Page 14 of I Choose You
Dale took his coffee, thanked her, and left. But Richie and Shawn both lingered in her office, chatting her up.
I took my coffee from the desk and stood in the doorway, just listening to them make small talk.
“So then, this guy comes up to me, and he’s…” Shawn was mid-sentence in a story when Richie cut him off.
“Alright, well, we’ll get out of your hair, let you get back to work.”
“Claire doesn’t mind us hanging out in here for a bit, do you, Claire?”
“Not at all. It’s nice to break up the day with a little conversation, otherwise I’m in here all alone,” Claire said.
Richie caught my eye and ushered Shawn out the door by the shoulder. “Let’s go.”
“You think that’s a good sign that my presence makes my crew flee?” It was meant to sound like a joke, but it didn’t quite land that way.
Claire glared at me, but it was far too cute to be menacing. “You know, if you weren’t so grumpy in the morning, they would probably want to be in the same room as you. The coffee would have done you good.”
I pulled the wooden chair she kept in her office up to her desk. Her eyes narrowed in confusion as she watched me take a seat. “Did you get the email I sent you?”
“Yeah, the designs for the stained glass. They’re great. I can definitely work with those.”
“They’re good, but they’re not great. They need to be stunning.”
“I’m glad you said that because I’ve actually been working on them a bit.” She brushed a piece of hair out of her face that had fallen out of her clip. Her nervous eyes met mine as she continued. “I’ve been rendering a new look that marries stained glass and clear leaded glass throughout.” I shifted my chair closer to hers so that I could look over her shoulder. “It isn’t done yet. I can email you the draft when it’s complete.”
“Why don’t you just show me now? We can work on it together for a while. The guys know what needs to be done today. They’ll be fine without me for a minute.”
“You want to work together on it?” Her face lit up. “Okay, let me show you what I’ve been working on.” She tilted the laptop toward me and had to lean in to continue typing. I could smell the fresh orange scent of her shampoo.
She kept the small room so damn hot with that little portable heater. It felt like I was suffocating. I pulled my sweatshirt off and threw it on the floor. Claire’s eyes tracked my movements before she went back to opening the draft designs she had been working on.
“Are you hot? I can shut the heater off.”
“No, if you’re comfortable, then just leave it on.”
“It’s okay. It is a little warm in here.” She turned backward to power off the device, and her chest grazed my arm.
My throat grew thick at the feel of her soft breast against my skin.
I scooted my chair back a bit, took a sip of coffee, and pulled my head out of the gutter where it had quickly traveled to. This was Claire, the annoyingly chipper and entirely unwanted designer who was encroaching on my project.Focus.
Claire’s window designs loaded onto the screen. They were beautiful. She was able to combine the ornate designs with a more modern elegance. I could picture them on the library, the light refracting through them into the interior.
“These are perfect,” I told her honestly.
Her nose scrunched up as she continued to click through the various images, each showcasing the design at different angles.
“Thanks, but you don’t need to lie to me. These are just the first drafts, or second drafts since they originated from yours. I’ll keep working on them.”
I stood from the chair and leaned into her, waiting until she made eye contact. “These are the ones that I want.” Grabbing my sweatshirt from the floor, I strolled to the door. “Get those to the glazier and get back to me with a quote,” I told her on my way out.
“I don’t workforyou, I’m workingwithyou, remember?” she yelled to my back. I could hear the smile on her face. I didn’t know why, but I liked being the reason she was smiling.
* * *
Dinner was at my dad’s tonight, and I was the first to arrive this time, taking the driveway for myself.
Suck it, brothers.
