Page 51 of Anatomy of a Meet Cute
“I mean, I kind of earned it the first time,” Grant said, shaking his head.
“Kind of?” Sam reached for a filing cabinet box.
“Hey, I admitted it. That is a big step for me.” Grant smirked, then reached for an identical box.
Dropping to the floor, Sam was beginning to lay out pieces of the cabinet when Grant sat next to her. Quietly, he began to take apart his box, setting out the pieces next to hers. He was smiling, and if Sam were a betting woman, she would guess he was still laughing at his joke.
Someone managed to produce a portable speaker and put on Motown hits for the group. Sam hummed along to the Elgins as the pair of them worked in companionable silence. Every so often she or Grant would lean over to look at the other’s work, effectively double-checking themselves against each other. Outside of that, they were quiet for a time.
“This was a mistake.” Grant’s voice shattered Sam’s concentration and interrupted Stevie Wonder singing about building a world around someone.
“What was?” Sam looked around, feeling a bit frantic. The basketball team had already taken most of the benches out of the room, and as far as she could tell, Jehan and the emergency team had already swept the floors. Even Duke had managed to make progress on the dreaded walls.
“Nothing is wrong,” Grant said, reading her panicked expression. “I meant that we shouldn’t have sat so close together, because our supplies have gotten mixed up. I think I have been taking your screws and those little peg things. Do you need an extra peg? Or a screw?”
Sam blanched, then took a deep breath through her nose, her voice shaking as she fought laughter. “Do I need a peg or a screw?”
“Yes.” Grant nodded, extending a handful of screws toward her. “I have extra.”
The guy was the king of double entendre, and here he was missing a golden opportunity. Sam’s eyes went wide with the effort of not yelling a that’s-what-she-said joke. Sure, sex jokes weren’t exactly appropriate at the office, but technically neither of them was on the clock. Blinking at him once more, she said, “You have an extra peg, and you would like to give me a screw.”
For a minute Grant stared at her as if she weren’t making sense. Then something clicked, and his face flushed nearly fire-engine red. “I didn’t mean—”
“Sure.” Sam nodded and drew the vowel out in the word as she spoke.
“No, truly, I do have extra and—”
“I believe you.” She did not sound like she believed him.
Grant’s eyes grew wide as Sam’s shoulders started to shake with the effort of not cracking up. Smiling in spite of himself, he said, “Here. Take these ... things.”
“Can’t say what you really mean, huh?” Sam managed to choke out in between laughs.
“Well, no. I can’t because you’re being prurient.”
“Prurient?” Sam’s whole body shook with laughter. “Me? Never.”
“Here.” Grant held out his hand again.
“SAT words won’t save you. I know the truth,” Sam said, taking a deep breath and reaching for the screws in his palm. She was just about to come up with another joke at his expense when their hands met.
Unlike that day at the Lost Key, this touch was not the warm and comforting feeling of having another body close to hers. This was something altogether different. This felt like a shock of static electricity—unexpected and intoxicating. Like if Sam dropped the screws and touched him again, her hands might be interested in doing something more than just feeling the smooth skin of his palm. Neither one of themwas laughing anymore, and Sam wondered if he was quiet because she was quiet or if he felt something too.
Just then, Marvin Gaye’s voice started the opening notes of “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.” Kaiya’s singing voice shot around the room and was quickly joined by the emergency team. Grant cleared his throat at the same time Sam withdrew her hand. Taking more time than was strictly necessary to set the little bits of metal down, Sam was grateful that everyone else’s attention was on the song.No one saw that,she reassured herself.
Or at least she could convince herself that she was alone in the feeling until she looked over at Grant, who suddenly became very fascinated with tightening a puny little bolt. The air between them grew thick, and Sam began to wonder if they would be doomed to spend the rest of the afternoon in sexual-tension limbo until Grant took an audible breath and said, “So how’s Jehan’s engagement party planning going?”
“Sorry, what?” Sam felt like her brain had stalled out. Of all the things she had expected him to say, bringing up Jehan’s party was somewhere betweenWhat do you think of cubism?andHave you ever wondered what it would be like to be a mascot?
“Jehan’s party. She mentioned it the other day. I thought you were part of the group that is doing a tasting for it.”
“I am.” Sam felt like her voice sounded slow as she tried to process what seemed like a very abrupt subject change. “It’s going well. We have the tasting in four days. Once her fiancé arrives.”
“And where are you all headed again?” Grant asked so politely that Sam almost wanted to strangle him. Clearly, he thought that whatever had happened between them did not need to be discussed. Meanwhile, Sam was racking her brains trying to remember anything other than what had just happened thirty seconds ago.
“Dorothy’s. It’s a place that specializes in ‘unique, small bites,’ according to their website.”
“That could be fun.”
