This Guy? by Ali Parker

Author:Ali Parker [Parker, Ali]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Star Key press
Published: 2023-08-30T18:30:00+00:00

CHAPTER 39

LAUREN

A kernel of hope stuck with me all weekend. It didn’t disappear on Monday. Nor Tuesday. Come Wednesday, I couldn’t shake it yet, but I was confused. All week, I’d noticed that Jameson seemed more distracted than usual. When he was there, at least. I understood he was doubling up. He had his job and then his purchase of Watson Wicks was an extra duty on top of that. Since he couldn’t be in two places at once, I understood he was stretching himself thin. But he didn’t only seem tired. Just… distracted, maybe even worried.

On Monday, he’d completely zoned out when he met with the head of production. The manager came into the office trying her hardest not to crack up because she’d not only lectured about the process of making wax melts, but she’d tried to demonstrate.

“Weren’t you paying attention?” I asked, doing my best not to laugh at the stalactites of green wax that had hardened on his light blue button-up. I helped him clean up and dismissed the manager. He gave up, just taking the whole thing off to shake the pieces free. Sure, he had an undershirt on, but just that lack of modesty screwed with my focus.

“I was. Kind of,” he admitted dryly. “Between you and me, I was just nodding and humming when I thought she wanted a reply. To show I was listening when clearly I wasn’t. I didn’t realize she was asking me to help her produce anything on the spot.”

Something was on his mind, and it wasn’t fair. He was on my mind, and I struggled, thinking about when I could try to talk to him about how things stood between us. Jenny, as usual, had great advice. She suggested that I talk to him and ask him all the nagging, conflicting questions that floated in my mind.

With him so distracted, though, the timing never seemed right. People were around, or he wanted to check on something else. And then he wasn’t even there, pulled to obligations at the architecture firm, and he’d have to leave early.

The few times he seemed alone was when he was in my office. His office. Ours. Whatever. Each time I caught him in there, he was either on the phone or at the computer. I couldn’t be sure I was imagining things, but it seemed like he was inquiring about rental facilities. One peek over his shoulder proved that he wasn’t looking at reports and sales logs but instead was scrolling in a careful search for event venues.

It wasn’t my business. If he saw me as an acquaintance and not the enemy, he wasn’t at the stage to trust me enough to seek my help.

Still, my curiosity got the better of me and I couldn’t resist. I gave in and folded, asking him the next time I spied him checking out buildings on the opposite side of Dallas.

“What are you up to?” I blurted the question as I grabbed a chair and pulled it close.

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