Accidentally Amy(36)

“What?” What? “Wait. For what?”
He pulled his phone out of his pocket and glanced at the display as he said, “I’m starving, so I thought we could drive-thru Bruegger’s when I take you home. Bagels sound good?”
Good lord, the quick shift in conversation was giving her emotional whiplash.
And he was sure in a hurry to get her out of his apartment. She nodded, but couldn’t stop herself from saying, “So we’re okay?”
“Of course.” He put the phone back and held out a hand to help her up.
“Thank God.” Izzy grabbed his hand and let him pull her to her feet, but every cell in her body ceased to exist except for those in her fingers. His big, warm hand swallowed hers and the slide of his hot skin on hers was electric and sexual and--shit.
It made her literally look down at their hands.
Before quickly letting go.
WHAT WAS WRONG WITH HER? She needed to calm the crap down.
“But Iz?” he said, his voice quiet and deep.
“Yeah?” She shook out her fingers at her sides.
“The way you kissed Tom Colicchio,” he said, his dark eyes hot on her, “Was fucking sinful.”


    

“Dude, come on.” Josh held his arms out at his sides before letting loose with a high kick. “That seems like bullshit. Work is a flimsy-ass reason for you both to be alone.”
Izzy ducked her head as her cousin swung his leg around. She was sitting in the grass of their front yard while Josh and six of his friends practiced some sort of martial-arts yoga-stretching thing. They were all silent as they meticulously followed the leader’s movements, so she took the opportunity to sit beside him and tell Josh everything about her and Blake’s situation.
Captive audience and all that.
“I know it sounds that way, but it actually isn’t,” Izzy explained, burrowing her chin into the top of her hoodie. Fifty-five degrees was nice, but a little on the chilly side when you were just sitting in the cold grass. “He’s this, like, established big-wig who totally believes in the values and ethics that go along with his role. He would never get involved with someone who reports to him because it’s wrong.”
“Is he religious?”
“No - I mean, I don’t think so. I think he’s just a good human with a career to look out for.”
“Well if it’s that perfect between you two,” Josh’s pink-haired friend to her right said, hissing out his words as he slowly lowered to a squatty-lunge, “Why don’t you just find another job somewhere else?”
“Butt out, Stan,” Josh said, raising his left leg and rotating it out. “She shouldn’t have to quit.”
“Dude, I didn’t say she has to quit,” Stan muttered, giving Izzy a know-it-all look. “But it does sound like a quick, somewhat obvious fix, right?”
“Yes,” Josh replied, also lowering his body toward the ground, “But she’s found a job she likes with a solid career path. Does she really want to jeopardize that for a man?”
Izzy wrapped her arms around her legs, resting her chin on her knees. “You’re missing the point.”
“We are?” Stan asked, his limbs shaking as he held his pose.
“What point did we miss?” Josh said, letting out a long, quiet groan as the sun reflected off his forehead.
“If I were to quit my job, which I totally don’t want to do because I love it, what would that say to Blake?” Izzy pictured his face when he’d leaned over her on his couch and she sighed. “Wouldn’t it seem…desperate, that I’m willing to quit my job for him even though we’ve never even gone on a date?”
“No,” Josh said, at the exact minute Stan said, “Yeah - totally.”
She gave Josh a look, which made him point at his friend and say, “No one ever listens to him. Stan’s always wrong.”
Stan raised his eyebrows at her, giving her a long, meaningful look.
Was Stan right?
“I am totally stealing your I-swear-it-was-a-dream move, by the way.” The group leader smiled as he effortlessly held his leg up against his ear like he was a Rockette. “Sounds like a patented Roy move.”
"Who's Roy?" she asked.
"He is," Josh said.
"Shut the fuck up and breathe, Roy," Stan said before doing what appeared to be the splits.
Somewhere deep inside her, Izzy knew better than to listen to advice from a bunch of guys doing ninja-yoga outside in the middle of the day. Still, the situation with Blake consumed her and she had to get it figured out somehow.


    Blake
Blake slid his feet into his running shoes and was reaching for his keys when the phone buzzed. At a glance he could see who the email was from, and he didn’t want to open it for multiple reasons.
For starters, it was Sunday morning. Ever heard of work-life balance, Brad? He had a lot of respect for his boss, but the man worked 24/7 and Blake was not about that. Blake worked his ass off, too, but he also valued his free time and refused to let it get polluted by constant emails and phone calls.
But more importantly, he was on his way to pick up Izzy and go work on her car. He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t excited to see her, even as he knew he shouldn’t be excited.
But the kiss - holy shit, THE kiss.
The kiss had been playing on a constant loop in his head, and a large part of him wanted to just forget the world and find a way to make it happen again. And again.
And yeah - a-fucking-gain.
But it wasn’t that easy.