"Luce, no way." He groaned. "You got me all excited and now you're giving me the airtime cock block?"
I turned onto my side, trying not to laugh. "No. I'm going to sleep," I replied, blowing him a kiss. "Good night. Love you, Jude."
A good minute after I'd closed my eyes, he sighed. I never knew so many emotions could reside in one sigh. "Good night. Love you, Luce."
That night, my dreams picked up where Jude and I had let off. Ecstasy.
FOURTEEN
I'd fallen asleep on Monday night and it was Friday when I woke up.
It was amazing how time could move so fast when your life was filled with a nine-to-five office job, mac 'n' cheese dinners, Yo Gabba Gabba! dates, precious hours squeezed in at the dance studio, and nightly calls from the love of my life.
So far, Holly loved her job, and I actually looked forward to getting home so I could hang with a three-almost-four-year-old every night. It was impossible to experience any degree of self-pity when you were in the presence of a kiddo who was as happy and energetic as LJ. Plus, after chasing him around for four hours, I was able to fall asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.
Much to Jude's dismay.
I was smiling to myself as I played through the many puppy-dog faces and pleas that Jude had come up with this week, when Anton burst out of his office.
"Checked tie or striped tie?" he asked, bobbing two ties in front of me.
Apparently personal wardrobe consultant was now one of the many hats I wore here at Xavier Industries. Work had been going well. I was learning the ropes, and I was so busy the days flew by. I'd done so much typing and created so many spreadsheets, I was sure I could complete my job with my eyes closed.
"What's the occasion?" I asked, powering down my computer. It was a few minutes after five on a Friday night.
"Dinner with a blind date," he said, inspecting the ties critically. "Some girl my friend went to school with. She's a graphic designer, likes glam rock, and runs marathons. That's all I know about her, which is why I'm coming up empty in the tie selection endeavor."
If Anton thought selecting the right tie was the be-all-end-all when it came to getting a second date, I understood why he was still single.
"The checked one," I said, tapping it with the end of my pen.
The skin between his brows lined. "So confident. So certain," he said, holding the checked tie up. "How did you decide?"
I used the Pythagorean theorem and square-rooted the null set. I was an insufferable smart-ass.
"It's the one I like," I said, shrugging.
Anton's face relaxed. Nodding, he appraised the tie with new eyes. "The checked one it is," he said, heading back for his office. "Thanks, Lucy. Have a nice weekend."
"Do you need anything else?" I asked, already shouldering my purse. I had our first ever Friday-night dinner to prepare for five tonight, and, while Anton had been true to his word and not brought my relationship up again this week, I felt uncomfortable being alone with him.
And it made me mad. Other than some harmless flirting, Anton had been a true gentleman, going so far as to walk me to my car every night to make sure I got to it safely. I shouldn't feel uneasy to be alone with another man, and the fact that I did made me even more uneasy.
"No, it's quitting time," he said from his office. "I'm out of here, too, so I'll walk you out." Reappearing with the checked tie in place and a tweed vest instead of his suit jacket, he held open the office door and waited for me.
I turned off the lights and went through the door as fast as I could. He'd put on some cologne that was spicy and sweet-smelling, and the fact that I noticed set me on edge.
We walked in silence to the elevator, and our silence dragged on while we waited for it.
"Do I make you uncomfortable?" Anton asked.
"When you ask those kinds of questions, yeah, you do," I said, almost bolting inside the elevator as soon as the doors opened.
Anton took one giant step inside and stopped in front of me. "Why?"
I found it hard to believe that he needed to ask me why. "Because of the way you're looking at me right now. And because of the things you say." I took a couple steps back until I was up against the elevator wall. "You're my boss. You're my friend's brother. You can't look at me like that, or say those kinds of things to me."
"Why?" he asked, tilting his head.
His calm, one-word replies were starting to piss me off.
"Because," the genius inside me answered.