her eyebrows and discreetly left them alone.
“Hi Jason,” she said, putting on her prettiest smile. “I’m really sorry about last night.”
“Me, too.”
She walked out around the case to where he stood. “I was hoping you’d let me make it up to you.”
“I wasn’t sure you wanted to. When I didn’t hear from you, I thought I was getting the brush-off.” He grinned crookedly. “I figured guys like me weren’t much your style, so I didn’t blame you, and wanted to come by and say no hard feelings.”
“Nonsense,” she said, reaching up for a quick kiss, glancing sideways to make sure no customers were coming in the door. “Let’s make some plans tonight. I’m off in a few hours.” She was breaking her weekend routine, but she kind of owed the guy. That, and she really wanted to get laid. Due to work and other obligations it had been a few weeks, and she was overdue.
She’d had a great time with Dan the night before, chowing down on double-stuffed pizza and talking into the night. Now that she’d spent some time with him, she felt good as new, and ready to get back to normal.
“Absolutely,” he said, leaning in for another kiss.
She averted his kiss as the bell over the door rang. She dusted off her apron, putting a few feet between them as she turned to greet her customer, and instead saw Dan walk in the door. Dressed in his usual jeans, sneakers, white T-shirt and the tweed jacket he’d worn since she could remember, he squinted behind his thick glasses, adjusting to the light inside. He broke into a smile when he saw her.
“Hey you.” She greeted him with pleasure at the surprise, closing the distance and hugging him without restraint. For a moment she completely forgot about Jason, unworried about being seen because, well, it was just Dan.
IT WAS AS IF someone flicked a switch in Dan’s world and the light came on. That’s the feeling he always had whenever he was with Jodie. Bright and warm, like the incandescent bulbs that were hot to the touch and bathed you in a natural glow.
She’d spent time with him the night before, bringing some completely unhealthy and delicious food for them to share, and he’d talked more than he ever did to anyone. That had always been the case.
“I thought you’d be sleeping off three months of work still,” she said, teasing him lightheartedly. Dan liked it that she knew him so well. He knew her, too.
For instance, he knew that she very likely had a date at her apartment last night. He knew that if he called, she’d probably cancel it to come see him and send the guy home. He wanted to feel ashamed of that, but he didn’t.
“I recovered pretty quickly. New diet. I’ve been exercising more, as well. It was the only way to stay sane in D.C. We worked nearly 24/7.”
“You didn’t say much. Is it one of those things where you could tell me about it, but then you’d have to kill me?”
“More like if I told you about it, you’d probably be bored to death,” he responded, grinning. Banter with Jodie was always easy.
“I’ve barely seen daylight for ninety days,” he admitted, keeping one arm slung loosely around her as they turned into the shop.
“Poor l’il genius,” she teased, and he laughed.
In truth, the work had been fascinating, but she was right, he couldn’t talk about it. Dan wondered if Jodie would see him differently—if he’d be sexier or more attractive to her—if she knew that his work had probably helped save millions of lives.
It was irrational to speculate, but since he’d left D.C. he’d had only one thing on his mind: seeing Jodie. Usually he forgot everything when he was working, but it seemed that this time, he’d been more distracted. He’d thought of calling her while he was there, but security procedures prohibited it.
He was simply dealing with the usual disorientation he always experienced after an intense project, feeling grumpy and disconnected for the past few days. He hadn’t felt as though the world was right again until Jodie showed up at his door last night. It might be irrational, but it was true.
As they’d talked into the night, he’d experienced something a little more intense than friendship. It wasn’t the first time—he’d repressed an attraction to Jodie for years—but she’d been on his mind more than not lately. If he’d found it difficult to leave Chicago three months ago,