“You’ve got to be the most hard-headed person I’ve ever met.”

David chuckled at Braxton’s comment the following Thursday afternoon as he prepared to leave work. Three days had come and gone, and three times, he’d received a “no” from Candice each time he’d asked her out. Today was the fourth day, and he was getting ready to head to her office for another try.

“Not hard-headed. Just confident,” he replied.

Braxton shook his head. “I tell you what. If she says yes, I’ll buy the drinks at the pub tonight. If she says no, then the tab is on you.”

David reached across his desk and the two of them shook hands. “Deal!”

As soon as Braxton left, David went to the adjoining bathroom in his office and checked his reflection in the mirror one last time. He hated to get his hopes up, but he had a good feeling that today would be the day. At first, Candice was resolute in her decision not to go out with him, but he’d noticed over the past couple of days that she’d softened a bit. She smiled more and even giggled a time or two when he asked her out, and even though she eventually followed it with a no, he still felt like he was making progress.

David left the office and walked the long corridor to Candice’s. It was 4:45 p.m., so he was a few minutes early, but he wanted to get there before their coworkers filled the hallways since he’d caught Megan and a couple others snooping a time or two when they discovered him in Candice’s office. Her door was open, and he peeked inside to make sure she was alone before knocking on the doorframe.

“Come in,” she called without looking up from her computer.

David propped against the doorframe and admired the view. Today, she wore her hair up, and as a few loose tendrils caressed her neck, he wished more than anything he could do the same thing. Her light blue blouse accentuated her tanned complexion, as did the pink lipstick on her beautiful, full lips. He sighed contentedly. She was absolutely stunning.

“A little bird told me you like Italian food, and I know a great little Italian restaurant in Salt Lake City that has the best pasta carbonara and mushroom risotto. Why don’t you let me take you there sometime—say, tomorrow night?”

Candice slid her eyeglasses to the tip of her nose and peered at him. “Would that little bird happen to be Braxton Lennon? Because, oddly enough, he was in here this morning, and the conversation just happened to turn to our favorite foods.”

David feigned a look of surprise. “Imagine that. What a coincidence.”

Candice laughed as she pushed up her glasses and returned to her work. “So, I’m guessing you’re here for your daily ‘no.’ Has anyone told you lately how stubborn you are?”

David sat down across from her. “Actually, someone told me that just a little while ago, but I don’t consider myself stubborn.”

Candice continued typing on her keyboard, but he noticed the edges of her mouth trying to curve upward. “I guess cocky would be a better word then? Or arrogant? Or how about pretentious? That’s a cool word.”

David laughed out loud. “No, I’m none of those things. Let’s just say I’m very goal-oriented.”

And there it was, a smile. She also blushed, and David’s heart beat so fast, it nearly thumped right out of his chest. However, her smile didn’t last long when something went wrong on her computer, and she became agitated.

“I swear, this thing hates me,” she groaned. “This is the third time today the screen has frozen up on me, and I don’t know what I keep doing wrong.”

David stood and walked around the desk, and Candice moved back from the computer so he could look at it. “This happened to me several times while I was in Texas. The computer I had at Owens Industries gave me fits all the time. I used to tell my boss I believed it was designed by Satan himself.”

She laughed, and David swallowed hard when he felt her warm breath on his skin. His hands started shaking, but somehow, he managed to press the right keys to unlock the screen. “If it happens again, just press these three keys at the same time and hold them down for a few seconds.”

Candice leaned forward to observe, and they were so close, her hair brushed against his cheek, and he could smell the faint scent of her perfume, an intoxicating vanilla scent that made him light-headed.

“Thank you, David.” She turned to look at him, and he didn’t miss the glimmer in her eyes when she noticed how near he was. Her lips were parted slightly, and he wanted so badly to give in to the urge to kiss her, but her phone rang and jolted him back to his senses.

David moved away from her and walked to the door while she answered the phone. He took a couple of deep breaths to calm his nerves and waited patiently while she talked to the caller for what seemed like an eternity but was, only a couple of minutes. When she hung up the phone, they stared at each other for a few awkward seconds before David managed to get his tongue detached from the roof of his mouth.

“So, how about that date? Are you hungry for some Italian food?” he teased.

Her cheeks reddened as she propped her elbows on her desk. She laced her fingers together and gave him a tentative smile. “David, you know I can’t do that, but thank you for asking. I hate to keep telling you ‘no,’ but I really just want us to be friends.”

Maybe his mind was playing tricks on him, and he just wanted to believe it so bad that he was starting to imagine things, but he could still detect some hesitation in her voice. She seemed unsure of her answer, and she looked genuinely troubled over rejecting him again. Perhaps he was getting his hopes up over nothing, but he wouldn’t give up as long as he felt he still had a chance.

“Then I guess I’ll just have to try again tomorrow,” he replied. “I hope you have a good evening, Candice.”

She nodded and smiled. “I hope you do, too, David.”

He held his head high as he walked out her door. Today wasn’t the day, but it was coming. He just knew it.