Page 78 of Help Wanted

Chapter 14

Kenley was already in a bad mood when she opened the office Monday morning. Her bag was packed and in the car. She would be leaving for the airport at noon, which was the only reason she hadn’t called off.

“How was your weekend?” Paul asked as he filled his cup with coffee.

“Great.” She must not have sounded convincing, because Paul chuckled and patted her shoulder.

“It will be okay.” She wasn’t sure if it would be.

When she’d gotten home the day before, she’d taken Scott up on his offer to try another date.

One thing was for certain, they would not be trying a third. They had no connection whatsoever. She found him attractive, but she wasn’t attracted to him. She thought he was nice enough, but she couldn’t wait to get away.

At least they both realized it was a disaster before trying to force the kiss goodnight. Scott had merely laughed at her door, and said, “Yeah. I know. This is never going to work.”

She’d been both relieved and frustrated at his comment, though relief was definitely the main emotion. After striking out at the clubs with Alyssa, she was happy to come back to reality. Unfortunately her reality was a stabbing pain in her chest.

“No Zane again today? I thought he’d be in.” Paul frowned as he looked up at the clock on the wall in her office. Yes, normally Zane would have been there by then. He was not.

“I’m not sure. He didn’t say.” Not that he’d needed to. Kenley was aware he was still hiding from her. After bouncing ideas off Vanessa and Alyssa, she wasn’t sure what her next move was going to be, but it was clear she was the one who needed to make it.

After all, she was the one who’d said she wanted things to be professional. She was the one who thought their interaction could go back to the way it had been before. This was all her fault.

Her friends had suggested she walk into his office, take off her clothes and crawl up on his desk. She’d even practiced seductive glances in the mirror. The only thing she needed was the nerve. She hadn’t found any yet, which also pissed her off.

Not that it mattered since he wasn’t there.

“I thought he ran his schedule through you.” Paul seemed determined to push her to the limit this morning.

“No.” She shrugged as Paul pulled out his phone and moved his thumbs over the screen.

She took a sip of her coffee and swallowed. She was finally learning to drink the stuff. While she still wasn’t crazy about the taste, she did enjoy the caffeine boost. Especially since she hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before.

Paul’s phone beeped and he held the screen up.

“He won’t be in until later. He says he’s working from home.”

“I see.”

“Is something going on between you two? You both seem tense lately.”

“I couldn’t say. You’d have to ask him.”

“I did. He said nothing was wrong.”

“Then I guess nothing’s wrong.”

“Okay.” Paul collected his things and headed for the door, finally giving up. “When’s your flight?”

“Four.”

“Have a nice trip. See you next week.” He tipped his imaginary hat and left.

Zane was working from home, which meant she wasn’t going to get her chance to confront him about their situation.

She’d been prepared to sit down and ask him what he wanted. No matter how much it scared her. She knew they had to find a way to move past it or find another alternative.

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