His groan turns into a laugh. “Tell me about it. I like my job, but I get antsy being stuck at my desk. Not to mention the constant battle against neck and back pain.”
“That’s why I started yoga,” I say. “So I could keep up my profession’s sedentary lifestyle.”
“Same. Well, not yoga, although I wouldn’t be opposed to it. I run around the reservoir in Central Park when the weather’s okay, and about five times a week I go to the gym down on East Seventy-Fourth and Third.”
“I can tell,” I murmur, eyeing the breadth of his shoulders, then cough into my fist. “Um, you’re a software engineer, right?”
He gives me a curious look. “Yeah. I freelance for a few financial firms. So I understand the pressure of deadlines, the need to block everything else out and let the work consume you.”
“Exactly!” The fact that he gets it excites me in a way I can’t explain. “My family worries that my work habits are unhealthy, but there’s something satisfying about it too, you know?”
He nods, his gaze locked on mine. “There’s nothing like the intense focus that comes with being fully absorbed in a project.”
I can’t look away from him. You know that rare, beautiful moment when small talk takes a surprise turn and you’re suddenly connecting on a deeper level with the other person?That’s happening right now with me and Theo, and I don’t think I’m the only one feeling it.
“Sometimes it’s like being in a different world,” I say softly. “Like when you wake up from a really immersive dream. I stop working and think,Oh, right,thisis the real world, not Starsong giving up the quest to return to her planet and finding a new home on Earth.And then I look around and I’m just alone in my apartment with no one to talk to.”
Oh, God. I’ve admitted way more than I meant to. But when I search his face, there’s no judgment, only understanding.
“Feel free to come up and talk to me,” he says quietly. “I have those moments every time my watch yells at me to take a break and I only have my cat to converse with.”
His response is so terrifyingly perfect, I can only address the last part. “You have a cat? What’s her name?”
He winces. “Tink. Her name is Tink.”
“As in . . . ?”
“Tinker Bell, yeah.” He rubs the back of his head and looks slightly embarrassed. “She has green eyes, and while she’s affectionate, she also has a bit of an attitude and doesn’t like being ignored.”
His description makes me giggle. “She sounds like quite a character.”
He rolls his eyes. “You have no idea. If you ever hear any crashing sounds from upstairs, that’s her.”
I purse my lips. “Now that you mention it, you’re oddly quiet.”
“Really?” Relief washes over his face. “That’s good to hear. I never wear shoes inside, and I’ve fixed the floorboards as much as I can so they don’t creak.”
“You did an excellent job. Mine make so much noise it’s like they’re trying to communicate with me.”
He grins. “What do you think they’re trying to say?”
“Probably,Stop stepping on my face.”
He laughs at that, and the look he gives me is sort of ... fond? “You have a great sense of humor, Evie.”
My chest twinges. It was something my grandmother always complimented me on, even if she didn’t understand half of my pop culture references. I try to lighten the mood. “Are you sure that’s not just a nice way of saying,You’re weird? Because I’ve heard that one before.”
He shakes his head, and his tone is thoughtful. “Nothing wrong with weird.”
Just then, I spot Mrs. Greene’s elegant white coif disappearing into the galley kitchen. And even though part of me is dying to see where this conversation leads, the other part is scared of the emotional territory we’re skirting around.
The second part wins out, and I take a step back. “Excuse me for one second. I need to ask Mrs. Greene something.”
The apartment is filling up, and I have to wend my way through the crowd. By the time I reach the kitchen, Mrs. Greene is gone, but Mr. Barnes is in there, refilling the charcuterie board.
Politeness and the need for a moment alone with my thoughts have me moving forward. “Can I help with that, Mr. Barnes?”
“Please, call me Nate. And sure, if you wouldn’t mind. Everything is here on the counter, and when it’s done, it can go back on the dining table with the other food. Thanks, dear.”
