Page 49 of Zach
of your hand in minutes?
There’s a power in that I crave. Being able to make people like me feels like a superpower.
Too bad we’re not living in a comic. I would look amazing in a cape.
“Where the hell are your shoes?”
I flail in my chair, nearly tipping back. Only Zach’s quick grab of the arm stops me from hitting the
floor. “Jimmy Cricket! You scared me.”
He rears back. “What the fuck did you just say?” A grin flashes before he wipes it away. “Did you
just use an animated character as a swear?”
“Ah…ummm…gee, look at the time.” I tap my bare wrist —mental note: buy watch so I don’t
look like an idiot every time I do that— “looks like we’re the last ones here. We should hit the road,
Jack.”
A choked sound escapes him, and my face flushes. I pop to my feet and glance around for my
shoes. I think I took them off somewhere around lunchtime, so maybe I can retrace my steps. Except I
got lost a few times today…so yeah, it might take a while.
I wander the floor, searching under tables and chairs in the now-empty marketing department.
Zach’s large form shadows me. I sneak a glance at his face, not finding the frustration he wore last
night. That was embarrassing. Not the losing my shoes part —that happens all the time— but the
having my boss searching for them part. Mr. Williams never helped me look. Not once in a decade.
“I can find my own way home tonight. You don’t need to stick around.”
One brow raises. “Can you? I’m afraid if I leave you alone, I’ll find you curled under a desk in
the IT department tomorrow morning. You don’t have a very good sense of direction.” The smirk on
his face, combined with his words, makes me feel small. Carefully backing out from under the table
I’m crouched under, I stand and face him.
“That’s not fair,” I say quietly. His head tilts questioningly, but the smirk stays firmly in place.
Exhaling, I stare at him, carefully choosing my words. “I’ve spent my entire life in Manhattan. For the
last decade, I lived most of my life within a twenty-block radius. I’ve been here two days.” He drops
the smirk, watching me steadily. “I’m trying to find my footing here, but apparently, I’m not doing that
fast enough for you.”
He crosses his arms over his chest and sits on the edge of one of the tables. The seams of his suit
strain at those massive shoulders. Is it weird that I want to poke them? “You got lost getting off the
