Page 70 of Mr. February

That memory bolstered her confidence now, and she opened the door.

Wade looked up from the coffee pods he was manhandling and beamed at her.

“Hi,” he said. “I hoped I’d catch you before I left. Did I hear you talking?”

Jenny flushed again at the reminder that he heard her when she played with Gloria’s naughty surprise, but maybe that would work to her advantage. She could say hello, ask about his plans for the day, and segue their conversation to an invitation to show off her new adult toy with a personal, hands-on demonstration.

Or maybe not. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out.

Wade observed her carefully, and his shoulders fell when she remained silent. No! She couldn’t let him think she’d changed her mind or felt uncomfortable after last night. Yes, she was nervous, but she was even more excited about spending time with him after how gentle he was with her.

Try as she might, though, words continued to fail her. It was as if she had lost the ability to form words. Wade smiled at her, but it didn’t reach his eyes.

“Well, I guess I’ll see you later. Are we still on for the off-site event tonight? I know you were excited about the escape room before, but I wasn’t sure if you were still interested in going with me after... everything”

Jenny grew more frantic as something in her brain prevented her from speaking, and he grew silent as she stared at him in apanic. Wade sent her a half-hearted smile and bent down to pick up his laptop bag. She couldn’t let him leave, but she couldn’t say anything to make him stay.

At the last moment, she remembered Gloria’s words about alternative ways of getting his attention. They didn’t have the time to go into the details, but she could let him know where she stood.

Jenny rushed over and put her hand on his face. Startled, he looked at her. When her lips pressed against his, he froze. He wrapped his hand around her waist and pulled her closer. She loved that he did that. Their tongues tangled in a fiery kiss that caused her to rethink everything she knew about kisses.

Jenny moaned into his mouth, and it seemingly unlocked her mental block. When Wade pulled away to nip at her mouth with little smooches, she chased his mouth for more of his stupefying kisses. A girl could get addicted to those.

She didn’t know how long they stood there kissing, but eventually Wade calmed her down with sweet little pecks. The gentle kisses made her feel desired but cooled her ardor enough that she could stand without clinging to him.

“Wow. Hi. Good morning,” he said with a glorious smile.

This one reached his eyes and lit up his entire face. His mouth was swollen and damp from their kisses, and she wondered if hers was, too. She licked her own lips, and his eyes dropped to her mouth.

“Hi.” She owed him an explanation. “Sorry about that whole freeze thing. Sometimes I get tongue-tied, and it’s like my brain forgets I know how to speak. So many thoughts jumble around in my head, but my mouth won’t let them escape.”

“That must be frustrating for you.”

Jenny wanted to weep at how gracious he was being. Instead, she threaded her fingers with his hand and squeezed.

“It is, yes. Thankfully, it doesn’t happen very much anymore. But I guess I got too nervous and forgot the whole English language.”

He frowned. “Nervous?”

“Well, yeah. Of course. We, uh, made out last night, and now we’re seeing each other again. Naturally, I’m nervous. Are you saying you’re not?”

He chuckled.

“Super nervous. That’s why I rearranged the coffee station seventy-three times in the last five minutes. But I don’t want you to be nervous.”

“I’m not now. Thank you.”

“Oh, the thanks are all yours, but I’m happy to claim them again when we have more time. But now, we need to head downstairs if we want to have enough time to grab some food before our first sessions of the day.”

“You’re right.”

Now that things were calm between the two of them, her excitement about her professional development opportunity bloomed.

“I’m looking forward to the accounting conference, though I’m sorry we won’t be in sessions together again today. And then, um, I’m doing that workshop afterwards, so I think I probably won’t be able to meet up with you until sixish.”

She said the last bit with an apology in her tone. Chad would have been annoyed if his program ended before hers. He would have demanded she skip the workshop so he wouldn’t have to entertain himself for an hour or two. Wade frowned, and her shoulders tensed in preparation to defend herself.

“I forgot about your workshop. They don’t give you guys much time between the last session and the workshop. Do you have snacks to keep you going until dinner? In the office, I can work all day at my desk without a break, but I’m always starvingduring these sessions. Lunch is too early, and the afternoon drags on forever without a pick-me-up. I don’t know about you, but when I’m hangry, I can’t pay attention for shit.”

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