Page 67 of Employing Patience

“No.”

“Was that a lie?”

One-half of the smile breaks free. “Maybe.”

“Most ridiculous thing you’ve ever done?”

He snorts. “You.”

We meet eyes, and like that, the tension is broken. Both of us snigger all the way to the gate, where we set the kids down. They both give Art a hug and hurried “thanks, bye” before disappearing inside. He watches them go, but I get the feeling it’s only so he doesn’t have to face me.

“On a scale of one to ten, how much do you hate me?”

“My back? A ten. In general …” He finally glances at me, eyes running from my hair all the way to my feet. It shivers awareness through me. “A seventeen, at least.”

“What are the chances I can get that number down?”

“Minimal.”

I step closer, shoulder to shoulder, tipping my head back enough to say by his ear, “What are the chances you want me to?”

“Higher than I’d like.”

“You know I’m going to be a total pain in the ass about this, right?”

“So, business as usual?” He grins, turning to cuff my shoulder with a heavy hand. “Life is full of challenges. I’ve never met one I couldn’t face.”

“Those are fighting words.”

“I’m not scared of stepping into the ring.”

“Is that what you want?” I ask. “To go one-on-one with me?”

“Been there, done that. You’d have to be pretty special for me to be interested in round two.”

I tug the collar of his button-up. “Let’s both remember you said that. Because I have the feeling it’s going to come back to bite you in the ass very soon.”

Then Art completely surprises me by reaching up and tucking my loose strands of hair behind my ear. His warm hand hovers there, sending heat across my jaw and down my neck. I want to lean into his touch, but it’s gone too quickly.

“I’ll see you at work tomorrow.”

“Ah. Actually. About that.”

Art straightens, immediately putting distance between us. “What?”

“I need to do the night shift. If that’s okay.” Stupid professor and her stupid feedback on my stupid essay. I have to rewrite almost the whole thing. I feel horrible asking, especially when Art’s whole body fills with tension.

But he just nods once. “I’ll adjust the schedule.”

Then he turns on his heel and leaves.

Sending any progress we’d made rapidly down the drain.

20

ART

“You didn’t need to do all this,” Payne says, swaying slightly on his feet. “Who cares about forty-one?”

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