Page 23 of The Shape of You


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“What are you doing here?” The question was out of Rebecca’s mouthbefore she could take a second to think about how it might sound. Accusatoryand a titch rude. That was how it sounded. She managed not to wince at her owntone.

“I was going to ask you the same thing,” Spencer replied, notmissing a beat. “They don’t have food near the gym?” Her soft smile took anysting out of the words that might have seeped in. “My office is across thestreet. I eat lunch here a lot.”

Doesn’t thatjust fucking figure?Rebecca tried not to notice how appealingSpencer was in her work clothes. She was so used to seeing her client inworkout pants and sweaty T-shirts, her hair in a ponytail, that this alternateversion of Spencer was unexpected. Only able to see her from the waist up,Rebecca took in the black-and-white pinstriped top with silver buttons and howit was open at Spencer’s throat, revealing a chunky silver necklace thataccented a visible collarbone. Her blond hair was down, the waves even moreprominent out of the ponytail, and it was longer than Rebecca had originallythought, cascading past her shoulders to skim the tops of Spencer’sunexpectedly ample br—ForGod’s sake! Stop that!

Rebecca squeezed her eyes shut and willed her brain to be quiet.

“Are you waiting for somebody?” Spencer asked, her tone innocentlyinquisitive and not at all like she knew what Rebecca had been thinking.

“I was. She didn’t show.” Rebecca hadn’t meant to say that either.God, what was wrong with her?

“A date?” Spencer asked just above a whisper, leaning forwardconspiratorially.

“No,” Rebecca snapped. Her shoulders dropped in defeat and shesighed. “Yes.”

Spencer nodded as if she understood completely. She sat back asthe waitress arrived with a grilled cheese and tomato sandwich and chips on awhite plate that matched Rebecca’s coffee mug. When the waitress took thenumbered placard and left, Spencer asked, “A set-up? Or online?”

“Online.”

“Do you think she peeked in, saw you, and left?”

Rebecca stared at her, blinking, then her brow furrowed, butbefore she could snap off a retort, Spencer held up her hand, a big grin on herface.

“I’m kidding. I’m kidding. Please, like anybody would see you andwalk away. No. Not happening.” She gave a small snort, then took a bite of hersandwich. She chewed as she looked out the window, suddenly seeming at a lossfor words.

Rebecca sipped the last of her coffee—even though she was certainher bladder had zero room left—and stared back at her. The silence lasted forseveral beats before Spencer apparently located words again, cocked her head,and surprised Rebecca by asking, “What’s your deal with me?”

Brow furrowed, Rebecca asked, “What do you mean?” even though shewas pretty sure she knew exactly what Spencer meant. She did her best tomaintain eye contact instead of looking away guiltily, which was really whatshe wanted to do. Spencer’s eyes were a deep blue, subtly but darkly lined, andaccented by thick, mascaraed lashes that only made the blue more intense.

Spencer looked at her for several seconds, as if trying to decideon the best approach. “I mean, what’s the deal? I start the bride class and youobviously can’t stand me. Which was weird because you’d only just met me. Thatgoes on for an entire week, making me miserable, so I quit. You apologize tome, which seemed pretty sincere.”

“It was.”

“So I come back and you’re awesome. Friendly. Helpful. Made theclass fun.”

Rebecca couldn’t help the soft smile that appeared on her face atthe words.

“Then yesterday, you stepped back again. Not all the way, thankGod, but back enough for me to notice the difference. So, what’s the deal?”

There were a few different options in front of Rebecca at that moment.She could tell the truth, ask why Spencer was okay with somebody who supposedlyloved her pretty much telling her she needed to be in better shape for herwedding, tell her she was having trouble getting beyond that because shewatched her mother do the same thing throughout her married life and it wasbrutal, and she didn’t want Spencer to be sentenced to the same existence. Shecould lie, make up a story to satisfy the woman who sat across from her,looking so inquisitively attractive. Or she could feign confusion, pretend shehad no idea what Spencer was talking about. A bevy of choices laid out for herchoosing.

She chose the last one.

“I’m not sure I understand.” Rebecca furrowed her brow, shook herhead, did her best to look puzzled. “I don’t think I treated you anydifferently from Monday to yesterday.” She shrugged, sipped her coffee, did herbest not to fidget in her seat while Spencer studied her intently. A long beatpassed. Two. Three. Rebecca swallowed.

“Okay.”

Okay?Rebecca’s eyebrows shot up before she could stop them, she was so surprised bySpencer’s reply. Spencer picked up her cup, sipped from the straw, popped achip into her mouth, and looked at Rebecca.

“Good,” Rebecca said with one firm nod.She doesn’t believe me.Rebecca was sure ofit. It was right there on Spencer’s face. Searching for a way to notimmediately cut the conversation short, but not to drag it out any longereither, she said, “I think you’re doing great, and in another week or two,you’re really going to see results.”

“Thanks.” Spencer continued to eat her lunch but didn’t say anymore.

Rebecca took that as a good time to leave. “Well, it was nicerunning into you, but I should get back to work.”

“Sure.” Spencer took a bite of her sandwich and watched Rebeccagather her things. Rebecca could feel her eyes. As she stood, Spencer said,“Sorry about your date. Her loss.”

Which made Rebecca feel even worse as she practically fled thediner for the safety—and solitude—of her car. Once inside the car, she let outa huge breath of relief and weirdly felt like she’d just run a couple of miles.Heart pounding, breath ragged, blood rushing. This was all so unlike her.