Page 57 of Single Girl in the City
And not because she was his employee but because she was scared and vulnerable. And he wasn’t going to bethatguy so he rested his forehead to hers and took in a breath.
She abruptly pulled back. “I didn’t mean …”
“I did.”
Embarrassment touched her cheeks and before he could tighten his arms, she scrambled off his lap. He could practically see her walls go back up and lock into place.
She crossed her arms over herself. “But you didn’t.”
“I don’t want it to happen this way,” he said quietly.
“Me either,” she said even quieter. “Things were just emotionally charged.”
It was more than that, but he’d let her have it.
He stood and pulled her to her feet, acutely aware that she was in nothing but his shirt and a pair of lace panties. “How about we go somewhere less charged,” he suggested. “Are you hungry? I make a mean Reuben.”
“Do you have sauerkraut?”
“What kind of question is that?” he teased.
She smiled a real smile and his heart showed its soft underbelly. “Then I guess you can make me a sandwich.”
Chapter Twenty
Happy Things:
Chris Hemsworth’s butt
After swinging by the bank to drop off yesterday’s deposit, Abi took a field trip to the senior center to teach a class on the internet, which the ladies used to search for photos of Chris Hemsworth’s butt, before stopping by the doughnut shop where she purchased a dozen doughnuts, inhaling two before she even reached her bike. Then she rode to the duck pond a few minutes from her sister’s house.
It was Wednesday and every Wednesday Dotti and the kids spent the morning feeding the ducks. Well, Lemon-Marie sat there in her princess dress and wand while Koi chased the birds around the lake ripping his clothes off until he was down to his pull-up diapers. Dotti didn’t seem to care so Abi went with the flow.
But today there were no kids or Dotti. Abi waited an extra twenty minutes, but they were a no-show, which saddened her. She grabbed the pink box of doughnuts, her backpack, and her cold latte and headed to the bike rack to find her Huffy, which was sandwiched between a Spider-Man bike and a tricycle. She considered cutting out and heading into work early but decided that she wasn’t going to flake. There were fish to be fed and she was the superhero on duty.
She thought about the six wishes that needed granting on the bulletin board at Sip Me and the listing for a comes-with-a-hot-plate room to rent across town, but didn’t give in to the need to procrastinate.
She’d already narrowed down what her good deed for the day would be and no matter how hard Dotti tried, she wasn’t going to wreck it. So instead of heading downtown, Abi made a detour to her grandma’s house.
She thought about using the key, but decided against it, knocking instead. She heard Dotti look out the peephole and then silence, followed by some heavy breathing. Dotti had a habit of hyperventilating when she was being sneaky.
“I can smell your guilt through the door.”
More breathing.
“I have doughnuts,” Abi said. “Voodoo doughnuts.”
There was a pregnant pause, followed by, “A blueberry cake doughnut?”
“Two blueberry cake doughnuts.”
Abi opened the box and wafted the scent through the door. She heard a sniffing come from the other side, then the door opened. Dotti stuck her face through the crack like Jack Nicholson inThe Shining.
Swoosh swish.“Let it go, let it go” played in the background.
Dotti pressed the heel of her hands to her eyes. “I’m being punished by the Mommy gods for giving my kids screen time before the age of three.” She looked up. “What are you doing here?”
“Not avoiding you because of a stupid fight.”
