Adam’s apple bobs when he swallows it. His eyes pop open and land on mine as his tongue darts out and licks some glaze flakes off his lips. “Good donut.”
A blush creeps up my neck as I stare at him. “They really are,” I agree, turning my back to him to force the heat from my face as I pour my coffee.
He comes over to lean against the counter. He crosses his big arms across his chest and looks down at me. I look up and find his intense blue eyes. “So, how are you doing, Cora?”
Ugh, the dreaded question, complete with the sympathetic head nod. Everyone is overly concerned lately with how I’m handling life now that I’ve been dumped at the altar. “I’m fine, Grayson. Thanks for checking,” I say, wanting to remain indifferent instead of saying something that may tell him otherwise.
Grayson and I have been friends since I first started working here. He’s in sales, and the only time we really see each other is in the break room or at work functions, but I’ve always had a slight crush on him, like every other woman who works here. Luckily, we’re not together often, or I probably would’ve blurted it out—hoping a hot romp with him would get my mind off of things. But from what I can tell, he wouldn’t have taken me up on an offer like that anyway. He’s tall, muscular, sexy as hell, and practically every girl in the office wants her shot with him. But at the same time, he seems to be more thoughtful than most. He’s respectful, quiet, and reserved. He never takes any of the women here up on their offers, and he’s just an overall good guy. There’s no way in hell I’m going to fuck things up with him.
“I’m glad to hear it. That guy was a total dick anyway,” he says, offering up a slight smile.
I laugh and nod. “He really was. But I’m done with men like that. It’s time to focus on myself.”
“I think that’s a good idea,” he says, nodding his head.
“I’ll talk to you later, Grayson.” I take my coffee and donut and head toward the door. I pull it open, and just as I’m turning around to shut it, our eyes meet again. He’s still standing in the same spot, arms crossed and eyes on me. His gives me a little wink that causes my heart to flutter. What the hell was that?
I quickly walk away from the break room and take my breakfast back to my office to get ready for the long workday of crunching numbers. When I’m finally in my office, I close the door behind me and take a seat at my desk. Last week I couldn’t focus on my work. All I kept thinking about was Jimmy: what he was doing, and what everyone was probably thinking about me. This week, though, is going to be completely different. I plan on doing this week’s work and whatever I missed last week. I won’t stop until I have everything done and am putting it on my boss’ desk with a smile.
Crunch time.
When lunch rolls around, I push away from my desk and crack my neck. I’ve been working nonstop since this morning and I’m in dire need of a break. I remove my glasses and drop them on top of the stack of papers I’m working on, letting out a sigh before grabbing my journal and a pen before heading to the break room.
The break room is usually pretty quiet, with most people opting to leave for lunch. But I don’t like to leave unless it’s time to go home. Leaving for lunch is nice and all, but it’s that much harder to get back into the swing of things when I return. In the break room, I can quickly eat, enjoy some quiet time, and get back to work when I finish, so there’s no lag in my brain that says I don’t want to work anymore today.
The room is empty when I arrive, so I drop my things on the table in the center of the room and open the freezer to see if any of the food I brought in is still there. I find a frozen meal—chicken alfredo—and make quick work of warming it up in the microwave. I buy a soda from a vending machine and take everything back to the table to eat and get to work on my list.
After