seem like I am taking advantage of the great opportunity Mr. Vance has given me by having visitors on my second day.
“Hey, is everything okay?” I approach him.
“Yeah, I just wanted to see how your first full day was going.” He smiles and rolls his eyebrow ring in his fingers.
“Oh. It’s great I—” I begin, but stop when Mr. Vance strides toward us.
“Well . . . well . . . well . . . Come to grovel for your job back?” He smiles wide at Hardin and pats him on the shoulder.
“You wish, you old wanker,” Hardin says, laughing, and my jaw drops. Mr. Vance chuckles and raises his fist before playfully nudging Hardin in his ribs. They must be closer than I thought.
“So what do I owe the honor? Or are you here to stalk my new intern?” He looks over at me.
“The second. Stalking interns is my favorite pastime.” I look back and forth between them, unsure what to say. I love seeing this playful side to Hardin; it doesn’t come out much.
“Do you have time to get some lunch, if you haven’t already?” Hardin asks me. My eyes dart to the clock on the wall; it’s already noon. The day has gone by quickly.
I look at Mr. Vance and he shrugs. “You have an hour each day for lunch. A girl’s got to eat!” He smiles and says goodbye to Hardin before disappearing down the hall.
“I texted you a few times to make sure you got here, but you didn’t answer,” Hardin tells me when we step onto the elevator.
“I haven’t looked at my phone, I got sucked into a story,” I tell him and I reach for his hand.
“You’re okay, right? We are okay?” he asks, his eyes locked into mine.
“Yeah, why wouldn’t we be?”
“I . . . I don’t know . . . I was just getting worried because you weren’t answering me. I had thought . . . maybe you were starting to regret last night.” He looks down.
“What? Of course not. I honestly didn’t check my phone. I have no regrets from last night, not a single one.” I can’t hide my smile as the memories invade my thoughts.
“Good. Well, that’s a damn relief.” He lets out a breath.
“You drove all the way here because you thought I was having regrets?” I ask. It’s a little extreme, but flattering all the same.
“Yeah . . . well, not completely. I also wanted to take you to lunch.” He smiles and lifts my hand to his lips.
We step off the elevator and walk outside. I should have brought my jacket. I shiver and Hardin looks over to me.
“I have a jacket in my car. We can grab it, then walk around the corner to Brio—it’s really good.” We walk to his car and he pulls a black leather jacket out of his trunk, which makes me laugh. He must have an entire wardrobe in there. Ever since I met him he’s been pulling clothes out of that trunk.
The jacket is surprisingly warm and smells like Hardin. It engulfs me, of course, so I shake my arms to push the sleeves up.
“Thank you.” I kiss him on his jaw.
“It looks good on you—perfect fit.”
He takes my hand as we walk down the sidewalk; we earn a few strange glances from the businessmen and -women on the streets. Sometimes I forget how different we appear on the outside. We are polar opposites in almost every way, but somehow it works for us.
Brio is a small but quaint Italian place. The floor is covered in beautiful multicolored tiles and the ceiling is a mural of heaven, with chubby smiling cherubs waiting outside white gates, and a pair of angels—one white and one black—locked in an embrace beyond them. The white angel seems to be trying to pull the other through the gates to the other side.
“Tess?” Hardin says and pulls me by the sleeve.
“Coming,” I mumble and we walk to the table, which is set in the back of the restaurant. Hardin sits in the chair right next to me instead of across, pulling his chair closer and resting his elbows on the table. He orders for both of us, but I don’t mind since he’s been here before.
“So you and Mr. Vance are really close, then?” I ask.
“I wouldn’t say that. But we know each other well enough.” He shrugs.
“You seemed to really get along, I like seeing you that way.”