeria’stext, before typing in,Yes, but not the single guy you’re thinking of.
Thetext showed asreadfor a slight pause before she gotValeria’sresponse.
VALERIA:PARKER?!
It’sParker, isn’t it?
Ohmy.Afterall this time, it’sParker, isn’t it?
