Page 30 of The Plus One Professional

“Are you sure? How?”

Sara knew I’d been working in Oakland today.

“I’m back in the city.”

“Oh, okay, thanks, CJ.”

As I hung up, I could see the worry on Bailey’s face.

“I have to go. My nephew is sick.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry. I hope he feels better.”

“Thanks. It was good to see you, Bailey.” I hated walking away from her.

“You, too. Tell your sister I said happy birthday,” she said as I passed her.

“I will, thanks.”

As I headed to my work truck, I wished things were different. Not that I wasn’t happy that I was able to be there for my sister, nephews, and niece. I just wished that I could have room in my life for something else, for someoneelse.

13

BAILEY

My ovaries tingled,and my heart was in my throat as I watched Cole walk away in his white shirt, faded blue jeans, and Timberlands. Instead of looking like he just walked out of the pages of GQ, he looked like he had just walked off a construction site. I had to admit, I preferred blue-collar Cole to white-collar Cole.

There was something so sexy about a man who did manual labor.

The summer I started dating Simon, we met through our volunteer work with Habitat for Humanity. I will never forget the first time I saw him. It was after a long day’s work. He’d been dressed almost identically to Cole; his hair was sweaty, his muscles were pronounced, and when he walked by, all the hormones that had lain dormant for fourteen years came to life. It was the first time I’d sneezed at anything not cold or allergy-related.

Actually, now that I thought about it, I wondered if that was how my brain had been rewired to think the two were related. Simon had been really dusty when he introduced himself. We talked for about half an hour, and the whole time I was tingly from my head to my feet. Before he left, he hugged me goodbye, and I sneezed.

Holy shit.I may have just solved one of the greatest mysteries of my life, all thanks to Construction Worker Cole.

As I put the key into the glass door, I noticed a piece of paper beside my foot on the sidewalk. I picked it up and was going to throw it away when I saw that it was the receipt that was on top of the pink box that held Cole’s sister’s cake. His phone number and address were on it. Without running it past the moral authority in my brain, I folded it up and put it in my pocket before going inside and locking the door.

I told myself I’d only kept it so I could return it to him, not because I wanted the information on it. Whether or not I believed myself was a moot point. I tried to shake all thoughts of Cole the Builder out of my head as I set up for the appointment I had with Devin, the stunning girl who had walked in off the street without an appointment two weeks ago.

I’d barely sat down behind the desk when the bell on the door rang. I wasn’t expecting Devin and her fiancé for another thirty minutes, but it wouldn’t surprise me if she was early. Her wedding was just two weeks away. I’d wondered to myself if it was a shotgun wedding, but when Birdie offered her a mimosa while she was trying on bridal gowns last week, she’d had three glasses.

I walked to the front door, still high from the epiphany I’d had as to why I sneezed when I was attracted to someone and wondering if I’d ever get the chance to tell Cole that he had facilitated me solving a great mystery of my life. When I turned the bolt, I told myself to focus on the job at hand and stop thinking about Cole the Builder.

“Hey, you’re a little bit early, but…” My words trailed off when I lifted my head and saw that Devin wasn’t alone. And it wasn’t her fiancé standing beside her. It was Simon. “Simon, hi.”

“Hi.” His lips flattened into a straight line.

He was here, finally here, and he didn’t even look happy to see me. My stomach plummeted. I’d have to ask Devin if she could wait so I could find out what was going on.

“I know we’re early,” Devin remarked as she snuggled against Simon’s arm. “When I told Matty who we were meeting with, he insisted we come early.”

Wait.

What?!

What was going on?!

“Matty?” I breathed out, my voice barely audible.

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