Page 102 of That Girl
I turn around. She’s wearing a dark brown knee-length pencil skirt that hugs her curves, and a pink silk blouse that looks both professional and sexy as hell. Her hair is pulled back in a sleek ponytail and she’s applied a dusting of make-up that doesn’t cover the smattering of freckles across her nose that I love so much. I have kissed every single one of those freckles.
“Knox caught me in the hall and wanted to wish me a good first day.”
“Right,” she drawls out.
“I need to check some stuff and prepare for my staff meeting. It was nice catching up with you, Knox. I hope we get a chance to do it again,” I tell him, making it clear by my tone that I won’t be going anywhere.
Aurora spies the donuts and grabs one. “I was starving. Thanks for getting these, Knox.”
I take one as well just to irritate the shit out of him. “Catch up with you later?” I ask her.
Aurora walks past me to stand at the door, her light floral scent making me weak in the knees.
“Austin will be in later. If you need anything, you can ask him or our site manager, Carol. Have a good first day, JD.”
She’s dismissing me and I take the hint. It’s going to be one step forward and two steps back with her. “Have a good day, sunshine,” I say back.
She closes the office door.
Chapter 51
“Thanks for meeting me here,” I tell my two best girlfriends as we sit down at the bar at O’Reilly’s.
I managed to avoid running into JD for the rest of the day, but that hasn’t stopped him from blowing up my phone constantly with text messages asking me one thing or another in the guise of being ‘work-related.’ After a long day of avoiding the impossible man, I decided I needed some girl time with my besties.
Before I left work, I spent about an hour with Connor in the on-site daycare this afternoon when I knew JD would be occupied. We built block towers and played this cute fishing game. That kid has stolen my heart, just like his dad did over five years ago.
Renee and Shelby take stools on either side of me at the bar. Even though I still rarely, if at all, drink, I never begrudge anyone else from doing so.
The bar is noisy as usual as people pile in to watch the baseball game on the large screens. The spicy aroma of chicken wings wafts through the air, and I’m almost tempted to order a huge sampler appetizer with fried mushrooms, mozzarella sticks, and potato skins. I decide the stomachache I would have afterward from all the grease wouldn’t be worth it tonight.
“Hey, Ben! A pint each of whatever is good on tap,” Renee calls out to the bartender.
Ben is a good guy. He’s a single father and the nicest man you’ll ever meet. He owns O’Reilly’s, and it is his second pride and joy next to his little girl, Lillie. She was born with a severe cleft in her lip that has required several surgeries to repair. Renee, Shelby, and I help Ben out from time to time when he needs a babysitter.
Ben slides two frosty mugs to Renee and Shelby and leans forward on the bar. “Hey, I’m glad you three are here. I was going to see if you could watch Lillie on Friday night.”
Renee, ever the flirt, winks at him. “Sure thing, handsome. You have a date on Friday?”
“I wish I were so lucky. A couple of my old army buddies are passing through town and want to meet up for drinks.”
“Ben, you know we would be more than happy to watch Lillie,” I tell him. “Actually, I think I know the perfect play buddy for Lillie.”
Shelby looks at me. “You are so pathetic.” She laughs, then takes a huge swallow of her draft beer.
I give her my serious face. “What? I think that Lillie and Connor would get along great. Besides, he doesn’t know any other kids his age here and could use a friend.”
“Uh huh,” Shelby mumbles.
“Am I missing something?” Renee asks, crowding in over my shoulder to get into our conversation. I push her face back.
“Well, I could honestly care less about the reason,” Ben says, motioning to a new customer that he’ll be right there. “Thanks, ladies. I’ll text you the time. Am I dropping her off at your place?” he asks me.
“Sounds like a plan.”
Ben taps the bar top with his knuckles and heads down to the other end of the bar to serve the three guys that walked in.
“You really should think about asking him out,” I suggest to Renee. I know Shelby is a lost cause because she’s hung up on Prescott—has been since high school.
