Page 60 of Debugging Love

I sigh and then push my chair back so I can see him. “You enjoyed that too much.” It’s not a thank you. I’m getting there. I think.

Chance pulls his hands off his keyboard and swivels a few inches so he doesn’t have to crane his neck. “I didn’t enjoy it.”

“You were smiling.”

“I didn’tnotenjoy it. I don’t mind bugs. They have an important role in the ecosystem.”

“Not in the ecosystem of Citizen’s Tower.”

As he considers my words, he turns and rests his palms on his thighs. “True. He’ll be happier where I left him.”

“Which is?”

“In a planter in front of the ice cream shop.”

“You didn’t stop in for ice cream?”

“No.” He reaches up and rubs the back of his neck. “I wasn’t hungry.”

I fold my hands in my lap, willing myself not to fiddle nervously. “Well, thank you for relocating the spider. I’m sorry I acted unprofessionally.”

Chance lowers his hand and grins. “You mean when you screamed bloody murder and dove under the table?”

“Yeah, that part.”

“It’s fine. I liked seeing you that way.”

Cowering under a table while trying not to puke? That’s weird. “What way?”

“With your guard down.”

Oh.

I run my fingers through the ends of my hair and settle back in my chair. “My guard was up. I wasn’t about to let that monster have a piece of me.”

“Which is why you hid under that table.”

“It was a protective barrier.”

“You don’t need one of those around me.”

Oh.

My stomach tries to do a flip but lands flat on its back. I can hardly breathe. My feet can still engage, though, and I use them to wheel myself behind the privacy wall.

“Thanks again. Sorry you had to see one of my most embarrassing moments.” My voice sounds as strained as I think it does. I’m certain of that.

“No problem. Not everyone likes spiders. I get it.”

I pull up Teams. Now I’m mortified on top of embarrassed, andsomeoneneeds to know. I click on my group chat withMorgan and Kayla, hover my fingers above the keyboard, and...abort.

That someone is me. Only me. No one else gets to know Chance just knocked the wind out of my stomach. Because that sounds dumb. But also because I’m a professional and my relationship with Chance is professional. That’s all.

While I’m staring at Teams, Christopher starts a group chat with me, Chance, Morgan, and Drew.

Meeting in my office, stat.

Panic shoots through me. Is he mad that I broke the conference room table? But Morgan and Drew got the message too, so it can’t be that. My panic morphs into mild curiosity.

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