Page 67 of Free to Run

“You learn to adapt,” I mumble around my first bite. “God, this is so good. Thank you.” I take another few bites before I look to find Keene staring at me. “Did you eat? Are you hungry?”

His laugh is low and rough. “Yes, I ate. And right now, I have four dates before I can satisfy what else I’m hungry for unless this ticks another date off?” He nods toward the soup.

I had just taken a bite of biscuit and promptly choke. Shaking my head, I reach for my bottle of water. “No, this doesn’t count,” I manage to get out.

Keene tips his lips. “I didn’t think so, but I had to ask. Where do you want to go for our second date tonight?”

Unfortunately for him, I had just taken another sip of water. It arcs beautifully across my desk, all over his dress shirt as I spit it at him. Unrepentantly.

Keene looks down at his shirt before standing. He starts to round my desk, and I get up out of self-preservation. I back up slowly when I see he isn’t stopping. “Listen, Keene,” I begin, placating.

He doesn’t stop until I’m backed into the corner of the room. My face is about four inches from his wet chest, and I can’t help the snicker that escapes.

“Think that was funny, do you?” Keene’s breath moves my hair. I want to see his face, but I’m distracted by the springy mat of hair underneath his white dress shirt. It’s even more potent now that it’s wet. I reach up to touch his chest before it’s caught in his grasp. Keene raises my hand to his lips before placing it along his jaw.

“What am I going to do with you?” he whispers, his eyes now roaming over my face.

“I have no idea. I think that’s what worries me,” I reply back honestly.

Something flashes across his face before he leans closer into me. His dark lashes lower, and I watch as his head tips, telling me his lips are about to fasten onto mine. My head tips in the opposite direction as I anticipate his kiss.

And then, my office door flies open.

“Ali, we have got to talk about the number of emails you sent out that require a response by the end of the day. There is no way I can get to them all tonight. Jason and I—well, well, well.” Phil’s voice goes from panicked to all-knowing in one breath. “Did I interrupt something?”

He knows he did, the ass.

With a sense of calm I didn’t imagine he possessed, Keene asks Phil, “Do you know what a closed door means, Phil?”

“Yes, Keene, I’m not two,” Phil counters.

“Then start acting like it. Close the door,” Keene orders before turning back to me. I hear the snick of my office door closing before I lift my face to Keene’s. “He’s such a buzzkill,” he grumbles.

“You’ll get used to him. I promise.”

Keene lowers his head to mine and brushes his nose along my cheek. “Not making promises, Alison. Phil’s a pain in the ass.”

“He’s charming.”

“He’s annoying.”

“He’s funny.”

“He’s obtuse.”

“He’s—” I counter, when Phil cuts in.

“You both know I can still hear you, right?” my pain-in-the-ass, annoying, obtuse brother comments.

Pushing Keene aside, I stomp over to him. “What the hell are you still doing in here?” I screech. “Keene told you to leave!”

“No, he said to close the door,” Phil counters. “I did that. I didn’t think I was going to get a front-row seat to all that chemistry. Phew.” Phil waves his hand in front of his face. “It’s like watching Caleb and Cass all over again. I almost started perspiring.”

“Killing you would be too much of a gift for Jason.”

Keene snickers behind me.

I turn on him like he’s fresh meat. “Seriously? Now is not the time to point out you were right. You might not make it to five dates.”