Chris was around. His friend might joke about charging him, but he suspected nothing involving human emotions ever got past the guy.
And he didn’t need that kind of help. He needed to figure out how to exit the building and traverse the quad to the parking garage without Lexie spotting him.
They rounded the hallway and descended the stairs. He shifted the box, his palms sweaty. If he suggested an alternate exit, Chris would make a big deal about it, so he didn’t bother. Hopefully she’d be gone or distracted by her writing like she’d been last night.
They crossed the foyer. Chris reached the entrance first and pushed open one of the heavy double doors, then waited on the steps while two giggling undergrads entered the building.
“There are days I feel like I’ve aged fifty years,” his buddy remarked, his eyes on the young women’s backs.
“I hear divorce can do that to you.” Matthew glanced out the door.
Lexie was still writing, her forehead resting on one palm. Heaven help him, but she was an angel, her dark hair burnished gold by the sun where it filtered between the tall oak’s branches.
Hustling down the white marble steps, he prayed for some divine intervention that would allow him to slip across her line of sight unnoticed.
“Bet you’re wishing you had an invisibility cloak about now, huh?” Chris teased, a man whose colleagues never let him forget he was a dead ringer for the character Harry Potter.
“Yeah—for you,” he retorted.
“Come again?”
“I’ll explain later.” It had sucked having to ask his friend for a little dating advice, but if Lexie recognized Chris as another trainer from the gym, he’d have no choice but to share all the sordid details.
He reached the bottom of the endless steps and started across the cement walkway. The woman who’d crawled beneath his skin was sitting less than twenty feet away. His heart pounded. As much as he wanted to see those eyes sparkle with recognition and those lips tilt upward into an irresistible smile, he knew it could very well ruin their future together if she glimpsed him.
So he sped up.
And she looked up.
He bit off a muffled curse.
“Hi.” Her voice held surprise.
“Hey.” Matthew stopped and grinned back at her, that part of him that had wished for her attention thrilled by the unfolding events. The rest of him prayed Mr. Psych Professor had managed to put two-and-two together and had the sense to keep right on walking to the parking lot.
“Hey,” Chris said.
Matthew whipped his head around to find his colleague standing next to him with a glint in his eyes—like he was mentally collecting data for another article on the human condition. He muttered another curse and snapped his attention back to Lexie. “Nice day.”
She nodded, but her eyes had shifted to Chris. “Do I know you? You look awfully—” She shut her notebook, stood, and pointed her pen at him. “You work at the gym. Right?”
Aw, shit. She’d made the connection, was on the right road and barreling toward the truth.
“At J&C, yes.” Chris glanced between the two of them, playing ignorance to the hilt. “Is that where you know this guy from?”
“She’s my client.” He cringed at the strain in his voice.
“He’s my trainer,” she responded, eyes still glued on her target. “You’re a professor here?”
Chris nodded helplessly.
Her eyes narrowed with concentration. “And Matthew’s helping you—”
“Sorry to cut you short.” Matthew jingled his car keys. “But I promised I’d give him a lift to the deli before his next class. Want anything?” Why was she staring at Chris’ ass?
She cocked her head. “Brought lunch, thanks.”
Matthew began walking for the parking garage. “Well, we’re in a hurry.” He signaled for Chris to follow. “It was good to see you.”
“Uh. Bye?” She twitched her nose in confusion.
He didn’t blame her. “Keep walking and don’t look back,” he ordered, hoping his colleague could hear.
Chris caught up to him as he reached the Jeep. “Why’s she asking about my job?”
“Long story.”
“We’ve got twenty minutes,” Chris replied, getting into the vehicle. “This time, don’t leave anything out.”
Once they were on the street and headed north, he glanced toward his eager passenger. “You cannot tell anyone, or it could affect Lexie’s job, and I refuse to have that on my conscience.” Okay, so maybe there was more to his growing feelings for the woman than that, and he was pretty sure he could’ve asked his godfather to help out in a different way—like ensuring Lexie didn’t lose her job—if it had