Page 44 of With You Here
When would people start looking past such things?
Her phone screen illuminated on the table in front of her, and she reached out and flipped it facedown. Whoever was trying to get ahold of her could wait until after Mila’s meeting. She wouldn’t be that person who snuck a text conversation under the conference room table when they were supposed to be paying attention to a presenter.
A gentleman across the table from her raised his hand and asked a question. Amber concentrated hard but only managed to make out a few words.Crimeandfear.
Mila’s mouth tightened and she pressed a button on a clicker in her hand, changing the slide on the screen behind her. Amber pulled her print-offs closer, turning pages until she found the matching slide. Oh, yes. People’s concerns as immigration population increased and the media fed their fear. Yellow highlighted a word—Heimat—with Mila’s swirling script beside it. Emotional security. While analysists had reported a ten percent decrease in actual crime rates around the country, people were feeling an increase of fear because of a perceived loss of emotional security.
If only the fear that foreigners might be dangerous, passed down through the generations, could finally be laid to rest…
It was a cycle worth ceasing. A history not worthy of repeating. The world didn’t need any more Judeophobia, Hispanophobia, Islamophobia, Christophobia, or any other types of phobias. Make her sound like a peace and love hippie, but the world needed those things more than any other.
Peace and love.
“Pst.”
The back of a hand touched her forearm, and she glanced down. Seth’s long fingers held a folded piece of paper. The pads of his fingertips grazed down her arm, causing tingles to rise on the surface of her skin, until he pressed the paper into the palm of her hand.
She raised her gaze to meet his eyes. He winked and put a finger to his lips, redirecting his focus to the front of the room and acting like nothing had happened.
She flicked her gaze to Mila, then swept a look around the room. Everyone was still focused on the presentation. The note burned a hole in her palm. It felt wrong. Sneaky. Deliciously forbidden.
Should she open the paper? Read his message even though she was supposed to be paying attention to the meeting? One little peek wouldn’t hurt, would it? If she was quick, no one would even know.
A thrill shot through her middle as she stared forward and slowly unfolded the paper under the table so no one could see. She’d never passed notes before. Not in school or work. It had always seemed disrespectful to her. Why, then, did a hum of anticipation vibrate through her body? She should be flushed with shame for breaking such a social rule, but instead she felt unusually, acutely awake.
She leaned back slightly and glanced down, keeping the paper in her lap so no one could see what she was doing.
How are you?
Her brows drew together. That was it? She’d risked the embarrassment of getting caught doing something she knew she shouldn’t for a little question on how she was doing?
Something poked her in the leg. She moved the paper to see Seth handing over a pen. She firmed her mouth and looked back at Mila. This was a conversation they could have after the meeting ended.
He started tapping her leg with the pen. She shifted her weight and tried to ignore him. The tapping continued. She huffed and tore the pen from his grasp. Without looking down, she scribbledFineon the paper and handed it back to him.
She tried not to look at him as he bent his head and jotted something on the paper. He grinned, and she tore her gaze away, flushed. The slide had changed, and she flipped the page on her printout to catch up.
His hand was back by her leg. She’d learned her lesson last time that he wouldn’t be ignored. If she didn’t retrieve the note, she’d have to endure the warmth emanating from fingers so close to her hip. She retrieved the paper and pulled it onto her lap.
She’d never had reason to be sneaky before, so she hoped she was doing a good job. She didn’t want to have to answer any of Mila’s or Yasmin’s curious looks or pointy questions later. Speaking of… She swept another glance around the room, pausing at Yasmin near the head of the table. She was bent over a notepad, scribbling with a fountain pen. No one seemed to be looking at Amber askance. No one seemed to notice anything amiss at all. She bent her head to quickly read whatever Seth thought was so important that it couldn’t wait until Mila wrapped up.
You look beautiful in that blue shirt. Brings out the stormy quality of your eyes.
She licked her lips. Blinked. Looked away but was instantly pulled back to read the sentences again. A fluttering made her insides quiver, like a soft breeze rifling through the pages of an open book on a summer’s day. Or a single drop of rain creating a ripple in a bird bath. Small, but with visible effects.
He thought she was beautiful? Her skin flushed, and she tried to remain in control of her reactions. Seemed that around him a physical response happened first, her brain lagging behind. Was this what it was like when her heart led? But her heart couldn’t really be involved, could it? Not so quickly.
Jacob kissed Rachel the first time he saw her.
Sure. Now her brain wanted in on the conversation.
She took a deep breath and put pen to paper.
I thought you were trying not to flirt anymore.
A few seconds later the paper was back in her grip.
Someone told me flirting wasn’t a sin and just a part of my God-given personality. Plus, I found some pick-up lines from this bloke named Solomon. If guys in the Bible can charm lovely ladies, why can’t I?
