I get through about half the emails in like ten minutes before I hear a noise. I perk up a little bit and listen closely. I hear it again, a little thumpnearby.
I stand up and look around. “Hello?”
No response. I frown to myself a little bit. I must be going a little stir crazy, sitting in this office all day long. I sit back down and vow to get finished as fast as Ican.
But a second later, I hear the noise again. I turn in my chair and nearly have a heartattack.
“Shit!” I say,jumping.
Will grins at me, leaning up against the door of the office behind my desk. “Sorry. Did I scareyou?”
“Yes!” I take a deep breath. “You’re sneakingaround.”
He cocks his head with a little grin. “Sneaking?” He bounces the tennis ball that’s in his hand, making that thumping noise. “I thought I was being pretty loud,actually.”
I let out a breath and try to still my heart, which is threatening to beat out of my chest. “I guess I’m just onedge.”
“I can see that.” He bounces the ball again. His tie is loose and he’s not wearing a jacket, but I can still see his muscles through his tight white dress shirt. “I’m surprised to see you stillhere.”
I glance at my computer. ”I just have some emails to sendout.”
“Jordan working you toohard?”
“No, not atall.”
“If he is, you can tell me. We can lighten your load. I know working with Dustin is a lot as itis.”
“No,” I say again, shaking my head. “I’m okay, really. I don’t want any preferentialtreatment.”
He grins at me, a little shy smile. “You sure aboutthat?”
“Positive.”
“Your loss then, I guess.” He turns to leave, bouncing the ballagain.
“Wait, why myloss?”
He hesitates and grins at me. “Chris and Jordan are here right now, actually. They’re in the conferenceroom.”
“Really?” I ask him, perkingup.
He nods. “We were just talking about Dustin, doing some planning. Sometimes I go for a little walk around the office and bounce this stupid ball to help methink.”
“Anything I can help with?” I askhim.
“No, we’re nearly finished. Truth is, we could use abreak.”
I can hear the suggestion in his voice, the sparkle in his eye. I should ignore it and finish what I’m doing, but I can’t help myself. My pulse spikes again, this time out of excitement, though the two sensations are surprisinglysimilar.
“Well, I’m done here,” Isay.
“Good. Come withme.”
I bite my lip and follow him through the empty office. He leads me toward the conference room, but instead of going inside, we walk pastit.
“They’re in my office,” he says to me, looking over his shoulder. “Actually using that foronce.”
I smile at him. “I forgot you had anoffice.”