Chapter 1 #2
"Not a fan of the fairy tale endings with the wedding and the happily ever after?" he asked and, for a half-second, the twinkle faded. Like maybe he'd learned that lesson the hard way.
"Well, since fairy tale endings don't exist, no." Not only no, but hell no. She cringed inside, and it likely showed on her face, as well.
"You don't think so?" he asked, as though this was a problem. Which was stupid because he didn't know her and she didn't know him and, dammit, she had news to tell her boss inside.
Upstairs. Away from here.
She shook out her sleeves and forced a smile on her face. "Let's just say I prefer events where the biggest drama is the decision to serve chicken or fish, and no one ends up divorced afterward."
"A nice Chamber of Commerce event dinner?" Zach suggested.
"That would be fine. Or a funeral," she added, a mischievous glint in her eye as she began to walk toward the front entrance. "Those are always predictable."
Zach's lips twitched and he kept stride with her. "Morbid, but efficient. I think I get it now."
Oh no, he didn't attempt to figure her out in a three-sentence sound bite. "Stop trying to put me in a box like that when you don't even know me."
He stayed with her pace.
Piper was rarely at a loss for words. They flowed freely whether she wanted them to or not. But in that second, she could not find the syllables to say anything. Surely, they were there somewhere in her brain, but they were not making their way to her mouth.
Her heart kind of kicked at her to say something. But… it was like someone pushed pause on her ability to speak.
And there he was, still walking with her toward the door.
"I've got a meeting happening inside I need to get to," he clarified.
Her gaze focused on the floor tiles as her shoes click-clacked in the otherwise silent atrium. She skirted around the fountain spitting water all over itself, and approached the elevator moving double time to… hold on, was she keeping up with him?
"Nice to meet you but I have to jet. I do have some good news to deliver. Big news. The kind that involves bonuses and promotions." She gestured vaguely toward the bank of elevators.
"Sounds exciting," Zach said, as he continued to walk with her. "Don't you want to know how the story ends? Does the key fob find true love? Does the gum exact its revenge?"
"I have a feeling," Piper said dryly, "that the story ends with us going our separate ways."
"And yet..." he loud-whispered.
Don't do it, Piper. Don't do it. Keep walking.
She totally stopped, turned around. "And yet, what?"
"You got a little tingly when I was helping you with your sticky situation. Am I right?"
"I did not." She totally did.
"It's not a big deal. This was a first for me, too. Usually, I buy a girl coffee before she lets me play Prince Charming and we get tingly."
Her spine stiffened. "I didn't let you play Prince anything."
Hold up, did he also feel that momentary chemistry when he touched her leg? She shook her head.
"Okay," he conceded in that way people do when they aren't actually conceding. "But you did get a little zingy, right?" He wiggled his eyebrows.
"Zingy?" she repeated, incredulous. "That's not even a word."
"Maybe not in the dictionary, but I know it when I see it. We're not talking a full-on lightning strike. Maybe just a little static shock. But it was there."
Damn, this guy was smoother than freshly shaved legs on satin sheets.
"Being in control isn't a bad thing," Zach said gently. Unfortunately, he also kept stride alongside her but didn't say anything more.
He did press the button with his thumb and shifted from foot to foot in that awkward way people do when they're waiting for the same elevator.
She couldn't help it; she reached out to press the already-lit call button. His gaze snagged with hers and he lifted his eyebrows slightly.
Gah, what is wrong with me?
"That doesn't mean anything," she said in a rush, gesturing to the button she'd just double pushed.
The elevator dinged, its doors about to slide open with an invitation she suddenly couldn't accept.
"You know what? I think I'll take the stairs," she announced, backing away from both the elevator and him. "It's only three flights. Good cardio. Very...unexpected." She emphasized the last word with enough sass to make him grin.
"Three flights in those heels?" His gaze dropped to her shoes, lingering just long enough to remind her of that earlier touch. "Seems like a lot of effort to avoid being alone with me."
"Maybe I like the exercise." She did not enjoy exercise. Not at all.
"Maybe you're running away."
"I don't run." She lifted her chin. "I make strategic exits."
"Is that what this is?" He stepped closer, right inside the edge of professional distance. "A strategy?"
The space between them tightened like the air had taken on weight she wasn't certain she could carry.
"You didn't tell me your name," he said lower.
She hadn't told her name, had she now? "Cinderella."
For a second, she almost smiled and let something subtler slip through. A crack in the fairy-tale armor.
His lips curved. "See you around, Cinderella."
For the record, she was not running away from him. She was making a strategic retreat from the terrifying little flicker of hope he'd sparked. Everyone knew hope was the most dangerous fairy tale of all.