Page 59 of I Won't Be In On Monday

“Were you trying to check out my package?”

“What?” I say, blushing furiously. “What are you talking about?”

“I don’t know, but your eyes were on my crotch for far longer than is normally polite.”

“I was just noticing that your pants were creased, which is unusual because they are usually immaculately ironed.”

“Oh,” he says, and I see a flash of what looks like disappointment pass through his eyes.

Why would he be disappointed? Is he that upset that his pants don’t look perfect? “I mean, it is Friday night,” I say quickly. “No need to be embarrassed or anything.”

“I'm not embarrassed,” he says. “I've been working all week. Of course, my pants are going to be creased. I mean, it's not like I've just been in a vacuum doing nothing all day.”

“So then, why did you—" I shake my head. “You know what, let me just go and get these files for you.”

I head towards the door, and he walks behind me. I feel his hand on my shoulder, spinning me around. “Why did I what?” he asks softly, gazing at me. That deep, dark, intense look is back in his eyes, and I swallow nervously. I feel his fingers on the back of my neck.

“What are you doing?” I whisper.

“Just taking it down,” he says, grabbing my hair tie and pulling it so that my hair goes cascading down my back. He smiles as he looks at me. “I like it when you have your hair down.”

I lick my lips nervously and push my glasses back up my nose.

“You look cute in your glasses, you know that?”

“I look like an owl,” I say self-deprecatingly. “I do have contacts. But I’m still not used to wearing them.”

“But maybe?—”

“But maybe what?”

“You don’t have to wear contacts.”

“I do if I don’t want to look like an owl.”

“What’s wrong with looking like an owl?” he says. “Not that I think you look like an owl,” he adds quickly.

“Oh, you don’t think I look like an owl? Do you know how many times I have been called four eyes?”

“Do you really feel that self-conscious about your glasses?” He frowns, touching the side of my face.

I nod slowly. “A little. I mean, it hasn't exactly helped me in the dating department.” Shit, I wish I hadn’t shared that with him.

He cocks his head to the side. “I mean, you got a date with this Marco, right?”

“Yeah.” I think of Marco for a second and smile. “True, I did.”

“And I guess you are looking forward to that?” he says, licking his lips.

“Yeah, I think it's going to be a lot of fun. He seems like a really nice guy.”

“I mean, you don't really know him. You don't know if he's a nice guy. Every guy seems nice at first.”

“True. I thought you were nice at first.”

He grimaces. “And now you don't?”

“No, I mean, you're a bit annoying at times, but I still think you're nice enough.”

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