Foregoing the chairs—because I wasn’t sure the thin plastic could handle Garrett’s bulk—I dropped down onto the stairs, cradling my knees to my chest and breathing in the crisp eastern air.
He lowered himself with significantly more grace than I had and sat next to me. He didn’t push, and I was thankful. We sat in companionable silence, each swimming in our own pool of thoughts.
I wasn’t sure how long we’d been out there, but I was jarred to the present when something covered my face. I panicked, spine snapping straight before I could suddenly see again.
A raspy chuckle sounded next to me, and I looked down to realize Garrett had pulled his hoodie over me.
“You’re shivering so hard you’re shaking the cement.”
“Asshole, I was not.” But I laughed, pulling it the rest of the way down and tucking my legs inside of it like a small cocoon. It was warm from being rolled up in his lap, and it smelled like him. When he finally stood and bid me goodnight, I watched him go, feeling oddly relaxed.
It wasn’t until later, after I’d read to Jamie and crawled into bed, two things became clear. One, I was enjoying the feel of sleeping in a man’s clothing way more than I should, and two, the entire time we’d sat outside, he’d never actually lit a cigarette.
Chapter Ten
I launched up from the bed, scaring the daylights out of Rugsy and whipping my head around to look at my alarm clock.
“Shit. Shit, shit, shit!”
The textbook splayed open near me told me everything I needed to know. I’d unintentionally crashed before setting my alarm. Again. Shit!
Dressed in only my borrowed, over-sized hoodie and underwear, I half-fell to the floor in my haste, flinging my bedroom door open and racing toward Jamie’s room. I cracked the door open enough to peek in and, remembering Layla passed out in the next room, whisper-yelled, “Get up, bud, we are so very late!”
Seeing him flinch awake, I raced back to my room, looking at myself in the mirror. God help everyone who had to look upon me today, for their eyes would truly be punished. My hair was a lost cause, more frizz than curl, so up it went into a tight, librarian-style bun.
I opted to skip makeup completely, instead shucking my clothes off and throwing on the first work dress I saw. The knee-length, pencil skirt bottom at least gave me some shape, and the leopard print, ruffled top added some much-needed flair. I’d even wear heels. It’d have to do.
Following Rugsy’s waddle, I made my way to the living room, knocking on Jamie’s door again. “Jamie, get dressed, we gotta go!”
His door flung open, “I’m ready. What happened?”
“I’m sorry, I fell asleep reading and forgot to set my alarm. I think we still have a few of the emergency fruit pastries. Go run a brush through your hair and your toothbrush over your teeth, and I’ll grab a package for you.”
I checked the time on my phone. He would be at least a solid fifteen minutes late to school, which meant I’d be even later than that to work. I cursed, dialing Evaline to let her know.
She clicked her tongue, “No problem at all, honey, I’m just sitting here online shopping for new office chairs anyway.”
Of course, she was. “Thanks, Evaline, I’ll see you soon.”
Hanging up, I grabbed my purse and slipped into my heels. I felt like I was beginning to lose the tight grip I’d been holding onto my life and everything in it. I’d never been late before, and now it felt like it was becoming a regular occurrence. Next thing you knew, I’d be missing assignments. The thought alone had me queasy.
We ran out to the Jeep like the chaotic creatures we were, and I’d never been so thankful to not run into Garrett. It’d been several days since I’d invited him into my house, and I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t worn his hoodie to bed each night since. Not because I was a lonely social creature in need of a man to date, but because Garrett smelled amazing.
One quick drive—only a smidge over the speed limit—and several nasty glares from school employees later, I pulled into my work parking lot. A half hour late.
I sighed, resting my head on my steering wheel and wasting one more minute to breathe. I could do this. A bad start to a day didn’t mean it would be a bad day overall. It would be fine.
Shuffling the papers, I rearranged them in order to make another set of copies. I really needed to use the larger machine, but I’d already ditched my heels and didn’t feel like putting them back on to walk to the other side. I could only imagine Jim’s face if he caught me strutting through the building with only hosiery covering my feet.
Adding the newest set to the pile on the table next to me, I frowned when I heard the door to the hall open and close. Evaline was at her weekly lunch with her daughters at the golf club and would be gone for a few hours. Maybe Jim was checking on something?
I was about to call out when the heavy, familiar thud of boots made its way toward me. Why? Why me? Why today? I cringed, listening to the steps grow louder and pause near the doorway to my office. A second later they started up again, closer to the middle room I was in.
I imagined this was how the characters in a horror film might feel if they could hear the suspenseful music that played for viewers right before they inevitably had their heads chopped off. There was something even more unsettling about a situation when you knew it was coming but couldn’t escape it.
The steps paused again, but I didn’t stop what I was doing, continuing to feed papers into the printer one at a time. I refused to turn or acknowledge him, hoping he’d get the message and walk back out. This was not his side of the company. If he had a question, he could easily call either myself or Evaline’s direct extension.
There was zero need for him to be on this side of the building.
Of course, he didn’t get my neon sign. I could feel his sticky presence behind me, watching but not speaking, as if enjoying the opportunity. Creepy ass fucker.
The smart choice would’ve been to inform him I was aware of his presence, a simple “Hello, Rob” would do. The next smart choice would be to get the hell out of dodge and avoid being in this wing of the building completely alone with him. But I didn’t.
Something about this man made me revert into the worst version of myself, the version that rolled over and shut up. I knew it, saw it. Yet I couldn’t seem to stop it.
Rob’s version of intimidation was different than Garrett’s. Garrett was intimidating in the strong, silent way, like a bodyguard. Rob was intimidating in the way he would push me just to feel good about himself. He liked to see me squirm. I might as well have been cornered in a room with Aaron, and that’s what terrified me.
His clothing rustled as he shifted his weight and took another step. He still hadn’t spoken, and I had to swallow down the uneasy feeling crawling up my throat like a thick sludge. The irony that this was a security company, yet we had no security cameras on this side of the building, wasn’t lost on me.
Taking a small breath—when I really wanted to heave—so he wouldn’t see my rising panic, I finally turned my torso to face him, going with smart option number one. “Hello, Rob.”
“Good morning, darlin’.” It was afternoon. “You look amazing today.”
My nose curled. It wasn’t low self-esteem that had me disagreeing with him. I genuinely looked a mess today, which meant he was solely referring to the shape of my body in my dress. I’d never understand the nerve of people like him. Did he truly have no shame, or were social cues just that difficult for him?
Choosing to ignore his comment, I asked, “Is there something I can help you with? Evaline should be back from lunch soon. I’m sorry if you called one of us, I’ve been stuck making copies for several minutes.”
“I knew Evaline was out.” His eyes trailed down my body, and I took an instinctual step away, bumping into the printer and shifting it back an inch with an ear-cringing screech.
“Okay, well, I’m trying to head out to lunch myself soon, so I need to finish these up. Leave a note on my desk for whatever you need, and I’ll get back to you.”