What You Need(45)
The thought of my life story being splashed across the local newspapers nearly had me hyperventilating.
“Lennox?”
I jumped and whirled around to face my date. “You scared me.”
“I said your name twice. Is everything all right?” Brady held out my coat and helped me into it.
“Yes. Thanks.”
He slipped his hand into mine and led us out of the club.
The line behind the velvet rope had gotten longer. I ducked my head so most of my hair obscured my face. But I needn’t have worried, because no one stopped us.
He opened the car door for me. After he climbed in, he said, “Am I just taking you home?”
“I think that’d be best. It’s late.”
“No problem. But you still owe me dinner.”
“I’m sure we’ll figure something out.”
“That’s not very reassuring.”
“Sorry.”
The sharp angles of his face were even more noticeable in the glow of the dashboard lights. I forced myself to look out the window rather than continue to stare at him.
We didn’t speak or even hold hands on the drive back to my place.
He parked at the curb and cut the engine. “Did I say or do something wrong?”
“No. It just got intense. I thought we’d better cool things down.” I reached for his hand. “I had a great time tonight, Brady.”
“Me too. I’ll walk you to the door.”
Outside on the sidewalk I shivered and he draped his arm over my shoulder.
“So does ‘great time’ mean you think I have an inner wild man?”
“Yes.”
“Will you help me draw him out?”
I sighed dramatically. “I suppose I can suffer groping sessions at hot nightclubs while I’m knocking back expensive drinks. Somehow I’ll muddle through.”
He chuckled. “You are a little trouper.”
“What’s next on your ‘wild man’ list? I draw the line at skydiving.”
“I’ve already gone skydiving. Same for cliff jumping.”
“Parasailing?”
“Yes.”
“Base jumping?”
“No. But I was with Jensen when he did it. He’s into all that extreme sports stuff.”
“Heli-skiing?”
“Me? No. But I rode in the chopper and watched Jensen bail out.”
I faced him. “Why did you ask me to help you? Sounds like you’ve already done all the really daring stuff.” Maybe being with a woman like me was a daring move for him.
Brady framed my face in his hands. “Don’t you get it? None of that was me. I want to find my own thing.”
I could believe that. So I kissed him.
After we broke apart, he angled his head and swept his tongue over my lip ring. Then he grazed it with his teeth and tugged playfully. “Have a good day tomorrow and I’ll see you Monday.”
*
I wasn’t sure if running into Brady at work on Monday would be awkward.
Mr. Lund, I mentally corrected.
When I reached my desk, Sydney whistled. “Is that a new outfit?”
“Actually, no. It’s an old one I found in the back of my closet and I worried it might be out of style.” I smoothed my hands over the slim-fitting moleskin skirt. The buckskin color paired well with the brown leather riding boots with a slight heel. The top was a deep pumpkin-colored, dolman sleeve sweater that fell to my hips. I’d cinched a belt, braided together with three hues of leather and three thin ropes in brown, dark green and burnt orange.
“Old doesn’t matter when you wear it like that.” She fanned herself. “We’ll have to turn the heat down in here, because you are smoking in that outfit.”
I loved Sydney’s enthusiasm. “Thanks. I’m just going to put away my lunch.”
“Hurry. The meeting starts in five minutes.”
Instead of taking the elevator, I cut down the two flights of stairs to the fourth floor. No one was in the break room, so I quickly stuffed my lunch on the bottom shelf and made it back in time to pour myself a big cup of coffee.
Our department was comparatively small. Ten full-time office temps and Lola, our coordinator. On the days we didn’t have temp assignments—which was rare, since a company with over fifteen hundred employees in one building meant someone was always out sick, on vacation or taking a personal day—we worked in the Personnel department. Anita Mohr, the head of Personnel, was a complete hag. She was old, set in her ways and had no reason to change, while constantly parroting to her bosses that change is necessary—and then never changing a damn thing. I suspected she was the reason LI didn’t even have casual Fridays and still maintained a dress code.
Inside the conference room, I noticed the entire temp staff, including Lola, in addition to two people I didn’t recognize, as well as Anita.