Page 60 of The Fear of Falling
“I heard that!” Benson calls across the hall.
I don’t even care.
Chapter 21
Benson
IsthishowImade Avery feel when we were in Florence? Like I’ve been picked up by a whirlwind and am on the ride of my life whether I want to be or not? I tend to be a pushy person as it is, but I took a lot of pleasure in nudging Avery to do things she wouldn’t have done on her own, and there’s a chance I may have been a bit heavy-handed. Or maybe a lot heavy-handed, which would explain why Avery is not holding back this morning.
This is an experience I’m not sure I’ll survive. The woman next to me is fearless, funny, and flirty, and she knows it.
And I have never been more attracted to her.
The instant I got off the call with the designer, Avery was at Eric’s office door, her purse at the ready and a wicked gleam in her eyes. Though I half-heartedly suggested I should stay at the office in case anyone came in, she didn’t have to try hard to convince me to join her and practically dragged me to her car, asking me rapid-fire questions that were so unconnected to each other that I answered each one almost by reflex.
Which high school did you go to?
Did you have any pets growing up?
What’s your favorite late night snack?
What kind of workouts do you do?
It has been twenty minutes of nonstop inquisition, and the questions are likely only the start of things. I have no idea where she’s taking me or if we’re even checking out Little Free Libraries, but I have next to no motivation to do something about it. I’m here for the ride, whirlwind be damned.
“So you grew up in Logan, right?” Avery asks as she pulls into a coffee shop parking lot. “What do you miss most?”
While I’m grateful for the coffee stop, since I didn’t get to drink my last cup, I’m less grateful for this subject. The other topics were easy. This one is anything but that. “Not much,” I mutter as I slip out of the car.
“You don’t miss anything about Utah?”
“Utah, sure. But not Logan.”
“What’s wrong with Logan?”
Nothing except for unmet expectations and a childhood full of being told I’m a disappointment and an enigma.
Holding the door open for Avery, I pierce her with a stare that is meant to intimidate her but lacks any strength because I’m so tired. “What are you doing?”
She stops and looks up at me, her expression falsely innocent. “What do you mean?”
I sigh. “What’s with all the questions? I’m trying to keep a professional distance between us, and you—”
“If you call what happened in the storage closet professional, I’m worried about how you treat your other clients.”
Narrowing my eyes, I try to come up with some kind of argument. I come up blank. I have definitely never held a client’s hand before or looked at her like she was the oasis in my desert. I’ve certainly never come close to kissing a client.
Avery keeps talking. “I’m trying to get to know you, Benson.” Folding her arms, she gives me the kind of look I was trying to give her just now, only hers is effective and makes me shift back half an inch. “Do you always hide behind surface level?” She pauses, her expression softening as she adds, “Doesn’t that get lonely?”
If she had stuck with the surface level question, I could have denied it. I could have told her I’ve made friends all across the country. While that’s true, her second question proves she knows me better than I thought. Eric got the full me, back when I was desperate for connection, and Riccardo is my closest friend more recently because he’s the kind of person who naturally encourages vulnerability and honesty. But beyond those two?
Not many people know me.
I didn’t dislike that until right now, when I’m looking down into the warm brown eyes of a woman who has been tempting me to be open since the moment she cried next to me on the plane.
Avery’s obviously waiting for an answer, standing firm in the doorway and blocking someone’s exit, so I mutter a lame response that doesn’t answer her question. “It’s easier,” I say and nudge her inside.
She scoffs as she gets in line. “For whom?”
