Page 9 of Protecting Bianca

I waved it off. “It’s fine. We’re both grown adults and have moved on. It was a little awkward at first, but it’s fine. Nothing to worry about. I’m fine.”

“That’s an awful lot of fines,” said Janis, her eyebrows raised a little too high.

“Was it? Well, I guess I’m just anxious to get back to work.” My phone alarm went off. I’d set it for a ten-minute timer. “Shit. I’ve got to go.”

“Where are you going?” asked Lizzie.

“Jager asked me to meet him in the large boardroom in ten minutes.”

“And you set a timer?” asked Lizzie

“What does he want to talk to you about?” Janis asked, a little annoyed. I wasn’t sure if she was put out that I was leaving the conversation so quickly or that I was meeting with Jager and not her.

“You’ll both find out soon. I’ll see you later.”

I rushed down the hall, past Mr. Towers’ office until I reached the boardroom.

In less than ten minutes, Jager had already set up two printers, a scanner, and several other devices.

“It looks like an FBI set-up in here.”

He looked at the tables of equipment. “Yeah. It’s not too far off. But I didn’t have much time.”

As Jager secured some of the wires, I watched him secretly. Careful to keep my looks short but efficient, I noticed that he’d gained several pounds of muscle on his upper body and thighs. He’d always been in shape, but this seemed more calculated. As though those muscles were required rather than just desired.

His light brown hair was shorter. He’d cropped his shoulder-length waves much closer to his scalp with some curls making a subtle appearance near the front. I used to be jealous of those curls, having unmanageable waves myself. His curls always looked effortless while mine looked as though they’d fought through seven levels of humidity hell.

The starkest change I noticed was his eyes. Not the color, of course they were still brown, but the brightness. They used to shine in the dark but now it was as though something or someone had dimmed them. There were light purple circles beneath them and some faint lines around the edges. I thought the change would have made him less attractive, but it was the opposite. Those changes told a story and part of me was desperate to hear it.

As a friend, of course.

“You can take a seat here,” said Jager, pointing to an office chair in front of him.

I straightened my skirt and sat down.

“Great. Now take your thumb and press it into the rectangular glass in front of you.”

I gently touched the glass with my thumb and raised it up for his inspection. “Like that?”

He smiled. “Not quite. You need to press your whole thumb inside. Like this.” He wrapped his fingers over my thumb and nudged it forward, then he pressed it firmly on the glass.

His hand over mine caused the same reaction as earlier. I had to catch my breath as there seemed to be very little air in the room.

“Like that,” he said.

Despite having finished making the thumbprint, Jager’s hand remained on mine. I didn’t pull away, and he didn’t let go.

It was nearly impossible to breathe now. My chest rose and fell with every difficult breath. Jager looked down for a second, but then released me.

I remained seated, waiting for my heart to beat normally again while Jager checked off my name and wrote “complete” next to it. The writing was a bit shaky, but as I recalled, it had always been that way.

“How have you been?” I asked casually, but looked up at him over hooded eyes. He stared at me and that current ripped through my chest. His eyes blazed, sending a heat wave toward me.

“Good,” he answered, but his voice cracked.

Clearing his throat, he said, “That’s everything. Do you mind sending the next employee in?”

He pointed to his list, and I read Lizzie’s name after mine.

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