Anyone But Nick (Anyone But... #3) - Penelope Bloom Page 0,22
I really did think the case was cute, but I’d only let myself buy it because I knew my friends would think I was kidding and laugh—but I just snatched it from him and tried not to meet his eyes.
“Thanks.”
Nick’s eyes sank down to my chest.
I could hardly believe he had the nerve to come in here and gawk at me, so I yanked up on my blouse, and I didn’t try to be subtle about the gesture, except . . . I felt the crinkly edge of my candy wrapper when I reached down. Apparently, I hadn’t actually tucked it far enough into my bra to conceal it.
“I just hope you’re chewing before you swallow this time,” he said.
“It’s not mine.” I reflexively pressed the wrapper deeper into my bra. It wasn’t until I was knuckles deep that it occurred to me how inappropriate this all was. My cheeks must’ve been bright red as I pulled my hand out and cleared my throat. “I was just holding it for a friend.”
“In your bra . . . ,” Nick said.
“Maybe it’d be best if my boss didn’t talk about my underwear,” I said.
Nick’s nostrils flared, but I thought I saw a glimmer of amusement behind his eyes. “You’re right. Well, there’s a vending machine in the lobby if your friend likes uneaten candy bars. Were those for your friend too?” He nodded toward the chips spilled in the corner. “Because I don’t think Thug was planning on leaving any for them.”
“I need to get to work.” I muttered the words half-heartedly and went to sit at my desk. I expected Nick to leave, but he just leaned in the doorway and watched me with an interested expression.
Shit.
I found myself sitting behind my desk with absolutely no work to do. Meanwhile, Nick was just watching me expectantly. I cleared my throat daintily, scooted my chair in, and shook the mouse around to wake up my computer. I was greeted by a log-in prompt, which reminded me that I didn’t know my password yet.
I rested my chin on my knuckles and scrunched my forehead like I was reading something particularly troubling. Maybe some numbers from finance that didn’t add up. I reached for my coffee cup, because these imaginary numbers were so problematic that I needed a dose of caffeine to tackle them.
Except I saw my mug was still empty. I’d been planning on filling it as soon as I finished my little stress binge, but Nick had interrupted me. I pretended to take a sip anyway, then pretended to swallow as I set it back down.
I was too scared to look up and see if Nick had noticed the cup was empty, so I kept glaring at my screen. I finally looked back up at him and did my best to appear impatient. “Is there something else? Or were you going to just watch me work all day?”
“I was just curious how long you’d be able to keep it up.”
“Keep what up?” I asked. If my cheeks had been red and hot before, they were molten now.
“Oh,” Nick said. “Before I forget . . .” He fished out a note card from his pocket and set it on my desk. “That’s your log-in info and password. And did you want me to fill this up so you don’t have to stop whatever you’re in the middle of?” He put his fingertips on the handle of my empty mug.
“I’m good,” I said through a tight throat. “Thank you.”
Nick took two steps backward while still wearing that obnoxiously cute smirk. All the indifference I’d seen in his office was apparently forgotten, at least momentarily. It was like I could see straight back to seven years ago when we’d flirted almost every day in AP Chemistry class. Back then, he’d been the only guy who ever seemed interested in me for my intelligence and not because of how I looked. But the smirk on his face suddenly melted away. He looked startled, even. “Sorry to interrupt,” he said quickly, then shut the door behind him.
I glared at Thug, if for no other reason than because the real person I felt like glaring at had just left. All I’d done so far was show him that I was a bumbling idiot. He’d walked in on me stress-bingeing twice and had just watched me make a fool of myself pretending to work and drinking from an empty coffee mug.