Page 44 of Some Things Never Change

That was when I noticed someone out front. Andy was outside, close to our lobby doors, scrolling through his phone, and clearly waiting for me. I was taken by surprise. I hadn’t seen him all day and I could tell he had had a busy day.

He was no longer wearing a tie as his dark blazer draped over one of his arms. The crisp baby blue button-up he had on earlier today was now somewhat wrinkled. Even the top two buttons of his shirt were undone. He also rolled up his sleeves, showing those strong and corded forearms. I guess it had been that horrible of a day. But, despite looking disheveled, he honestly looked like he was a model for men’s business wear with his beautiful face and long legs.

I forced myself not to stare too long at Andy even with all his alluring Adonis energy radiating out like sun rays. I took my attention elsewhere and noticed something a little peculiar. The few coworkers who stayed late and headed out with me were also eagerly greeting him before heading into the elevator, whether they were women or men. I scoffed with a smile on my lips. Cindy was right. He was practically everyone at our firm’s work crush.

“Hey, stranger,” I said. “Long day?”

“Hey.” He nodded, slipping his phone into his back pocket. His tired eyes and strained shoulders seemed to immediately relax in my presence.

“Sorry, I was taking too long.”

Andy gave me an easy smile and shrugged. “It’s alright. If it’s you, Tink, I’ll wait a lifetime if you tell me to.”

I rolled my eyes at my favorite sweet talker. “What a patient man.”

“I definitely am.”

“You seem tired.”

“I am, but I’ll be fine. Where’s your friend?”

“On a plane to San Ignacio for Lunar New Year.”

“Oh, right. It’s this weekend. I never know when it is since Hmong people don’t celebrate it.”

Culturally, the Hmong people don’t celebrate the Lunar New Year, despite originating from southern China.

“Same here. I usually only know when it’s about to happen because my friends talk about it. You’re still up for some Crying Tiger though?”

Andy turned to me with a mischievous expression. He quickly licked his dry lips wet, making a soft smacking noise that sounded far more sensual than necessary. A wide, playful grin crossed his lips as he let out a throaty chuckle. He leaned into me, not too close but not an arm’s length away, either.

“I’ve been thinking about it all day.” His voice was dramatically low. His tone was teasing and practically insinuating I was talking about something other than food.

I smiled at his dumb, playful antics and lightly punched his hard chest. He was being a dumbass, and I was about to tell him to stop being one. But I caught glances from two fellow female coworkers as they walked past us. They were attentively eyeing Andy and I as we stood where we were.

“Why do you have to say it like that? It’s going to make people think the wrong thing.”

My cheeks were burning. I quickly took a step back from him, realizing how physically close we were to one another. We were still at work, after all.

Andy let out a boyish laugh as he leaned back into me, closing the gap I just created between us. He was practically on the brink of tears from how much he was enjoying this.

“Even if it’s out of context, it’s not my fault people’s minds are in the gutter and assuming something called Crying Tiger is a freaky sex move. I was merely clowning around,” he said in a whisper. “Catch my drift?”

“People can take anything you say in that voice out of context for freaky sex, Andy.” Despite the smile on my face, I scoffed. “Stop being a dumbass. People are going to start gossiping about us.”

“I don’t care. Let them say whatever they want.”

He motioned toward the elevator, and we started walking toward it. Unfortunately, we stood right behind my two coworkers. There was no way in hell that they weren’t jumping to the wrong conclusions. I glanced around. It was suddenly only the four of us, standing in a heavy silence. I watched the way my coworkers shifted uncomfortably where they stood.

“But, it’s true. I really was thinking about dinner all day though,” said Andy earnestly. His voice was loud enough for my coworkers to hear.

He bumped his elbow into my biceps playfully. He continued to wear his wide grin after a cute little laugh. Andy sounded so innocent and excited with his honest comment. I couldn’t help but let out a laugh with him in return. I shook my head at him, glad that whatever tension between us this morning had boiled over.

Now there was another kind of tension between us and my colleagues, which ensured an awkward elevator ride down to the parking garage. My coworkers gave us tight-lipped, polite smiles as they glanced between Andy and I. Andy, on the other hand, was oblivious to it.

Maybe that was because he was grinning and giggling at me the whole time, distracting me, but I hardly paid as much attention to my colleagues. The way his smile brightened up his face and his eyes sparkled with such lively mischief had me smiling back at him as well.

He was being a complete fool–a really cute one, too.

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