Page 27 of No More Bad Boys
Frank glances up from his repairs. “Color? I hadn’t noticed. But have at it if you want to. The more you get your hands on things around here the better.”
Sadly, the thing I’m most interested in getting my hands on is right in front of my eyes, preparing to go on live TV.
I like him. Really,reallylike him. But somewhere between the focus ring and the toggle zoom this morning I decided I’mnotgoing to go out with Blake.
I know I’ll have to tell him eventually, but the timing is taken out of my hands when I happen to exit the director’s booth at the same time he leaves the studio and we meet in the hallway.
“Cadence,” he says with obvious delight.
“Hi,” I wheeze, overcome by a rare strain of breath-stealing butterflies. “Nice report on the noon.”
“Oh, you saw it? Thanks. So…” He pushes the tips of his fingers into his pockets and rocks back on his heels. “…did you find anything interesting in your office this morning?”
“Uh… yes. The flowers were beautiful. Absolutely… beautiful. Thank you.”
And now I don’t know what to say. He looks so completely adorable up close in person I’m doing a mental speed-rewind of my earlier arguments against dating him.
Why was that a bad idea again?Oh yes. Logic. Right. It just doesn’t make sense.
“You’re welcome.” Blake gives me a gratified smile. “Glad you liked them. And the card?”
I glance around. “Um, can we go somewhere else to talk?”
We’re in the hallway just outside the studio where a steady stream of co-workers passes us in both directions.
We might as well be standing in a busy intersection, and I don’t necessarily want everyone to overhear us. It could make my remaining couple of weeks here uncomfortable.
“Sure. Want to go downstairs?”
“Yes. Good idea. Frank said he was going to lunch.”
Blake follows me down to the engineering office. It’s dark and cool as usual. The air smells of roses, and as always, the low murmur of classic Star Trek plays softly in the background.
Blake points at the TV screen in the corner. “I love this episode—I think I must’ve seen it at least ten times.”
Rats.He has no idea how hard he’s making this.
His eyes flick away from the TV set and back to my face. He apparently doesn’t like what he sees there.
“Uh oh. This doesn’t look like a yes-I’d-love-to-go-out-with-you face.”
I take a breath and launch into the speech I rehearsed in the wee hours of this morning.
“It comes down to this. I’ve got two more weeks here and then, God willing, I’ll have a paying position somewhere, and I’ve still got a whole year of school left. You’ve got a full-time job, and lots of ambition, and once the young blonde intern is out of sight, I’m sure I’ll be out of mind, too. And there are always new interns. And there’s just no point in starting anything we have no chance of finishing.”
“Wait, wait, hold up. Are you saying you think I asked you out because I’ve got a thing for interns? Because—”
He has me flustered. I was supposed to give my speech, and he was supposed to listen and then go away, but now we’re off on this tangent.
I shake my head. “No. I know there’s some… whatever… between us. And we have a few things in common, but that doesn’t mean our going out is a good idea.”
As if on cue, Mr. Spock’s calm steady voice comes from behind me.
“That is… illogical, Captain.”
If this conversation weren’t so distressing I might have laughed. Blake doesn’t look distressed at all.
In fact, his frown from a bit earlier has been replaced by a sly, pleased grin.
