how I felt about it, either.
“Thank you,” Hazel said. “I’m looking forward to it.”
“It’s a very well-run conference,” Elliott said. “You’ll get a lot out of it. Since you’re both going, coordinate with each other so you hit different sessions. Then you can share notes, cover more topics that way.”
“Sure, we can do that.” I nodded and shoved the last bite of cinnamon roll in my mouth.
Of course we could. We were both adults. Professionals. Elliott didn’t know he kept shoving the two of us together against our will.
Although this cinnamon roll was so good, it was making me question everything. How could a woman who was so evil produce such heavenly food?
We thanked Elliott again and he went back to his office to email us more details.
Hazel transferred the remaining cinnamon rolls into one of the trays and covered it with foil. “I suppose we ought to take a few minutes to review the conference sessions and divide them up.”
“Now?”
“My schedule is packed for the rest of the week. I’d prefer to deal with this now, rather than letting it linger on my to-do list.”
“But we haven’t even looked at the sessions yet, and I have a lot to do this afternoon.”
“We can look at them now.”
The competing urges to be near her and to fight with her warred inside me.
Just agree and get this done.
No, you can’t give in.
She gave you a cinnamon roll.
Insist on meeting with her tomorrow so she doesn’t get her way.
Her boobs look fantastic in that shirt.
Wait, where had that last one come from? It was true—one of the buttons looked like it might come undone and the thought of it popping open was so arousing I got a little dizzy—but her boobs were beside the point.
She drew the foil back, revealing her tantalizing desserts. “Would you like another one?”
Temptress.
But yeah, I really did.
“Sure, thanks.”
She cut another cinnamon roll, put it on a napkin, and handed it to me. After replacing the foil on the tray and tucking it neatly beneath the lip, she moved to the empty table near the window and sat.
I brought my cinnamon roll and took the seat across from her.
“The conference sessions should all be listed on their website.” She tapped her phone screen. “Yes, here they are.”
I had to lick the gooey frosting off my fingers before I could get my phone out of my pocket. Hazel scrolled, her eyes darting back and forth while she read the descriptions. I brought up the conference website and started reading through the options, absently picking at the cinnamon roll with my other hand.
Her phone dinged and she muttered, “I’m working, Nora, I’ll answer you later,” under her breath.
We sat in silence for a few minutes. My eyes were on my phone, but I wasn’t really seeing the session descriptions. My brain kept circling around the fact that I had to go to this conference with her. Why did it seem like the universe was conspiring to throw us together? I couldn’t avoid her. Certainly not at work. And even in my off hours, I found myself thinking about her.
This was some nerd-level obsessiveness, and I needed to make it stop.
Her phone dinged again. But this time her eyes widened, and she fumbled her phone, almost dropping it.
“Is everything okay?”
“Um…” She swiped the screen, her brow furrowing. “Yes. It’s nothing. I mean, it’s a text, but it’s not important.”
I shrugged and pinched off another bite, hoping it looked like I didn’t care. Because I didn’t. I wasn’t the least bit curious about what kind of text she’d just gotten that had her so flustered.
Not curious at all.
Okay, a little bit curious.
Why were her cheeks turning pink?
“Did your new boyfriend text you a dick pic?” I tried to inject humor into my voice, like my suggestion had to be a joke because obviously it couldn’t be true. But as soon as the words left my mouth, it felt like I’d just blurted out the worst-case scenario.
Her lips parted and her eyes didn’t leave the screen.
Wait, did she have a new boyfriend? Had he sent her a dick pic? A dick pic she’d asked for? God, that was even worse. At least if it was an unsolicited dick pic, I could call him out for being douchey and it wouldn’t seem strange. But if she’d wanted the dick pic…
“What did you say?” She finally looked up at me.
I turned my attention back to my phone, mumbling a reply. “I was just joking. Your