Page 22 of Finally Mine
Oh, God. He was wearing a tie. The sleeves of his sexy as hell button-down were rolled up to his elbows. She really liked that look. A lot. Attraction was a vague memory to her, but the biology of it was waking the hell up inside her, setting her sensible underwear on fire.
“Hey,” he said, giving her that dimpled grin, his brown eyes warm on her face.
“Is this a bad time?” Always apologetic. Always worried about being an inconvenience.
“Son of a motherfucking shitass mess!” The Halle Berry-lookalike slammed a palm down on her table. Gloria jumped.
“You fix it?” Aldo asked pleasantly.
“I fixed it,” she said, rolling her shoulders, showing off toned arms that spoke of hours spent in the gym.
“Gloria, this is my partner Jamilah Lewiscki. She’s a structural engineer by trade and a database engineer for funsies,” Aldo said, making the introductions. “Jamilah, this is Gloria, my lunch date.”
Jamilah, unburdened from whatever thing she’d fixed, threw up a friendly wave. “Gloria, do me a favor and get this guy out of my space so I can get something done.”
Infinitely mature, Aldo stuck his tongue out at her. “You’re gonna miss me when I’m gone.”
“Probably won’t even notice,” Jamilah sniffed. She snuck Gloria a wink that said otherwise.
“Come on,” Aldo said in Gloria’s ear. “I’m starving.”
“What about your corner office?” Gloria asked.
Jamilah snorted. “That’s what he’s telling his lunch dates these days?”
Aldo grinned and waved grandly toward the U-shaped command center in the back, wedged in between a restroom and the water cooler. It was the only spot in the entire office that maintained any semblance of organization.
“Fancy,” Gloria said.
“Yeah, only the best of the best for us managing partners,” Aldo said, flashing her that devastating smile.
“Don’t forget you’ve got a three o’clock,” Jamilah said without looking up from her screen.
“Yeah, yeah,” Aldo said as he guided Gloria toward the door. “Let’s go before they decide they can’t live without me.”
It was the quintessential kind of spring day that had bodies waking up after a long winter and feeling that burst of energy that came from that yellow sun warming too-long-cold skin. Gloria fell into step with Aldo, and together they walked down the block. She was careful to keep her distance. She’d cried on the man only days ago and was nervous that his inherent goodness would have the same effect on her again.
There was a café here. New and wheatgrassy from the looks of it. Gloria had never been there before. But there were a lot of places she’d never been before.
Aldo held the door for her. “Quick pit stop,” he promised.
Gloria stepped inside and clasped her hands in front of her while Aldo bulldozed his way to the cashier. “To go for Moretta,” he called out.
The older woman behind the register patted her silver bun. “As if I didn’t know who you were,” she purred under huge red Sally Jesse Raphael glasses. “Your man friend here comes in for lunch three times a week, honey,” she told Gloria.
Her man friend?Adorable.
Gloria pressed her lips together to keep from laughing. Sally Jesse hefted a huge paper bag with handles over the counter. “Threw in a few of those gluten-free Danishes you’re so fond of,” she said in a stage whisper.
“Estelle, I’m in love with you,” Aldo professed, doling out cash.
Sally Jesse Estelle sighed dramatically. “That’s what you tell all the seventy-somethings. Enjoy your date,” she said to Gloria, wriggling her painted eyebrows.
He put his hand at the small of Gloria’s back and led the way back outside and to his truck. She breathed a sigh of relief when she didn’t spontaneously burst into tears of self-loathing and hopelessness at his touch.
“I hope you don’t mind that I ordered for you. I got a few sandwiches and soups that you can choose from.”
Thoughtful, not pushy,she decided.
