Redemption(5)

“Really?” His surprise caught me off guard. The muscles along his defined jaw tensed, and his eyes narrowed just a hair.

“Don’t sound so surprised, Rob. It was bound to happen sooner or later. Someone took pity on me.” The wink I gave him was meant to keep the conversation light.

He stood taller, no longer slumped against my doorframe. “I didn’t know you had spare time to fill?”

Men. He’s the only person in the building I have regular conversations with. There was no way he could have missed that I was new in town and didn’t know anyone, not to mention I was always here. They never want what’s right in front of them until someone else shows interest.

Continuing to pack my bag, I peered up without lifting my head. “Really, Rob? What did you think I was doing other than working? Who did you think I’ve been spending all my free time with?” My hands flew across the keyboard logging out of the university’s grading program, and I pulled the strap of my satchel across my body.

His bright, blue eyes stared back at me in disbelief, but he’d yet to respond. When I reached him, I placed my hand on his chest and gave him a smirk. “You know, don’t answer that. Have a nice night.” And then I ducked by him.

“Lissa.”

I stopped at the sound of my name and turned to face my boss. “Yeah, Rob?”

“Do you want to go out sometime?”

The innocent look on his face, the bewildered way he stared at me, made me grin. His shaggy, dark hair gave him a boyish appearance that didn’t match his age. I didn’t answer his question. The offer should have come before he thought there was a threat. He could ponder the wave of my hand I left him with until tomorrow.



*

I’d called Dan on my way home. He told me to dress casually and asked how I felt about pizza and beer. My love of pizza and microbrews was as essential to my identity as Doc Martens or Chuck Taylors. The debate weighed heavily in my mind about allowing this man to see who I truly am, but the idea of trying to keep up appearances if there were a second date was draining. I wear business clothes to work because I have to, but at home, jeans and a good pair of shoes were as good as it got.

“Wow.” Not hello, not how ya’ doing, but wow was the only word he said when I opened the door. His eyes skipped my face dragging down my fitted t-shirt, to my skinny jeans, and black Doc Martens before returning to meet my eyes.

“Wow, yourself.” The smile I gave him was wide enough to narrow my field of vision as my eyes scrunched up. “Let me grab my keys, and we can go.”

When I returned to the front door, Dan and Cosmo were in the midst of a standoff. The cat’s hair stood on end as he perched on three feet ready to dart for the nearest hiding space, but Dan appeared equally terrified with wide eyes honed in on my little gray feline. I leaned down to pick up the ball of fur and tossed him on the couch before pushing Dan out the door and closing it behind me.

He escorted me to the door of his truck, but before he opened it, he reached out. Just as I thought he was going to take my cheek in his hand, he took hold of a lock of my hair.

“The way the sun hits your hair makes it look like a copper penny.” He tucked it behind my ear. Then leaned in to kiss my cheek. “It’s stunning.” He didn’t wait for my response, simply opened the door and helped me up into the cab.

I watched him circle the front of the truck before he got in. “Thank you.” My reply was demure. In recent years, very few people had said anything nice to me, and Rob’s comment made me realize that not everyone thought I was worthless.

“I’m sure you hear that kind of thing all the time. You know you’re gorgeous.” The green irises danced with humor, just before his smile fell, and a long pause hung between us. “You don’t, do you?”

My shoulder rose in a half-hearted shrug. “I don’t put much emphasis on those kinds of things. Fashion, makeup, it’s just never been at the top of my priority list.”

His chuckle lightened the mood. With the key in the ignition, he turned the switch and glanced at me. “You’re going to love Annie when you get to meet her.”

The way he said her name told me she was someone special. The smile lingered on his lips, but seemed more about admiration than fantasy. It was far too soon to question who people were to him or his relationship to them.

“She’s Brett’s wife. Other than the hair color, the two of you could be twins. The woman has more concert shirts than anyone I’ve ever met. I swear she could open her own thrift store. And she lives in Docs.”

“Brett’s your best friend, right?” My thoughts slowed with the comparison between his best friend’s wife and me.

“Yep. They’re awesome. He deserved a woman like her, and she adores him. I never believed love like theirs existed outside of movies and romance novels, but they’re it in the flesh.”

“So where are you taking me?”

“You mentioned you haven’t gotten out a lot since you moved here, and I’m a pretty laid-back kind of guy. We’re heading to the best pizza place around. Harley’s Taproom. It’s downtown and has seventy-two craft beers on tap. By far my favorite place to go.”

The taproom was on a corner, and we had to park a couple of blocks away. Dan took my hand directing me down the busy sidewalk. He opened the heavy wooden door, and Harley’s was exactly what the name implied. Grungefest at its finest. There was more granola in this place than a box of cereal, but I instantly felt at home. Dan stepped up to the hostess stand waiting to get a table, still holding my hand. I scanned the tables and diners, all of whom seemed to be enjoying themselves in the poorly lit bar turned restaurant. The entire left side of the space was lined with taps, and I was instantly in love. I could sit here for hours if the pizza were as good as it smelled and even half of those microbrews were as tasty as they looked.