That night, William slept on the couch so we could ride together to the office in the morning. We'd accidentally gotten a little too tipsy after dinner, so I set my alarm an hour earlier than normal so we could work on his resume together. Usually, I’m much more responsible when it comes to drinking on a work night, but something about William had me letting my guard down.

I softly tapped William's shoulder to wake him up. After a minute, he hadn't moved a muscle so I shook him more abruptly.

"Wake up, sleepy head!” I sang brightly.

William tensed up as soon as he opened his eyes, and the anxiety in the air felt palpable. He jumped up, grabbed at his belt and pulled out a pocket knife.

“Whoa!”

He looked around with a gaze of fright upon his face. I recognized that face, though; it was the same one my father wore when he awoke from one of his night terrors. He, too, suffered the consequences of combat. I was no stranger to this look. After a moment, William mumbled an apology and put the knife away.

I pulled a chair over to the couch and held my MacBook in my lap. The aroma of coffee wafted through the air, and William eyed me as I pulled my robe tighter across my chest. I realized too late I wasn't wearing a bra.

Once he sat up on the couch, I pulled up the resume template I downloaded from the internet. Formatting his resume didn't take as long as I expected considering he hadn't held a steady job after being released from the military. But, I beefed it up as much as I could to make it look impressive.

“Do you think that sounds too cocky?” William asked as he pointed to the line I’d just written.

“Not at all. Nothing wrong with showing off your accomplishments,” I replied eagerly.

“Wait, I think there’s a typo.” William reached for the laptop and his hand brushed against mine. “Oh, sorry.” He pulled back as though he touched a hot stove, but the feeling of his skin against mine sent a shock wave through my body.

“Fixed it.” Our eyes locked and fire burned between our gaze.

I wanted another excuse to feel his touch, but it was time to get ready for work.

"You're going to do fine!" I promised for the one-hundredth time. "The maintenance manager is really friendly."

William nodded and swallowed. He hid in the bathroom after we finalized his resume. I needed to get in there myself, but I didn't want to rush him or bother him while he got ready. His day was much more important than mine. I wasn't meeting with any clients today, so I used Charlie’s bathroom instead.

I didn't have very much makeup in my bedroom to use in our second bathroom, but I had just enough to cover up the pesky bags underneath my eyes and apply a coat of mascara to my lashes. While I dug in my nightstand drawer, I also found a faint pomegranate lipstick to wear. I glanced at my watch and realized if we didn't leave soon, we'd both be late.

"William, are you almost ready? We gotta go, like now."

"Coming!" He opened the bathroom door, and the suit looked just as dashing on him as it did last night. The only difference was William's face appeared quite a bit more green than before.

I handed him a banana and a to-go cup of coffee.

"You're going to knock 'em dead, soldier!" I punched him in the arm, and he looked as though he wanted to puke on my shoes. I wanted to punch myself after that. Why did I do that?

We passed the guard in the foyer, and I couldn't help but smile as he did a double take at William. I'd brought a shaggy homeless man home, only to leave the next day with a debonair hunk crushing it in his Giorgio Armani suit.

William sat in the passenger seat, and I noticed his hands shook while they held his resume and cup of coffee. I'd run out of motivational tidbits, which was probably for the best. So, we rode to the office in silence. He slurped his coffee now and again, but I'm sure the caffeine only increased his nerves. We parked in my spot, which hadn't been taken today, and walked in silence to my firm's building. When we passed William's bench, I noticed him glance at it out of the corner of my eye.

William held the door open for me as we entered the building. I signed him in at the front desk and pulled him into my arms. I didn't care if anyone witnessed our embrace. When I was around William, I only thought about him. Screw the people around us.

"You're going to do great, okay? Just remember what we practiced. Oh, and have the receptionist call me when you're finished. I want to hear all about it!"

"Thanks, Amelia."

I left William in the foyer as he waited for our maintenance manager to bring him into the conference room for his interview. I wished I could go with him, but I had to let him go for the time being.

In my office, I spent the next hour chewing on my pen and glancing at the clock. For the life of me, I couldn't understand what was taking so long. The interview should have lasted about a half hour, tops. I checked our office messenger and saw Andy, the maintenance manager, was still in "Meeting" mode.

To distract myself, I poured another cup of coffee and rechecked my emails.

"Everything okay?" Karen peeked her head into my office.

"Uh, I think so."

"That doesn't sound so convincing. What's up?"

"Come in," I said, ushering her inside. "So, I met someone."

Her face lit up like a Christmas tree. "You did?!"

"Oh, not like that!" I corrected. "William is just a friend, but he's interviewing for the open maintenance job."

Karen eyed me. "Just a friend? Is this the same William you've mentioned before?"

Karen was probably the only friend I'd made since moving here. She acted so motherly toward me, it felt as though I actually had a mom in my life again. I'm sure my own mother approved from the big puffy clouds upstairs. I'm sure she was happy I had someone in my life to lean on. It's not like I could give my ex mother-in-law a call to talk about men, right? Even though everyone at my firm was friendly, I sometimes had a hard time opening up to new people, except for Karen.

"Yes, the same one."

"I thought I saw a handsome new face downstairs when I came in this morning." She grinned. "He's very cute. You sure you're just friends?"

As I was about to shoo her away, my phone rang, and I jumped in my seat. The caller ID read "Reception," and I stood as I picked the receiver up from the cradle.

"Yes?"

"William asked that I call you and let you know he's waiting for you downstairs."

"Thanks, Beth!"

"Your knight in shining armor awaits," Karen teased.

I stuck my tongue out and raced to the elevators. Karen had a way of bringing out the kid in me sometimes.

"Well, how did it go?" I asked William as we sat down at a corner table in the cafeteria.

He looked crestfallen, and my heart broke. Then his frown disappeared, and a sly smile spread across his freshly shaven cheeks.

"I got it," he said.

I gasped. "You did? I knew you would!" Heads turned at my sudden outburst, but I ignored them. "I'm so happy for you! Did you tell them you’d have a permanent address soon?"

“Yeah, they said it was no problem. I just have to show proof of the address after I move in.”

I hugged him for the second time that morning and breathed in his fresh, mouthwatering scent.

"I start on Monday."

"That's great!"

"So, there's something I wanted to talk to you about," he said, his smile fading.

"Anything."

"I was wondering if I could borrow a little money." He swallowed. "I promise I'll pay you back with interest, but I need a little something until I get my first paycheck. You know, for some new clothes and stuff."

I knew this must be difficult to ask for, but I had no problem helping him. "Of course, whatever you need.

"Really?" I saw a bead of sweat roll down his face.

“Yeah, of course. I could use a shopping trip myself.

"I think I'm going to go take a walk to get some fresh air," he said.

"Okay. Meet me at my car around 6?"

He looked perplexed.

"You need to sign some papers at the halfway house. I already talked to the manager."

William smiled, and it was the kind of grin that could have lit up the entire planet. He walked out of the cafeteria, and I noticed several women stared at him with mouths agape. It seemed as though I wasn't the only one digging his new makeover.

As sad and empty as I felt when William left the office, I realized that tomorrow Charlie would be coming home, and I'd have someone else to hold in my arms. Only this one was quite a bit smaller.