“You know, I’m surprised at you.” He wagged a playful finger at me. “When we first met, I got this vibe from you, like…”
I pulled a face. Where was he going with this? I already knew his first impression of me was not, shall we say, flattering.
“Like you weren’t exactly crazy about your job.”
“My job?” I wasn’t sure what I’d expected him to say, but that wasn’t it.
“You kind of smeared the whole tech industry. I got the feeling you weren’t exactly career focused. No offense!” He shifted his tumbler from hand to hand. “But just now… I mean, you clearly have a spark of passion. I think you might be a force to be reckoned with. At least, if you put your mind to it.”
“Oh, I’m a force all right.” My tone was casual, but my mind was tumbling. He’d gotten nonserious, noncareer-focused vibes from me?Is that what I am?And tonight I’d shown a spark?I mean, I’m nothing but spark!But did that mean he thought I had career potential? Or… wait, why did I even care what he saw in me?
I took a gulp of wine and promptly coughed as it went down wrong, dribbling a splash down my chin.There. That will teach him to see my potential.I subtly turned my head away to wipe my chin with my hand.
“So I was wondering.” His lips quirked in amusement. Oh no, was he going to ask me what I had done to get invited here tonight? I couldn’t bear to tell him about the Goodwill mugs. “Who’s the guy?”
“What?” This conversation was giving me whiplash.
“Who’s the guy? When I saw you on Valentine’s Day, it seemed like, you know…”
Like I was a sad sack waiting for a guy to call me?Honestly! How rude.
“And you think I should tell you his name, as if you know every guy in Seattle?” I silently cursed myself for giving away the fact that there was, in fact, a guy.
He gave me an annoying know-it-all look.
“If you must know, because you are apparently an extremely nosy person, it’s a guy I met at my friend’s office holiday party. We had only gone out a few times, so it’s not like I was expecting anything on Valentine’s Day. I actually prefer to have a nice self-care night sometimes, you know, some alone time. It’s an introvert thing.” I lifted my chin in a dignified way.
He stared at me with his mouth open. “You are sonotan introvert!”
“You don’t know that,” I pouted.
“Come on, it’s obvious. Like it’s also obvious that you’re a Sagittarius.”
“What the—” How the heck did he know that? If he was one of those people obsessed with astrology, I would be leaving this conversation at once.
He threw back his head and laughed. “It’s on your Instagram profile.”
“Oh my God.” He was messing with me! And he had broken that unspoken twenty-first-century rule where you don’t tell people information you’ve gleaned from stalking them online.
“And you’re a—” I sized him up. “What? Virgo?”
“Not telling.”
“That’s no fun. Tell me.”
“Nope. You’ll have to figure it out. Now what’s the deal with the guy? Are you still talking to him?”
He really was very interested in hearing about the guy I might or might not be seeing. I had to admit, his interest was flattering. I was never one to turn down an opportunity to flirt, and Christopher was surprisingly easy to flirt with. Something I would never be admitting to my mom, ever.
“As a matter of fact, yes.”
“And how’s that going?”
“Fine, thank you.” I paused, considering it. “We hang out once a week or so.”
“Ah. And you want it to be more?”
“Well… I mean, I wouldn’t mind.” What was happening? How was he breaking into my defenses?
