Fifteen

Haley

The subconscious is a tricky mechanism, a gray area of the mind that allows individuals to lie to themselves. Haley’s most private thoughts must’ve been safely stored in that gray matter when she walked into the library the following Saturday. How else could she tell herself that she wasn’t hoping to catch David there again? That there was no particular reason she’d chosen today—exactly a week after she’d bumped into David—to return to the Loker Reading Room. That, on the contrary, she actively wished for him not to be there. And that when she spotted him seated in the same exact spot as the previous Saturday, it wasn’t relief she felt.

Now, part of her suspected there was something fundamentally wrong—or if not outright wrong, at least dangerous in a playing-with-fire way—in her actions. But her subconscious still allowed her enough wiggle room for her to sincerely tell herself that it was okay. That there was nothing wrong with spending time with David. That she hadn’t been looking forward to the weekend since Monday. And that it was for personal hygiene reasons she’d showered that morning—and blow-dried her hair and put lip gloss on.

“Hey,” she greeted him.

Yeah, nothing wrong with spotting that same relief reflected in his eyes as soon as they set on hers.

“Hey, Miss Robot.”

Miss Robot. No more Sunshine, but not even Haley.

Haley raised both her eyebrows. “I’m not Sunshine anymore?”

“Miss Robot sounded more appropriate.”

Haley half-smiled, half-grimaced, loving the nickname but hating that she did.

“I hoped you’d show up,” David said, his smile so genuine that it almost shattered Haley’s fickle mind barriers. But David’s next comment made it okay to ignore the alarm bells. “I have a new modeling challenge for you.”

They only shared a common interest in numbers and Excel spreadsheets. It was okay to hang out, nothing wrong with that.

She sat on the chair next to him and asked, “Are you always supposed to work on weekends?”

“It’s investment banking, they’re not famous for leisure working hours. And it’s your fault if I monumentally pissed off my boss.”

“My fault, how?”

Someone nearby coughed in a reproachful way, so David lowered his tone considerably when he said, “You had me deliver him a set of six perfectly built models.”

“Wasn’t that the point?”

“No, as it turns out.” David drew his brows close together in a mock-serious expression. “The point was for me to spend every waking hour of the weekend sweating cold, knowing I wouldn’t be able to complete the assignment. I should’ve pulled a couple of all-nighters, and then walked into the office on Monday looking like a properly humbled intern. My boss didn’t appreciate the swag…” David smirked.

Yeah, Haley could just imagine the scene. David had swagger enough for ten interns.

She ignored his smug expression and asked, “And you work at this lovely place… because?”

“It’s where the best of the best work… it’s like joining the military and applying to be a Navy SEAL. The training is going to be a bitch, but if you survive, you’re part of an elite force.”

“That saves lives and protects the country; you only want to swim in cash.”

“It’s not about the money…” David pierced her with a stare. “…It’s about the challenge.”

Haley couldn’t sustain that gaze and busied her hands with a stack of notes. “Anyway, is the new model punishment?”

“Boss wanted to make sure I spent the whole weekend working this time. He doesn’t know I have a secret weapon.”

“And what if I hadn’t shown up?”

He held her gaze a moment longer than Haley was comfortable with. “But you did.”

Right. Better to bring the conversation back on safer ground. “What’s the new model about?”

“What do you know about the stock market, volatility, and risk management?” David challenged.

Haley smiled and cracked her knuckles. “Show me the math.”

***

Haley didn’t forget about lunch this time—at around midday, hunger bit at her. Still, she was undecided if she should say anything, as she was sure that if she mentioned taking a break for lunch, David would try to join her.

So?

Would sharing a sandwich be all that different from building a model together? Somehow it sounded more compromising—date-ish. But when her empty stomach let her know with an angry grumble that it couldn’t care less about her moral reserves, Haley asked, “I’m going out for a sandwich, care to join me?”

David lifted a finger toward her, eyes still trained on the screen. “Give me fifteen minutes. I need to finish one thing first.”

“O-kay.”

Haley looked back at her own screen, off-putted. Not that she had expected David to fall at her feet with gratitude for a simple invite to lunch—well, actually, she had kind of expected it. He should consider himself lucky that after everything he’d done, she was still talking to him—helping him, even. Ungrateful little brat.

Haley was about to put him in his place when his concentrated frown stopped her. He seemed oblivious to her mood shifts. In fact, he appeared so focused on his work that Haley relaxed. Making her wait wasn’t personal; Haley was the same when she was so caught up in programming—she didn’t see or feel anything else. Not hunger, and definitely not hurt feelings.

Suppressing a sigh, she kept working on her program, throwing him side-glares from time to time—even if she understood the work-frenzy, she was still famished.

A good twenty minutes later, David shut his laptop and they headed out. They grabbed two sandwiches from a kiosk and went to eat them seated at an outside table bathed in the warm July sun. It would’ve been almost too hot, if not for the cool breeze constantly blowing that made the temperature just perfect.

“You’re staring,” David said, eyeing her over his half-eaten sandwich.

True, Haley was staring. “Who are you?” she asked, narrowing her eyes at him. “And what did you do with the real David?”

“You’re looking at him.”

“So if you know how to be a normal person, why do you usually act like a jerk?”

“Pardon me?”

Now that she’d started, Haley wasn’t about to back down. “Excluding today and last Saturday, you’ve always acted nasty around me.”

“Sorry if I wasn’t a jolly good fellow while I had to watch you drool all over my brother.”

Haley stopped her hands halfway to her mouth and lowered the sandwich. “Excuse me? You were a poster child for douche central right from the moment you opened the door of your room in Hawaii. I wasn’t even with Scott back then.”

“I was flirting”—David batted his lashes jokingly while he smiled—“and you were giving me the cold shoulder.”

“I wasn’t.”

“Oh, pluhease.” He rolled his eyes theatrically. “You were already so much into my brother there was nothing I could’ve said to make you change your mind.”

Ah, but there was something you could’ve said, Haley thought, and hoped her emotions wouldn’t show on her face.

No such luck. David saw right through her, and when he spoke next, it was as if he’d read her mind. “Not that,” he said. “I wanted you to like me, not a fantasy we both had ages before at a summer dance.”

“You still could’ve been nice,” Haley chided, praying she wasn’t blushing. Her cheeks flared up whenever she thought about the night of the masquerade. “And why tell me about the ball so much later, then?”

David licked a smidgen of sauce off his fingers. “What can I say? I’m not perfect.”

Haley scoffed. “Duh-uh.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You really hurt Madison, you know?”

“Oh come ooon, I already told you Blondie was never that into me.”

“Regardless of her feelings, you can’t expect to yell horrible things at a girl and not have her take them to heart—especially someone as sensitive as Madison.”

“I’m sorry, okay?” David scrunched the paper that had been holding his sandwich in a tight ball and hurled it at a nearby bin, his aim impeccable. “I was having a bad day, and I snapped.”

Haley swallowed the last bit of her sandwich, then said, “It’s not me you should apologize to.”

“In a way, I should, though.”

Haley didn’t reply; she just kept watching him reproachfully. Her expression said: I’m listening.

David dragged his chair closer to hers. “I’m sorry I acted like a jerk around you this whole time. It was only because I was angry at Scott for something that happened years ago—and because I was jealous. And I’m sorry I told you about us, about the kiss, the way I did…”

Haley arched one eyebrow.

“And, yes, I’m sorry I made it sound to Scott as if it had just happened. I thought he was going to get mad for a few hours and then get over it. I didn’t know he would move halfway across the country five minutes after I told him.”

“But you’re not so sorry he’s gone.” Haley scowled.

David’s eyes twinkled with mischief and he grinned. “No, I’m not a saint.”

Haley wanted to keep glowering at him but found it hard. Her lips seemed to stubbornly want to curl up in a smile.

Features contracted in a mask of innocence, David asked, “Am I forgiven?”

“You’re on probation,” Haley conceded. Without giving him room to gloat, she got up, walking all the way to the garbage bin to throw away her trash, and added, “Let’s go back inside and finish our work.”

“At your command, Miss Robot.”

Haley made a point to press her lips tightly together and not smile. Damn, it was really hard to keep a grudge against the dude. Haley silently cursed herself for being so soft.