Page 15 of Dance with Me on New Year's Eve

Shaking my head in disbelief, I watched as he typed away on his phone. Finally, I walked over to join him. “So you’re the one who’s easily distracted today.”

As soon as I started speaking, he froze. Finally, he took a few steps away and turned toward me. “I’m taking notes, Roxanne, ever heard of it? You should be doing it too.”

My mouth tightened as I stepped toward him. “Let me see.”

He held his phone against his chest. “No.”

“We’re supposed to be partners, Jeffrey.” I don’t know where I got these weird flashes of bravado around him … he brought out the worst in me, and I couldn’t resist arguing with him. “Are you hiding something? Are you writing something you don’t want me to see?”

His jaw tightened. “I’m nothidinganything. I doubt you’d need to see my notes, as you seem content with a small role in this project.”

I saw red. “I seem content … what? You—” I stopped, taking a deep breath and another step in his direction. “You have been bullishly doing and deciding everything from day one, giving me little to no opportunity to contribute. If I have a small role, it’s because you’re not letting medo anything!”

He walked backward a couple of steps and nearly collided with a small bookcase visibly covered in dust.

“I thought I was the clumsy one. Apparently you can’t even handle me being anywhere near you,” I accused him, tryingto channel the anger instead of acknowledging that it … hurt. Was I that bad that even an odious person like Jeff whohadto work with me couldn’t stand being near me?

My warring emotions must have been obvious, as the frustration melted off his face, replaced by a neutral expression. “I don’t like people in my personal space.”

My eyes shifted downward to the right as I tried to play it off as inconsequential. Shrugging, I said, “Sure.”

“It’s true, Roxanne.” He started to take a small step sideways but then apparently thought better of it. “It’s not you.”

I inhaled and exhaled slowly before meeting his eyes. “I don’t like people in my personal space either. But I try not to be rude about it.”

We locked eyes for a long moment before he swallowed and nodded.

“Fair enough,” he said at last.

My eyes went wide as I’m sure my mouth hung open. “Is that … it’s like almost an apology, right? The closest I’ll ever get, I’m sure.”

I shifted my gaze to his right hand, which was smoothing the long sleeve over his left forearm. That must be some kind of fidgeting habit. Maybe this was how he dealt with frustration or people he didn’t like. I sighed and looked him in the eye again.

“Let’s just get this done so we can go home,” I said. “Or back to the resort office, or wherever it is you spend your time.”

He nodded curtly and turned to leave, so I followed him out into the next office.

But he abruptly turned around before taking two steps into the room, and I bumped into his chest, but more softly this time. Just enough to feel a zap …

Whatwasthat?

I couldn’t even describe it if I tried, but it was not an entirely unpleasant feeling. It was … electric. My breath was coming a bit quickly, and I had no idea why.

“Sorry,” he said, looking down at me before abruptly sidestepping to cross the room.

“You’ve got to stop doing that, Jeff,” I called out, slumping onto a brown plastic chair someone had left in this office.

He merely turned and gave me an odd expression while pulling out his phone. His fingers started flying across the keys for a few seconds before halting abruptly. His head swiveled toward me. “I’ll email you the notes later, and you can add your own observations.”

“Oh. Uh-huh,” I said, like an idiot. “Thanks,” I added, and I meant it.

That was unexpectedly nice. My brows scrunched together as I tried to wrap my brain around all the weird interactions in the past hour. He was rude and insufferable, but occasionally … not. Or maybe I was just tired and not thinking straight. That was more likely. In fact, he—

My thoughts were cut short by my phone vibrating with a text from Hazel, informing me of the weather keeping them stuck in MSP. I sighed, turning off the phone screen. Better late than never, I guess.

∞∞∞

SawyerRox4:Hey Danny.

---