Alex by Sawyer Bennett

blankly at my computer for a moment. Placing the phone back in the cradle, I stand from my desk and smooth my skirt down. My fingers come up to push behind my ears some wispy strays that have fallen out of my ponytail. I step around my desk and start for the door.
    I stop.
    I turn back around and grab my purse.
    I head for the door again, then I stop.
    I reach in my purse and grab some lip gloss, dabbing a little on, because Minnie told me to and I don’t want to disappoint her.
    Yeah, right.
    When I hit the lobby door, my heart feels like it’s about to explode out of my chest at the prospect of seeing Alex. I’m nervous as all get-out, because last night I clearly stepped over a line with him, and I do believe I may have hurt his feelings. But I’m also excited at the prospect of just being in his presence. I remember the feel of him pressed up against me in the booth at Hoolihan’s, and I’m ashamed at how much I liked that feeling.
    I wonder if I’ll ever be able to see him without feeling a small punch to my gut. As I step into the lobby, I realize Minnie was right—tall, dark, handsome. His hair looks stylishly windblown, his blue eyes so bright they hold me captivated from across the room. He’s dressed in a pair of faded jeans, running shoes and a long-sleeved Cold Fury black T-shirt that fits his chest and torso just a little too well.
    Walking up to him, I say, “I understand we have a lunch appointment.”
    He offers me a smile, the largest and warmest one I’ve seen on his face yet, and I feel my bones liquefy. “Yeah—hope you don’t mind. I enlisted Minnie this morning so I could have some time with you.”
    How could I mind? The way he says he wants to spend some time with me causes my brain to go fuzzy, and for a split second I forget completely that we actually have some business to discuss.
    Shaking my head to clear it, I look down at my watch. “Well, I have about an hour and a half until my next appointment. Where do you want to go?”
    “I’m not a picky eater. You choose.”
    “I have just the place,” I tell him with a smile and turn toward the door.
    ***
    “It’s a damn good hot dog, right?” I ask Alex after I swallow my last bite.
    Alex chews with a smile on his face and nods his head. When he swallows, he swipes his lips with a napkin and I can practically hear the paper scrape against the stubble. “I never thought you’d want to eat lunch from a hot dog street vendor.”
    “Well, it’s too nice a day to pass up eating outside,” I remark, looking around the shaded park that sits in the middle of downtown Raleigh, just across the street from the capitol building.
    “It’s one of the things I love about North Carolina,” Alex muses. “Warm weather in late October.”
    “I know. It’s great, right?”
    Alex nods and takes a bite of his third hot dog, so I use the opportunity while his mouth is full to alleviate my guilt. “I’m really sorry about last night,” I tell him quietly. “I had no business saying what I did. You’re absolutely right—there’s nothing wrong with having a hangover and I shouldn’t have judged you that way.”
    His blue eyes widen slightly and he swallows his food, wiping at his mouth again. “Funny. I came to take you to lunch so I could apologize to you. I shouldn’t have gotten so angry. You had a right to be concerned.”
    “No, I didn’t,” I assure him. “I think I was more pissed that you were blowing me off.”
    Alex’s eyes go dark, but not in an angry way. No, it’s like pure intensity instead. He leans forward, slinging his arm over the back of the park bench we’re sitting on. He’s so close to me now that I can smell his cologne, which is very light and subtle, but woodsy-smelling. It makes me want to lean my nose into his chest and sniff…hard.
    “I wasn’t blowing
you
off, trust me.”
    “Okay,” I murmur, while his eyes pin me in place. We stare at each other for what is, in my opinion, an inappropriate