Chaos Theory (Nerds of Paradise #2)(5)
Will still hadn’t answered her statement inviting him to tell her all about his job. He’d paused just inside the doorway and surveyed the tables placed all around the room as if it were a mountain that needed climbing. The tension around his mouth and eyes made Melody wonder if he was the sort who was uncomfortable in large groups of people.
“Looks like the buffet line starts over there.” She pointed to the left side of the room where people were moving past several long tables. Four chefs with their tall, white hats manned various posts behind the tables. “I bet Howie’s put on quite the spread,” she added.
“Yes, PSF supplies its employees with excellent quality food. That’s why I eat my lunches in the cafeteria.”
A giggle started deep in Melody’s chest and burst out with such force she had to clap a hand over her mouth. Will tore his eyes away from whatever he was searching for and frowned at her.
“What?” he asked.
“You.” She nudged his arm with her elbow. “You don’t notice the beautiful art in the building, but you notice the food? Even though you’re talking about it like it’s another rocket component,” she added quickly.
Will’s brows ticked up slightly. It was the biggest change of expression she’d seen from him. “I’m sorry if my lack of appreciation for art offends you.”
Melody’s heart squeezed in her chest. “It’s not that,” she said in a voice that she hoped would soothe the offense she was pretty sure she’d caused him. “I just find it interesting where your priorities lie.” Before he could reply, she smiled and raked him with an appreciative look. “You’re a fascinating man, William Darling.”
His brows flickered up another millimeter. “I—” He closed his mouth before anything else came out. His gaze drifted over her shoulder for a minute, then he cleared his throat and said, “I see my team members over there.” He nodded to one of the tables across the room. “Thanks for the walk over. Enjoy your lunch.”
He started walking right past her.
“I thought we could sit together,” Melody said before he could get away.
Will paused, then turned back to her. “I would, but my team discussed sitting together at this luncheon yesterday. They’re probably saving me a seat.” He nodded to her and walked on.
Melody sighed. He hadn’t cracked a smile once in the entire time they’d been together. Although she had to give him a few more points for loyalty.
A quick scan of the room showed her that Calliope and the Templesmith sisters were already in the buffet line. Wishing she didn’t have to give up on Will so fast, Melody headed over to join them.
“Was that Will Darling I saw you walking in with?” Rita asked, making a space in front of her for Melody to join the line.
“You mean the toughest nut to crack in western Wyoming? Yes,” Melody answered with a nod.
“So you finally managed to corner him?” Sandy asked.
“Mmm, sort of.”
Melody launched in to the story of running into Will at the General Store, their jaunt up to his apartment, and the walk over to PSF as they moved forward in line and heaped their plates with gourmet quiche and fresh garden salad.
“If you ask me, it sounds like he’s just shy,” Sandy said as they passed the dessert table at the end of the buffet. She wrinkled her nose in thought as her hand hovered back and forth between a plate with chocolate cake and a yogurt parfait. “Shy guys are cute, though.”
“Go for the chocolate cake,” Calliope urged her, reaching for a slice herself. “You only live once.”
“And I’d like to continue to fit into my clothes while I’m living,” Sandy said, taking the parfait. “Although these still have a ton of sugar.”
“It’s fruit sugar, though,” Rita pointed out with a chuckle, grabbing a parfait herself. “That has to count for something.”
Melody helped herself to a slice of cheesecake. “Shy is lovely.” She steered them back to the problem in front of her. “But at some point he’s got to take the bait.”
“Or you could admit that he’s not interested,” Calliope suggested.
The four of them stepped out of the way of the buffet and surveyed the room for places to sit.
“Ha,” Melody laughed. “He’s interested, all right. At least, I’m pretty sure that’s what his pants were telling me when he saw what I was buying for our game.”
“You bought game pieces in front of him?” Calliope asked, and when Melody wiggled her eyebrows, she burst into laughter. “Sometimes I think you’re the evil twin.”
“We’re not twins,” Melody pointed out.
“Close enough.”
“Well there’s the solution to your problem.” Sandy nodded to the other side of the room. “Casey’s sitting with Scott, who looks like he’s rallied his whole team around him. Including your man, Mr. Shy Guy.”
Melody turned to see where Sandy had indicated. At the same time, Will glanced up from the conversation he was having with Hero and Denise Yamaguchi. Their eyes met, and Melody sucked in a quick breath. Yeah, if she needed any proof that there was more to her interest in Will than trying to tease him into smiling, she needed to look no further than the way that serious stare of his bored right into her.