Page 5 of His Alone

“The way I act professionally isn’t an accurate reflection of how I act personally. In reality, I’m not a fan of going out or meeting new people or any of that. I feel like I talk to people enough at work all day. By the time I’m done, I just want to relax and not worry about putting on a show for someone I barely know. That make sense?”

“It does, but…”

“But what?”

“Has it affected your relationships outside of work?”

James gave me a long, hard look before his lips rose at the corners, forming a sly smile.

“You mean has it affected my dating life.”

It was a statement—not a question. I nodded anyway. It felt pointless to bother denying it when the truth was probably written all over my face.

“I haven’t had much of a dating life for the past few years. I just got sick of the whole process, which is part of the reason why I don’t bother going out.”

“So, you’re pretty much saying that dating made you an introvert? Sounds about right to me,” I said with a snort.

James cocked an eyebrow. “Sounds like there’s a story there.”

“No, not really. Just… sounds right,” I said in an attempt to deflect his line of questioning.

“Oh, come on. Everyone’s had at least one bad date, right? Or is that just what I tell myself so I can sleep at night?”

I wanted to laugh at his self-deprecation, but I couldn’t. I was drawn in by the sight of his dimples, which faded away after a few moments with no reaction from me. He started to frown and I felt the overwhelming urge to tell him the truth. My mouth opened to speak before my brain had a chance to process what I was about to admit.

“I’ve never been on a date.”

His eyebrows shot up so fast it was almost comical. It probably would have been if I hadn’t admitted something so personal and embarrassing. I’d always been made to feel ashamed about my lack of interest in boys and dating—even by my so-called friends in school. Truth be told, I always wondered if something was wrong with me.

Then I saw James for a whole five seconds and that fear went right out the window, only to be replaced by another, more insidious type. The fear of rejection.

“Never?”

“Never.”

James narrowed his eyes and asked, “What’s your definition of a date?”

“I know what you’re trying to get at, but no. The closest thing I ever had to a date was in eighth grade when a boy asked me to a school dance because he was afraid the girl he liked would say no. We went as friends.”

“What about prom?”

“I skipped it. I didn’t have a lot of friends by senior year and I didn’t want to feel like more of a loser than I already did.”

James shook his head and blinked slowly, lips parted and a look of pure disbelief on his handsome features.

“What about college? Did no one ask you out then?”

“Well, a few guys asked, I just wasn’t interested.”

“You’ve never been on a date,” he said, still clearly shocked. To my horror, his mind seemed to jump directly to the next conclusion, because he reared back with wide eyes as he said, “Wait. Does that mean you’ve never—”

“Can we please stop right here?” I blurted, interrupting him. I’m sure my red cheeks answered his unspoken question well enough, judging by the horrified look on his face. “You probably have somewhere you need to be.”

James cleared his throat and swallowed hard before nodding in agreement.

“Right, right. I should… go.”

I didn’t know what to say in response, so I stared down at my sandwich while I listened to him gathering his trash and walking away. The footsteps stopped close to the door and I braved a glance up to find him looking back at me with an odd expression.

“I hope you’ll at least consider going to the party. It’d be nice to see you outside of work.”

“I’ll think about it.”

“Good. I’ll see you around, Piper.”

He definitely would. Even though he now knew the truth about my lack of experience, I was already planning out possible outfits for the party in my head that I thought he might like. Virgin or not, I wanted him and I needed to at least try to make him want me back.

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