Page 23 of A Matter of Time
She paused there as if she actually expected me to answer, and I could only hold up my hands. “I’m pretty sure I don’t.”
She didn’t look like she believed me, but she told me anyway. “He said I’m a ‘very nice’ woman and he was flattered, but he thought it would be better to keep our relationship professional. Which is all I ever intended it to be in the first place ifyouhadn’t put the idea in my head that he was interested in more!”
Her voice raised over the final sentences until shewasalmost shouting, and my eyes quickly flitted to the door, making sure it had been firmly closed. That seemed to remind her where we were, and pushing herself off my desk at last, she stood back up and took a step back.
“I might have seriously damaged my reputation here, and for what? So you could have a laugh at my expense?”
Anger still lingered in Tonia’s eyes but hurt had joined it, and finally, I understood what she thought happened. She thought I set her up, but nothing could be further from the truth. Jason told me he liked her! Or at least… well, to be honest, when I thought back on it, I realized he only mentioned being interested insomeonein the office.
Who else would he mean? Unless…
The image came back to me of passing his office after lunch and seeing his assistant speaking with him and the warm smile he gave her, and I groaned out loud, not bothering to try to keep it in. “Ah, damnit, Sugar. I might have got the wrong end of the stick.”
“Might have?” she demanded, folding her arms across her chest.
Apparently, I would have to do better than that. “Look, he told me he’s interested in someone here in the office but didn’t know if it would be appropriate for him to act on it. I thought he meant you. It was an honest mistake.”
“When he never used my name? Why would you assume that?” She still didn’t sound like she believed me.
“Well, you’re beautiful and funny and smart, and why the hell wouldn’t he mean you? I didn’t see who else it could be.”
Her arms remained crossed but some of the tension had started to leave her shoulders. “There are at least ten other women I’ve seen working here. It never crossed your mind that it might be one of them?”
How could I explain that to me, none of them held a candle to her, without it sounding like the worst kind of line? “Obviously, I didn’t think it through that much. I wasn’t trying to set you up, honestly. I didn’t expect you to go out and act on it right away, and I sure as hell didn’t expect him to say no.”
Out of the whole mess, that surprised me most of all, just as much as it relieved me. Didn’t he see just how much of a catch she was? My boss must be an idiot.
“I’m sorry,” I added, since she deserved an apology. That had to have been a bruise to her pride, whether I meant to do it or not.
Finally, her arms uncrossed. “Nothing is ever simple where you’re concerned.”
I knew that feeling all too well. “Ditto, Sugar.”
When I called her by her pet name that time, she didn’t correct me. Her lips twitched, just a little, as she took another step back. “Well, I guess the work day’s over, and there is definitely a wine glass with my name on it at home. Apparently, my evening’s free since I don’t have a date.”
Though I tried not to, I couldn’t help imagining what Tonia Callahan’s apartment looked like. Her kitchen would be all neatly organized and labeled, I would bet, and her closet colour-coded. And her bed…
Another rush of what could only be called desire ran through me at the thought of her bed, and I had to grit my teeth to stop it from showing.
I wanted her to ask me over to share a glass of wine with her. I wanted us to be able to sit and laugh about this misunderstanding, as we would have done back in the old days.
I wanted to go pin her against the wall and kiss her until she knew I would never do anything to intentionally hurt her.
Never again.
I didn’t do any of that, though. Calling on the calm I’d tried so hard to find over my lunch outside, I simply said goodnight and watched as she walked away.
~Tonia~
Cam’s explanation that he didn’t set me up to make a fool of myself with Jason Barnly on purpose helped to ease the sting of my embarrassment a little, but only a little. As I settled down with a glass of wine on my apartment balcony, I still mostly felt like an idiot.
Seeing things through the lens that Cam’s words had given me, I mistook Jason’s banter for hitting on me, when he had only meant to be friendly. He probably thought I was desperate and unprofessional, the complete opposite of the impression I’d been trying to make. My dreams of dozens of recommendations coming from this particular job seemed to be disintegrating before my eyes.
As I sat there inhaling my Chardonnay, it would be fair to say I felt rather sorry for myself, but it only took one text to smarten me right up.
Today’s treatment is done, she’s resting now. If you’re not busy tonight, would you mind picking me up some clean clothes? I haven’t been home in three days. Dex.
Immediately, I put my half-drank glass of wine down and grabbed my purse. Nothing worked as well as being reminded what real problems looked like to help put my self-pity in perspective.
