CHAPTER ELEVEN
“We can put in the request for the records, but it’s going to take till next week to receive them.”
I started and sat up straighter in my chair. The desk phone, set on speaker, waited for my response. Had I really just spaced out in the middle of a call? I stood up to bring myself back to reality. I needed more coffee. Less nostalgia. More aerobic activity, less mental activity.
“Let’s do it anyway,” I told the secretary at Stafford Scientific.
“Great. I’ll reach out to your secretary to arrange the details.”
“Wonderful. Anything else right now?”
“I’ll check with Mr. Stafford, but I believe that’s all. Thank you, Ms. Laurent.”
“Thank you. Have a great day.”
I eagerly hit the button to end the call, then sighed and sat down on the edge of my desk. I started to rub my fingers against my tired eyelids but remembered my makeup and stopped myself just in time. Though I’d spent my usual number of hours in bed, they’d been peppered with dreams of Seth. Every hour, it seemed, I woke up from one, only to fall asleep to meet him in another new setting.
Where was my head?
The whole day I’d been unable to focus, my mind full of memories of the past weekend. One on top of the other they came at me, repeating themselves once they’d all been played. Seth and I cuddling in bed after sex. Seth and I waking up in the morning and taking another walk around the lake. He’d slipped his hand into mine, and I’d let him… I’d more than let him. I’d loved it.
At breakfast Sunday morning, we sat next to each other and spent the whole hour talking about books. It turned out he shared my love of Southern Noir. It seemed he knew every Flannery O’Connor story paragraph to paragraph and had multiple interpretations of each one.
The more we talked, the more I saw we really were — almost annoyingly — similar.
The physical connection was off the charts. I’d hoped to get another taste of it after breakfast, but I’d received a call from work about Stafford Scientific needing a rush job done, so we’d gone back to the city in a hurry. Seth said he didn’t mind, but I did. I hadn’t wanted the weekend to be over yet.
And I wasn’t over him now like I had planned.
In fact, my plan had royally backfired. Instead of being sick of Seth, I was in love with Seth. And him? If his words were to be believed, he was falling for me as well.
All through the evening and today, while fielding calls and crunching numbers, he’d sat on my mind. We hadn’t made any plans to see each other again, and, oddly enough, that made me nervous.
What if he’d changed his mind about me? What if he’d gone back to wanting me just for physical relief?
Or, worse yet, what if he’d lied? What if the things he said down by the lake were all for show or all part of some sick game he liked to play?
My fears made my passion official. I was falling for the guy, and bad.
He basically said he’s into me.
Down at the lake, when he’d told me he initially was interested in me for sex… supposing he really had been telling the truth… then he’d been trying to tell me it wasn’t that way anymore. That he wanted me for more than just sex.
Yet I had trouble believing it.
I wiped my sweating palms against my dress and then stopped myself. I hated feeling this way, like I was waiting around for a guy to throw me a bone.
This wasn’t Quinn Laurent, a woman who owned her own business and called her own shots. This was the giddy school girl I hadn’t been in years. Or perhaps had never been. I’d skipped the Spring Fling for school work, after all. Even though I liked the boy who asked me, I hadn’t liked him enough to put my passion first.
But I couldn’t imagine putting Seth on the back burner for anything.
My cell phone rang, startling me. I hurried around the desk to snatch it up, hating how much I hoped it was the man I was obsessing over.
Seth.
I took in a deep breath and composed myself before swiping. “Hello?”
“Hi, Quinn. How are you?”
His deep tones floated over me, reminiscent of his firm and purposeful touch. My stomach quivered, and heat hit my core. I glanced toward my door’s window, not wanting any of the staff to see me getting undone over a phone call.
“I’m good,” I managed. “How are you?”
“I’m good too… I had a great time this weekend.”
I plunked down into my chair, coming close to missing the seat and crashing onto the floor. “Me too. That place was amazing. Thanks for coming with me.”
“Of course,” he murmured.
I swallowed hard. His voice hadn’t had this effect on me when we were at the lodge. It was nice, and it turned me on…but it didn’t set butterflies off in my stomach. It didn’t hit me like a case of serious spring fever combined with a sugar rush.
Seth continued. “I was wondering if you might like to come over for dinner tonight.”
My heart lifted. “That sounds nice. Although I’m not going to be done here till seven, at least. Maybe seven thirty.”
I cringed. In reality, it was eight, but I didn’t want to tell him that lest he retract the invitation. Maybe if I crunched for the next few hours, then I could shave an hour or so off my projected end time.
“That’s fine,” he casually responded.
“And then I have to go pick up Starlet and take her home, feed her… so that might take another hour.” I bit back a sigh. “I’m sorry. Is that too late? Perhaps we could do it another night this week.”
“Or you could bring Starlet with you to my place.”
I cocked my head in surprise. “Really?”
“Yeah. I don’t have dog food here, but I could run out and get her some. Or just give her some chicken. Can she have that?”
I couldn’t stop the smile. “You’d do that?”
“Of course. She’s a sweet little doggy, and the sooner you get here… the better.”
The connotations in that last part couldn’t be denied. A thrill went through my body, making my arms break out in goosebumps.
“All right,” I answered with a thick tongue. “Thank you. We’ll both come. I’m sure she’ll be excited. Especially if there’s chicken waiting for her at the end of the trip.”
“I’ll text you the address. Is there anything in particular you’d like? Or any allergies?”
“No, I think I’m all good. Anything should be fine.”
“Great. And no rush. Just get here when you can.”
“Okay. I’ll still make it as soon as possible.”
“See you then.”
“Bye.” Vibrating with excitement, I hung up.