Page 3 of His Alone

“It was intended as a compliment. I like it.”

“Oh. That’s good. I mean—thank you.”

It was on the tip of my tongue to tell him that I liked his name as well—along with literally every other part of him I could see—but I managed to clench my jaw tight enough to stop the words from spilling out. I didn’t want to make myself look like even more of a basket case than I already had.

His pager beeped and he glanced down with a curse before he started to back toward the door, his eyes never leaving mine.

“I got to run, but I guess we’ll be seeing each other around from now on.”

“Oh, definitely. Because we both work here. So, I’ll be around, and you’ll be around. And… Yeah.”

What is wrong with me?

“Right,” he replied with a laugh. “Well, I’m sure I’ll see you soon. And Emily? Call me if you need anything.”

“Will do.”

He cast me a final smoldering glance before heading out the door, yelling over his shoulder, “Have a good day, ladies!”

Silence descended once again. I was too embarrassed to even look over at Emily, though I could feel her watching me. My cheeks continued to burn as I struggled to work up the nerve to turn to her. When I finally did, I immediately regretted it.

“Well, that was awkward. Seriously—just… wow,” Emily said with a wide, amused grin. “I am so glad I was here to see that.”

“Thank you for making my mortification complete,” I muttered bitterly, though it was directed more at myself than it was at her. “I don’t know what happened. I just couldn’t stop my stupid mouth from moving.”

“I know. I saw the whole thing, remember?” She paused and gave me a weird look like she was considering something before she finally added, “He’s single, you know. Wide open.”

“Why are you telling me that?”

“Oh, please. Ignoring the awkward conversation, you looked at him the same way I used to look at my husband before we finally got together. You can’t fool me.”

“Do you think he noticed?”

“Him? Come on, Piper. He’s a man. Despite what they may think, they aren’t exactly great at figuring out women—especially ones they just met. Of course he didn’t notice.”

“Well, I’m pretty sure I just made the world’s worst first impression, so I’m going to cut my losses now.”

“I don’t know… I could see it happening. Don’t give up hope just yet.”

“Oh yeah? And what makes you say that?”

Emily smiled. “Because he was giving you the exact same look that you were giving him, and you didn’t even notice.”

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