but I assured myself it was better to ignore it.
“Okay?” I verified. There wasn’t anything about Corey I personally didn’t enjoy, but I was far too screwed up emotionally to allow myself to want more.
“Okay.” He responded with sureness. I smiled, feeling slightly more confident about our friendship as Corey returned to the dishes. As I hopped off the stool I circled the room over to where Corey stood. My hands pressed against his shoulder blades while I placed a kiss to the middle of his back.
“Thank you again for breakfast, Corey, it was fantastic.”
Without turning around, he replied, “Anytime, Dani.”
We talked a little more about nothing special as he finished the last of the dishes, while I dried and put them away. Then he waited for me while I made sure everything was shut off before leaving for the day. Corey stood with me on the top step as I locked up. We turned to face each other and kissed, as if we had lived this routine hundreds of times before. We stepped apart and couldn’t help but laugh at our instincts. Before I walked towards my car, he grabbed hold of my wrist to keep me with him.
“Thank you for a very domesticated morning, Danielle.” His dimple was revealed in his cheek.
“It was my pleasure…literally.” I was beginning to recognize how much it was as Corey’s naughty smile—the same one that sent a wave of heat through my body—touched his lips before releasing my arm.
“I’ll see you soon.” “Friday!” I called over my shoulder before getting into my car.
The Test
“Someone’s in a good mood today.” Bailey commented; referring to the grin plastered on my face since my incredible shower that morning.
“Yeah, I exercised a little before work this morning. It really seemed to brighten my mood.” Bailey’s eyes searched me; not taking anything I said at face value. She sat across from me in my office filling out paperwork as I organized cabinets. My eyes flickered up when I noticed she was no longer busy scribbling away.
“With Corey?” She asked when our eyes met.
“Maybe.” My plan to feign innocence failed, when my smile spread wider across my face. “Why?”
Bailey didn’t say anything for a few beats; then looked at me from under her scrunched up brows. “Just be careful.”
“What makes you say that?” She shrugged her shoulders and continued working.
“I just know how he is—that’s all.”
“Have the two of you….” The smile instantly dropped from my face. It wasn’t as if I expected Corey to never have been with another woman. I supposed I just hadn’t imagined I would walk out of a room where I just had sex with him; to encounter a woman who had been in that same position before.
“No, no, nothing like that.” My overwhelmed sigh of relief went unnoticed by Bailey.
“Well, you have me intrigued.” At first I thought to act distracted and uninterested in order not appear emotionally involved. But I couldn’t hide it. The organizing couldn’t hold my attention for a minute longer.
“We used to go to school together.”
“Were the two of you friends?”
“Not really, he was definitely in a different clique than I was. Corey—to put it lightly—was something of a playboy, but he was a great guy. One year we were in the same science class, and just about everyone in that class was either his friend, or someone that wanted to sleep with him. Well anyways, eventually in class you are forced to partner up with people—which has always been the worst part of any school in my mind. The first lab experiment the teacher assigned us to ‘go find a partner,’ I proceeded to sit there staring at my hands.
“That was when Corey walked up to me and asked if he could be my partner. I agreed but I was convinced he wanted someone to do the work for him that none of the bimbos following him around were qualified. He surprised me by helping through the entire project and was undeniably friendly. Even after the project was over, he continued to wave to me in the hall and say ‘hello’ to me.”
The story fit with the sweeter side I witnessed that morning. Then I remembered that if it wasn’t for Bailey, I wouldn’t have met him at all. “Is that why you sent me to his bar—because you knew he was a good guy?”
“I sent you to his bar because I assumed when he checked your ID he would realize who your grandmother was. Since he