Page 23 of The Law of Attraction
She stroked her thumb over the stitches on her needle. “And sometimes it means you’re on their last nerve and they want you to listen to them asking you to drop it.” She meant to sound tough, but there was a tremor in her voice that made her sound pathetic instead.
“You’re right. I’m sorry.”
“What?” Her ears had to be deceiving her. Adam Cortinas could not possibly have just said the words you’re right and I’m sorry. She’d expected him to pounce at the first sign of weakness, not lay down his sword.
“I was doing exactly what you were complaining about: talking over you without listening because I thought I knew better.” His dark eyebrows drew together, forming a triplet of creases above the bridge of his perfectly straight nose. He was being serious. He was actually disturbed.
She lifted her chin in vindication. “Yes, you were.”
“I apologize.”
“Apology accepted.”
“I was just trying to help.”
She’d heard that excuse too many times to let it go by. “Until you’ve spent your entire life navigating misogyny, maybe don’t criticize how I choose to do it.”
“Fair enough.”
She wasn’t used to hearing him agree with her and didn’t know how to respond to it. “I’m going to review the site’s operating manuals, if that’s okay with you.” Maybe if she was studying up on the equipment they’d be working with in a few hours he’d stop trying to talk to her.
“Knock yourself out.”
She traded her knitting for her laptop, and pulled up one of the manuals she’d downloaded yesterday. It was boring and technical and had way more information than she needed for a simple integration with their market systems, but it made her feel a little better. Like she was actually doing something to prepare.
She could sense Adam reading over her shoulder, but at least he was being blessedly quiet. Even if he was breathing on her. Each exhalation warmed the side of her neck and stirred the strands of hair that had escaped from her bun.
Which meant his lips must be very close to her. Nearly touching her, in fact. If she turned her head and moved it just a few tiny inches, those sulky, tantalizing lips would be perfectly positioned to brush against hers.
Now that she’d had the thought, it was impossible to think about anything else. Impossible not to imagine actually doing it. How would he taste? Salty, probably, from the fries they’d shared in the airport. And sweet, from the Coke he’d been sipping.
Salty and sweet happened to be her favorite combination of flavors—like the sea salt chocolate chip cookies Penny made. Olivia’s mouth was watering just thinking about it.
And the longer she thought about it, the stronger the impulse became to do something about it. Even though she knew it would be a Very Bad Thing.
You don’t just randomly kiss your coworkers on an airplane when they’re reading a generator operating manual over your shoulder. Especially not a coworker you could barely even stand, and who, more importantly, couldn’t stand you back.
And yet.
It would be so easy.
Just a little taste. Just—
Was that a snore?
Oh good Christ.
He’d fallen asleep again. How did he keep doing that? Not that she could blame him. This manual was about to put her to sleep too. If she hadn’t been so busy fantasizing about the taste of Adam’s lips, she might be the one snoring right now.
Annoyingly, he even had a cute snore. It wasn’t a loud, ugly, snorting snore. His was a soft, gentle snore. More like a long, deep breath. It was sort of relaxing to listen to. Which was fortunate, because he was doing it right next to her ear.
At least now she had the peace and quiet she’d been hoping for.
Olivia settled in to study the operating manual while Adam dozed beside her. When the flight attendant came down the aisle offering pretzels, she helped herself to Adam’s as well as her own. She also availed herself of his complimentary beverage, ordering him a diet Coke which she drank for herself.
By then, his head had drifted its way down onto her shoulder. If he was going to use her as a pillow, she felt entitled to his beverage.
She probably ought to move him off her or nudge him awake, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. For once today, he wasn’t bothering her. If she woke him up, he’d almost definitely start to annoy her again.
