Page 90 of Mr. Flirt

I chuckled and slid the folders toward me and read the rest of the categories.

“I’m headed out early today to pick up my parents from the airport.”

I nodded. News to me. “Yup.”

“You didn’t remember, did you?”

I laughed, shaking my head. “Nope.”

She tilted her head slowly. “You’ve been kind of out of it lately.”

“What do you mean?”

She shrugged.

“You can’t tell your boss that and not explain.”

“I don’t know. You’ve always been pretty laidback, but recently, I’ve noticed you kind of drifting off.”

“Like falling asleep?” I was sure that hadn’t happened, even when the developers droned on about something that I didn’t need to know the details about.

Tara laughed. “No, like staring at a wall. Forgetting when I have time off. Not remembering the receptionist’s birthday.”

My jaw dropped, and she winked at me. “Don’t worry. I remembered and got her a great gift card to the spa down the road.”

“Thank you.”

“Is everything okay?”

Tara and I always had a pretty open dialogue since she’d been promoted from reception. She was down to earth and loved to set me straight. When my other assistant moved to a different department, I had to nearly beg Tara to apply. She didn’t think she had the qualifications, but I knew she’d do great. And I was right.

“Yeah. Just trying to sort life stuff out.”

“Is it the fallout from the magazine spread?”

I laughed and shook my head. “Fallout?”

She grinned, flashing a wicked grin. “You know, declaring that you’re impossible to love or whatever it was you said had to set hearts a-blazing in Seattle.”

I rolled my eyes. “I doubt that. But thanks, and no. It’s not about the article. I’m just kind of wondering if I’d made the right choices over the years.”

She glanced around my spacious office and smiled. “I’d say you’re doing just fine, by the looks of it. Whatever’s going on in your life, just trust your gut. It’s done good things for you so far.”

I smiled and gave a quick nod. “Thanks, Tara.”

“You’re welcome. Now, use those folders.” She left my office and closed the door behind her while I thought about what she’d said.

She was right on many levels. When it came to taking risks professionally, I’d been right ninety-nine percent of the time, and the other one percent was because I didn’t see the obvious. I didn’t listen to my heart.

But the same couldn’t be said about my personal life.

It had been a complete failure from the moment my dad and mom divorced. It didn’t help that it paralleled my own breakup. My high school girlfriend cheated on me the moment we stepped foot in college. From that moment on, I stopped thinking there was a future with women. It was more of a short-term preoccupation.

That way of thinking, doing, acting, behaving, and living worked just fine for me.

Up until Lucy.

The walls I’d built around my heart for every meaningless encounter felt as strong as steel.

---