Page 11 of Up All Night

“Of course,” I nodded.

Once I was sure he was out of earshot, I let out a loud breath as my head fell back against the headrest. So much for getting on his good side today. Already having two strikes in a matter of a few minutes was a new record for me. Being late and having no dating prospects were now against me, and I hoped I wouldn’t disappoint him for the third time during our meeting together. But then again, I was used to striking out.

I put my head in my hands. The day had barely begun, and I was already tired.

Maybe I should have told him it was a woman who had made me late this morning. He didn’t have to know she was my personal trainer, who happened to also be my noisy neighbor, and whom I found incredibly annoying. I could have told him that yes, there is a beautiful girl who lives in my building and that she even keeps me up a few nights a week. He didn’t need to know the circumstances behind it all. It wouldn’t have even been lying.

I wished I could say that was the only time I thought about Halle for the rest of the day, but she was on my mind more than ever. Why? Because every time I went to stand, my sore leg muscles would protest, and it would take everything in me not to waddle through the office because of the pain. Each time I stood or sat, I tried not to curse her name out loud.

Had that been her plan? Had she wanted me to think of her as much as she’d undoubtedly thought of me while she was making potstickers? If so, she’d succeeded, and I couldn’t wait to return the favor.

5

Halle

Ishut the door to my car and made my way toward the stairs that led to my apartment. My body was exhausted. I wasn’t used to waking up at 5:15 a.m. Adding Ben’s clients, including his early morning ones, on top of my regular afternoon clients would have been exhausting enough. But then I had to be at the dance studio at four and taught classes until eight. It was only day one of the next three weeks, and I already regretted having agreed to help Ben out for the entire time he would be gone.

Add on top of everything that my first client of the day was my grumpy neighbor, and it had me wanting to wave a white flag in defeat.Oh, cruel world, I give up. You win.

Hopefully the increase in my paycheck from the gym would make this all worth it. Although I’m not sure any amount of money could make up for having to spend an hour every morning with Mr. Ornery Pants.

Speak of the devil.

West stood at the bottom of the stairs in his gray pressed suit, staring straight ahead. Had he just gotten home from work, too? I hadn’t realized he worked this late. He looked as exhausted as I felt. His dirty blonde hair wasn’t perfectly styled—it looked like he’d run his fingers through it too many times. His shoulders weren’t pulled back in confidence but drooped like he was carrying the weight of the world. His mouth turned down at the corners instead of…well, actually, that was about normal for him.

He didn’t make any effort to move but continued to stand there as I approached. What was he doing?

Without him even glancing over at me, I came up and stood beside him. “What are we looking at?” From what I could see, it was just a flight of stairs.

He then turned to me with a scowl on his face. “Thanks to you, stairs are the bane of my existence.”

What? How did I have anything to do with his dislike for stairs?

He must have seen the confusion on my face because he continued. “As are sitting, standing, walking, and anything else that requires me to use my legs.”

My eyes widened in understanding. I pulled in my lips and tried not to smile but failed. “Don’t you ever work out your legs with Ben?”

“Of course I do,” he said. “But he doesn’t have me sprinting, doing multiple heavy sets of squats, leg presses, lunges, leg extensions, and deadlifts.”

I gave him a sheepish grin. He actually left out that I’d had him do leg curls, too, but I kept that to myself. I may have gone a little leg-heavy with him today, but I’d also made sure to keep it all safe. Sore legs were a harmless thing, and he’d be back to normal in a few days.

“At least you’re a guy and don’t have to sit on the toilet every time you go to the bathroom,” I said, helping him see that it could be worse. “Unless you ate at Del Taco, and then, well, good luck.”

His lips twitched, and I could have sworn he was trying not to smile, but he looked away and back at the stairs before I could tell for sure.

“You can go on ahead.” He motioned for me to go before him. “It’s going to take me a while.”

A twinge of guilt went through me, but I was quick to push it away. This was the guy who had tried to get me evicted—more than once. This was the guy who came knocking on my door to tell me to turn down my music at nine o’clock at night because he needed to sleep, signifying that his schedule was more important than my job. This was the guy who had banged on my bedroom floor and woken me up at five thirty in the morning.

But…Ihadbeen the one to make it painful for him to walk.

I let out an exasperated sigh and thought of the only thing I knew to help him get up the stairs, despite wanting to leave him here and being able to finally go home and put my feet up.

“Or…” I broke the silence and gave him a challenging look. “We could race up the stairs.”

“Race?” He looked at me like I was crazy.

I wanted to point out again how he always repeated what I said, but I only raised an eyebrow at him, which had him rolling his eyes at me as we both silently acknowledged his tendency to act like an echo.

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