Page 58 of Third Time is the Charm
Beth rolled her eyes and huffed, walking through the door and away from the infuriating and intoxicating man for whom her stomach clenched and her heart sped knowing that he was here –that he was here for her.
When she got to her office, Col was already standing outside the door, waiting for her.
Great.
She forced a weak, apologetic smile to her face for being a few minutes late. “Sorry,” she murmured, opening her office door and holding it for Col to enter since his hands were full with coffee.
“No worries,” he said with a smile. “I know it’s been a long weekend for you. You know, you could have asked your boss for the morning off and he probably would have given it to you. He’s a pretty nice guy – pretty handsome, too.” He winked at her as she smirked, taking her coffee from his hand, not realizing that she’d just freed it up to do something else.
For the second time that morning Beth felt a hand on her waist, only Col took it a step further and before she could stop him, his lips dropped to hers, kissing her softly. Beth sucked in a breath and jerked her head back sharply; she couldn’t let him continue to think there could be something between them.
“Sorry,” he grinned. “I couldn’t help myself, I missed you. Don’t worry, no one else is in yet, trust me, I’ve been standing in the hall for the past fifteen minutes.”
Beth grimaced for both making him wait and for letting him believe that it was because she was afraid of someone seeing them that she’d pulled back.
She couldn’t keep doing this.
She turned and walked towards her desk, intending to set her bag and coffee down and then talk to Colin from the superficial safety net behind her desk. She’d just placed her coffee cup on the wooden surface, opening her mouth to blurt out the uncomfortable, but necessary truth, when Col began to talk, not realizing that she was about to say something.
“I’m sorry I had to leave so early yesterday. I wish I could have stayed to help you move that stuff for Jane, but you know how it’s been lately. There are still a million people – sponsors that I have to meet with this week and schmooze,” he sighed. “Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy it, but I enjoy being with you more.”
“It’s ok, Col, actually—”
“No, it’s not ok,” he interjected. “Which is why I’m taking you to dinner on Friday.”
Beth stared blankly at him.
“Alright, that’s not quite the truth. I need to go taste the food that’s going to be served at the after party at the hotel. It’s the only night I had free this week which is why I wanted to spend it with you. So, I told them that the both of us would be there – I hope that’s ok.”
Crap. It was personal, but it was still work; she couldn’t turn him down.
“I… ahh… yeah, that’s fine. I have no plans,” she stuttered, finishing with a smile to make her hesitancy less obvious.
It might actually be a good thing because then she could talk to himoutsidethe workplace about what was happening – ornothappening – between them. Then she would also have time to figure out how to let him down easily with the least amount of risk to their friendship – something that she still highly valued and wanted to keep.
“Perfect!” he exclaimed, shooting her his movie-star smile before taking a sip of his coffee. “So how did everyone fare after the wedding?”
Everyone?Fine.Her?Remained to be seen.
“Good, I think,” she responded hesitantly. “I didn’t get to see Jane the following morning before they left. I was up pretty early just to make sure I got everything done and cleaned out of the apartment before I had to get to the airport.”
“Ahh, gotcha. She looked like she was having a wonderful time. I’m so happy for them.” Beth felt her heart clench at Col’s genuine happiness for people and the touch of hopefulness that resounded in his voice; her heart clenched harder knowing she was going to crush that hope for him… at least when it came to her.
“I think she did, too,” Beth agreed with a small smile. “I saw the rest of my family – mostly my dad and Lydia for a little bit before I had to leave and then my mom got home just as I was about to walk out the door. So, it was nice to see them for a little after all the craziness of the weekend was over.”
“Your dad is such a great guy,” Col enthused. “I mean, I know you’ve told me that about him before, but to finally meet him – what a pleasure. And he really loves you. I talked to him for a few minutes at the reception and man, all he wanted to hear about was you and how you were liking your new job.”
His words brought a smile to her face. “He really is. I miss him a lot.”
“I think he wondered who I was and what the heck I was doing there.” He paused to chuckle. “But your mom took care of asking me those questions so he was spared.”
Beth raised her palm to her forehead. “I’m sure she did; I’m sorry about that. She’s so nosey.”
“Hey, she’s a mom; I think it’s in their job description.”
“If what she does is written in a job description, I think it’s a few levels promoted up from ‘mom,’” Beth retorted in jest as they both chuckled. “I guess I miss her, too, though. It’s always just been harder for us to be as close as my dad and I, but I love her.”
“I could tell how much she loves you, too,” Col reassured her. His eyebrows raised, feeling his cell vibrate in his back pocket. “One sec, sorry,” he apologized to her before answering the call. “Hello?” “Yeah, no that’s not what I wanted.” “I understand, but this is the first year that we are doing this and I’m not leaving anything to chance.” “I’ll come down there now.” “Yup, bye.”
