Page 46 of Just The Way You Aren't

“She’s just in here,” Abby says, opening the door to a room with beat up chairs and tables set up. Along one side of the room is an extra walker and wheelchair. There are cabinets bursting with games and art supplies at the back of the room.

Willow is laying out blank white cards at about fifteen spots around the tables. She looks up to see me and seems surprised. Her smile doesn’t quite reach her eyes. “Hello, Damien.”

“Hi,” I respond, suddenly feeling awkward. “I’m here for our meeting.”

“Right. Just let me finish up here. I’m almost done.” She lays the last three cards in their places and then jogs to the cabinet.

“I’m early. Please don’t rush on my account.” I rub the back of my neck. As much as I’d been looking forward to seeing Willow, something feels… off.

“I’ll just leave you two to it.” Abby grins and excuses herself.

Then it’s just Willow and me.

“Stickers,” she mutters. “Markers. Stamps.” She teeters on top of a stool that should have been retired years ago as she pulls the requisite items off the top shelf of the cabinet.

“I’m not sure that’s—” I start, but then, as I feared, she begins to teeter right off.

The supplies that were in her hands all go flying, and she shrieks.

I have no idea how I do it, but I get there just in time to catch her. A box of markers and some ink stamps bounce off my head. “Willow! Are you okay?”

She rubs her head, which now has half a butterfly wing stamped on her forehead. “Yeah, thanks.”

We stare at each other for a long time. Then I swallow and set her down on her feet. “That stool is a hazard. Almost as dangerous as high heeled sandals.”

She doesn’t laugh at my admittedly lame attempt at humor. “I know. I’ll get a new one this week,” she says, straightening her clothes.

“You’ll get a new one today,” I reply sternly.

Willow’s eyes flash for a moment, something I’ve never seen happen before. “You can’t fix everything, Damien.”

“I can sure as hell try.”

She gives me a wan smile. “Okay. Well, you can help bycleaning up this mess with me and getting things organized for tomorrow’s activity.”

“Okay. What’s the activity?” I ask, bending to pick up stamps, markers, and stickers that have scattered everywhere.

Willow bends over as well, and I get a very nice view of her backside in her faded jeans. Everything male in me springs to attention as I try not to stare at the luscious curves of her ass and recall how good it looked several nights ago when I was?—

“We’re making cards for veterans,” she says, yanking me back to the present. She stands up, then starts collecting jars and putting markers in them, spreading them evenly around the table.

“Cards for vets? That sounds nice. What’s the occasion?” I ask, scooping stamps into a box and setting it in the middle of the table.

She smiles indulgently and separates out my stamps. “They need to be closer to the seniors so they can reach them easily,” she explains as she sets a bin here and a bin there.

“Ah. Makes sense.” I start gathering up stickers and, taking a lesson from her, lay the stickers at different, reachable points between the seats.

Willow bites her lip, then helps again by rearranging my work. “We need to have a variety of stickers at each spot, and especially alphabet stickers at every spot. Some members have trouble writing.”

“Right.” I feel like a bit of an idiot, but she doesn’t laugh at me.

In fact, she reaches out and touches my arm. “Thank you for your help. And for catching me.”

“You’re welcome.” I stare into her hazel eyes, then down at her sexy lips.

She quickly steps away from me. “So, we should probably go to my office to discuss things.”

I frown slightly. I guess we’re not going to talk about the sex. I’m a little disappointed, but mostly relieved. I’m not sure what it means yet, and that would make a very, very awkward conversation between us. “Yes, let’s go to your office.”

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