was waiting by her desk with my coat and briefcase. “Be nice,” she ordered.
Ally snorted behind me.
“I’m always nice,” I growled, shoving my arms through the sleeves of my coat.
Both women shared a laugh at my expense.
“You’re a funny guy, Dom,” Ally said, slapping me on the shoulder. She had apparently recovered from whatever seizure or psychotic break had rendered her mute. “Nice to meet you, Greta.”
“Good luck, Ally,” Greta said with a traitorous wink.
We didn’t talk in the elevator, each doing our damndest to pretend the other didn’t exist. But as more people crowded in, I found myself pressed up against her in the corner. What was this annoying electric buzz every time we touched? Even through layers of clothing, I was still keenly aware of her shoulder pressing against my arm.
Hell, the guy from twenty-three was brushing my sleeve with his elbow as he played Tetris on his phone, but that contact barely drew my notice. There was a tension between Ally and me, wrapping itself around us and pinging back and forth.
I didn’t like it.
The doors finally opened like a reprieve, and we stepped out into the lobby. I led the way trying to get a few steps ahead of her so I could not smell that lemon scent that was messing with my head.
“Hey, Ally! How’s it going?” A man wearing brown cargo pants and a cap that looked like it had once been a woodland creature shifted the half-dozen Dior bags he was carrying to wave.
Ally beamed.
I’d seen her smirk. I’d witnessed her annoyance. I’d even seen her laugh once or twice. But this was something else entirely.
Her face lit up with actual joy. Didn’t she know joy had no place here? I wanted her to be as annoyed and uncomfortable by my presence as I was of hers. I wanted her unable to function.
“Buddy! Doing a little shopping?” she teased.
He laughed, a braying, donkey-like sound that was too loud to be dignified.
“Yeah, right! Doing a little pickup for a fancy photo shoot,” he called. “You?”
“Heading off to a fancy meeting,” she told him with a wink.
“See you at lunch tomorrow,” he yelled as the elevator doors closed.
She was still grinning when we climbed into the SUV.
“Good afternoon,” Nelson said when he slid behind the wheel. “I took the liberty of getting you each a protein shake for the drive.”
Nelson’s eyes met mine in the rearview mirror, and I felt his unasked question. Before today, I’d never once asked him to make a special trip for food or drink before a thirty-minute ride.
“Wow, thanks!” Ally said, making a grab for one of the shakes.
I picked up mine, pretending like I wanted it. “Who was that guy?” I asked her.
“Who? Buddy?” she asked, peering into the cup.
I saw the way her eyes lit up, and as annoying as I found her and as much as I enjoyed our back and forth, the hunger I saw there made my chest tight. I wanted to ask her why.
Why, when she had a full-time, decent-paying job, was she hungry?
“His name is Buddy?” I asked instead.
“I’m surprised you don’t know. Your mother hired him at the same bus stop she hired me. You know, after you got me fired.”
“You got yourself fired.” I peered out the window at cold, wet Manhattan and wished I were somewhere hot and tropical. Far away from everything else.
“Here’s a thought. Since we’re trapped working together,” Ally began, “why don’t we try this thing where we just agree to disagree.”
I shook my head. “That never works.”
“Okay. Fine. How about instead of mortal enemies, we make an effort to not be horrible to each other?”
“I don’t feel comfortable making promises I can’t keep.”
Her lips quirked. It wasn’t the full-on Buddy Beam. But I still liked it.
“How long of a drive is this?” she asked with a sigh.
“About thirty minutes, miss,” Nelson said from the front seat.
“It’s Ally,” she told him.
“Nice to meet you, Ally. I’m Nelson.”
“Thirty minutes seems like a long time to be trapped in a car with a guy like Dom,” she mused to my driver.
His eyes crinkled at the corners. “One gets used to it.”
“So we can’t pretend to be friends, and you can’t promise not to be an ass,” she recapped to me. “How about we clear the air? We can tell each other all the things we don’t like about each other. I’ll go first.”
She was joking. But the idea had merit. I didn’t like her. I couldn’t like her. We