Page 23 of Swept Up In You

“Give it time for him to adjust and keep those conversations up.”

“I will. Promise. But enough about me,” she said, changing the subject. “How are you? How’s things at work and with Will?”

Will was Alex’s long time work crush. You’d think they were back in high school the way they acted around each other. At least that’s the impression Sam got from Alex’s stories.

“Work has been great. Vanessa is on annual leave, so yay!” Alex said, fist-pumping the air. “And I’ve almost finished clearing out the storeroom with Will so we can fit in evenmorearchive boxes. I swear that room is going to implode with the amount we try and pack in there.”

Alex worked at a large insurance company, conveniently covering boats in the mix, which Sam took full advantage of.

“Sounds very productive. How was it being in a confined space with Will?” Sam replied, waggling her eyebrows.

“Oh, stop it,” Alex said, brushing it off, her pink cheeks telling Sam the complete opposite. “It was fine.”

She raised an eyebrow.

“Okay, it was great. We got a chance to talk a bit more about his golfing and comic book collection. Did you know he has the first series of the Wolverine comic?”

“I did not,” Sam replied dryly. She’d rather a tool-belt-laden guy any day. An image of Taylor wearing one snapped into her head.Weird. “He sounds truly riveting Alex.”

“Har har. I know you think he seems boring, but he just has this way about him. I’ll find any excuse to talk to him, and it feels like he does the same. I can’t explain it, other than I feel like we can just talk for hours. Although I think if anything was to happen, it’s going to have to come from me.”

“So do it!” Sam replied, her eyes lighting up.

“He’s technically my boss.”

“Andtechnicallyhe’s into you.” Sam snapped her fingers. “I’ve got it!” she declared. “You don’t ask him on a date. You ask him to hang out with you and some friends. Do something super casual, like, I dunno… oh! Mini-golf!”

She could feel her excitement building.

“You’ve said countless times how much he likes golf, so I’m sure he wouldn’t miss the opportunity todohis two favourite things.”

“Hey!” Alex cried, slapping her arm at the innuendo. Sam laughed, sitting back in her chair to take a quick sip of her bubbles. Alex paused, looking thoughtful.

“You know, that might not be a half-bad idea,” Alex surmised after a minute. “I like this, Sam-I-Am; I like this very much.”

“Of course it’s a fantastic idea. I came up with it. Sam-I-Am at your service.”

She gave a sarcastic bow, almost knocking her glass over and catching it just in time, with a few drops sloshing over the edge. “See, I even give free entertainment,” Sam said, chuckling at herself. Alex just shook her head.

“Can it be Monday already?” Alex asked.

“Am I too boring for you?” Sam replied with a wink. Alex ignored Sam almost completely, a faraway look on her face. “Now all you’re doing is sitting there thinking about Will showing you his favourite strokes.”

That snapped her out of it. Alex flipped her off and picked up a menu, smiling. “Maybe… All right, what are we eating?”

“Our usual? Sharing, yeah?”

“Of course. Umm…” Alex took her time perusing the menu as if she didn’t already know every item like the back of her hand. They always played this game, never changing what theyactuallyordered.

“Half kilo of spicy chicken wings, ranch on the side?” she asked.

“I thought you’d never ask.” Sam batted her eyelashes at Alex, both of them cracking up laughing.

“You got the drinks; I’ll grab the wings,” Alex said, getting up from their table and making her way over to the bar.

“Thank you!” she called out over her shoulder.

She loved this ritual with Alex; they tried catching up here at least once a month. So many of Sam’s other friends from school or university had eventually petered out, busy with growing families or moving interstate, but Alex always stuck around.

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