Page 10 of The Hot Mess

As I walked past the woman, her conversation with the receptionist ended and she turned, giving me a plain view of her face. My first thought was that she was every bit as gorgeous as I suspected. But the second thought was more of a realization, and a startling one at that.

“Jada,” I gasped, almost choking on the sharp breath.

I couldn’t believe it was her. Mousey old Jada, who was always hiding behind glasses and frumpy clothes with her nose in a book. Not that it wasn’t attractive in its own way, but she had never caused such a strong physical reaction…in my pants.

“Oh, hey Jack,” she smiled sweetly. Innocently. She had no idea what kind of naughty thoughts had just rattled off in my brain about her.

“Hey,” I cleared my throat. “Uh, yeah. Hey.”

Her brow furrowed. “Are you okay?”

“Sorry, yes,” I snapped to, feeling ridiculous for letting any woman throw me for such a loop. It was a rare occurrence for me. “You just…You look different.Gooddifferent. It caught me off guard.”

Her eyes dropped down to the floor between us with a bashful grin. I had never noticed the adorable dimples in her cheeks before, or what great cheekbones she had.

“That’s alright,” she said, rolling one shoulder. “I’m turning over a new leaf, I guess you could say. Shaking a few things up in my life. Thought I could use a new look, you know? To make the outside match my insides.”

“I don’t think anyone’s complaining,” I blurted. God, I really was making a fumbling mess of this. “What I’m trying to say is…You look great. Better than I’ve ever seen you, from what I can recall.”

Suddenly, I was racking my brain to remember anything I did recall. I had never really looked twice at Jada before. She was sweet and shy. Not one to demand the attention of a room. There was the added hindrance of a certain bro code that said the little sister of your friends and co-workers were off limits. There was reason not to look, but she had never really gone out of her way to make that difficult either…until now.

“Thank you,” she replied, commanding me to my senses again.

“Keep at it. Whatever you’re doing, it’s working.”

“Good to know,” she grinned.

That smile. How did I never notice that smile before with those perfect white teeth and those dimples? Her eyes were captivating, and they lit up when she smiled, making it impossible to look anywhere else. I was almost angry at her for hiding it all away for so long.

The momentary silence between us lasted longer than it should have, and was quickly turning awkward. I had to say something to ground us again, to bring it all back to normal.

“Oh, by the way…I have the contact info for that woman I wanted to recommend for your interviews,” I told her. “Her name is Isabella, and she’s eager to talk to you. She’s never used Heartstring before, so you’ll have a chance to present our audience with the point of view of starting the service from start to finish. It will be a valuable perspective, I think. And Isabella is a great face for any company. I think people will really be drawn to her story and persona.”

“That’s great!” she said, pulling out her phone. “How can I reach her?”

I spouted off my sister’s number from memory, and it should have ended there.

“Let me go ahead and give you my number too. You know, in case you need to reach out for anything as you dive into this.”

“Oh,” she hesitated. “Well, sure. But…I already have your number.” She held up her phone to show me my name in her contacts as proof. “We’ve known you so long. I must have gotten it from one of my siblings at some point. I don’t remember why. Or you might just be a standard company contact that Lucas handed out.”

“Makes sense. I’m sorry to say I don’t have your number, though.”

She took my phone from my hand and typed it in before handing it back. I didn’t know why I felt the thrill of getting a chick’s number. Sure, that’s what I had done. But it wasn’t like that.

“I’m a little nervous about interviewing, honestly,” she admitted. “It’s something I always thought I’d be good at it, and I’ve always wanted to try. But it’s still hard to try something for the first time, even if you are really excited about it.”

I loved the way she cut her eyes away when she talked. Even with her new look, she still carried an endearing shyness. It gave away her kindness and humility—a trait that was rare in most of the women I found myself surrounded with.

“How about dinner?” I blurted suddenly, surprising myself. I didn’t know what I was thinking. I just had this urge to be around her more. To be alone with her. But that wasn’t reason enough for betraying the bro code, or any of the other lines I had crossed by spitting the invitation out.

“For tips and advice, I mean,” I added quickly, trying to save myself. “If you have anything you want to talk through. I could try and help you get ready.”

The excuse sounded like such obvious bullshit, I could barely stand to hear myself say it. I was kicking myself for letting my words get so far ahead of me. I was never one to speak accidentally or blurt things out without thinking them through. Which left me unprepared for how to recover.

I studied the reaction on her face. She seemed just as surprised as I was, but took the explanation to heart. I could see her thinking it over.

“Sure, okay. If you don’t mind and you have the time,” she decided, looking optimistic and grateful. “Are you busy tomorrow night?”

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