Page 37 of More Than Words

Too bad. I paid for it. I could at least have a small glass.

“Did you look at my hands?”

“Why the fuck would I have been looking at your hands? You were simultaneously hitting on me and being a douchey jerk,” she scoffed.

“I won’t apologize for calling you sexy, because you are sexy. I may not have a filter, but I know when I turned around and found you watching me from the doorway, I was stunned by you.”

“Are you trying to flatter me to get me to overlook your behavior? That may work on the administrative assistants you fuck, but it won’t work on me.”

I tipped my glass back, taking a generous sip of the red wine, my eyes widening as I let it sit in my mouth. It was surprisingly tart, but had a full-bodied flavor and hints of cherries and something smoky I couldn’t place. It was good.

“And do you remember the skirt you were wearing? What color was it? Because I remember. It was white. And I had toner all over my hands. I accidentally jostled the cartridge while I was trying to dislodge a piece of paper that was stuck. I didn’t want you to help me because I was afraid it would ruin your skirt. And that would have been a travesty.”

Reaching behind me, I grabbed a fork from the counter where she’d left them and the bag my meal was in, walking past her to the large plushy couch.

“And I have never once fucked an administrative intern. I think someone has been listening to the office rumors. If you actually paid attention, you’d see I’m usually very nice to the assistants and the interns.“ She narrowed her eyes at me, and I knew what she was getting at. “Except for Kristine. But she usually starts it.”

“And you could end it without baiting her,” she growled.

“I can try better next time. Now can we eat dinner and then get through proofing these pages? Or would you rather continue to hash out a miscommunication from over five years ago?”

Placing my takeout container on the table, I unbuttoned the front of my suit jacket and sat down, sinking into the cushion immediately. Yeah, my leather couch was not this comfortable.

As I settled my meal in my lap, I could see Isobel hovering in my periphery, her wineglass in one hand and her takeout container in the other.

“Sit.”

“I’m sorry.” She spoke so softly I almost didn’t hear her, but when I glanced in her direction, I could see the remorse painted across her features. I didn’t want an apology. She probably wasn’t even wrong to think I was a dick, but I hadn’t meant to offend her with my comments either.

“Don’t be. I have just as much to apologize for. We both know I’ve been a dick around the office more than I should be. Your dislike of me probably isn’t far off the mark, but I genuinely didn’t know that’s why you don’t like me.”

The couch dipped slightly as she sat down next to me, almost an entire cushion between us.

“We’ve seen each other half naked. You don’t need to act so awkward around me,” I teased, and watched a blush creep up her neck.

“That’s exactly why I’m awkward around you. I know my avoidance of you hasn’t exactly been subtle. But I don’t know how to act around you anymore.”

“Just keep teasing me and putting me in my place. I know my big mouth is one of my worst traits. Trust me, I’ve tried to turn it off, but it just keeps popping out things I regret saying later.”

“Well, maybe you should work on that.”

“Well,” I started, watching her tentatively taking small bites of her food while keeping her eyes on me. “Maybe you should work on not jumping to conclusions when I say stupid shit.”

“I can try,” she conceded. It was progress.

“That’s all I ask.”

ISOBEL

Boston

“Did you read over everything they sent?” I asked, closing my food container and setting it on the coffee table. I still couldn’t believe he’d found my favorite wine and brought me dinner. I knew it was what I’d demanded of him, but I didn’t think he’d follow through.

“Yeah. And I looked at the notes from Sam’s first pass through. It’s so much better than the first draft. I wasn’t being facetious when I said Chase had worked some magic on Evan.”

Shaking my head, I laughed. “Could have picked a better way of phrasing it in front of Kristine. She was ready to rip your balls off. And I might have let her.”

“Aw. And here I thought you liked my balls where they are.”

---