Early to Be Late
Maddox
When the elevator dinged, I glanced up from the lobby's sofa.
And then I blinked. Emerging from the elevator was Delaney Sinclair, looking – well, just the same as before.
Same dirty shirt.
Same windblown hair.
Same dirt smudged across her cheek.
I glanced at my phone, confused. She was ten minutes early.
Huh.
When she saw me looking, she rushed forward, calling out, "Sorry I'm late!"
I stood and stared at her for half a beat. "You realize you're early, right?"
She hustled toward me, stopping a few feet away. "Yeah, but I'm not technically early. Mostly, I'm really late. I just thought I should warn you."
I didn't get it. "Warn me?"
"Yeah, so you weren't left wondering." She looked down and grimaced. "As you can probably guess, I haven't even showered." She looked up. "Or changed."
Her face froze and then she winced. She reached up, touching her own cheek, as if suddenly recalling the smudge from earlier. "Don't tell me…my face is still dirty, isn't it?"
Before I could answer, she threw back her head and groaned. "Damn it. At least I could've cleaned that up. I had paper towels and everything."
She looked at my shirt and did a double-take. "Wait…your shirt – how'd you wash it so fast?"
"I didn't." I gave a loose shrug. "Different shirt."
"Oh." She glanced toward the elevators. "Uh…yeah, I guess that makes sense. I mean…why stand around dirty when you can dash up to change, right?"
I said nothing.
I hadn't dashed anywhere except to my car, where I'd changed in the back seat under the cover of tinted windows. I'd been gone for less than five minutes before returning to the lobby.
Delaney blew out a long, shaky breath. "Anyway…it seemed really rude to make you wait, so I figured I'd pop down and let you know, especially if you're on a schedule."
I made my own schedule. And yet, I wasn't known for waiting.
Delaney was still talking. "And if you need to bow out, I totally understand."
I blinked. "Bow out?"
"Yeah. You know. Cancel." She looked down. "Because I've gotta be honest. Unless you want to be seen with a total troll, I'd need at least twenty more minutes to be remotely presentable."
I did the math.
If she had stayed upstairs and finished getting ready, she would've been only ten minutes late. Not a big deal.
And yet, I didn't wait ten minutes for anyone.
Still, it wasn't lost on me that for her, I'd been waiting thirty already. Odder still, I wasn't annoyed.
I was fascinated.
Why were things with her so different?
Almost before I knew it, I'd already said, "Don't worry. I'll wait." When she smiled, something warm loosened in my chest.
Still, she asked, "Are you sure you don't mind?"
"Positive." Crazy as hell, I meant it, too. "Take your time."
She laughed. "Well, I won't take that long. If I don't hurry, I'll be eating that hydrangea." But then she froze. "Not because I'm desperate. It's just I've been traveling all day and never got the chance to eat."
Right. The suitcase. The way it looked, she'd done some of that traveling on foot.
She had a story alright.
Before I could reply, she had already turned away, hustling toward the elevators while calling back over her shoulder, "I'll hurry, I promise!"
But just as she reached them, she stopped and turned around. "Wait a minute…I just remembered something. I still don't know your name."
Fuck.
But what the hell had I been thinking?
Of course, we'd eventually exchange names. And I was a lot of things, but no liar. Bracing myself, I just said it. "It's Maddox."
For a split second, she just looked at me. And then she smiled. "Funny, you look like a Maddox. I'm Delaney, by the way. Anyway, see you in a bit."
And with that, she hustled into the nearest elevator, its doors still open from her trip downstairs. She hit a button and gave me a cheery little wave before the doors slid shut, leaving me alone in the lobby.
Once again, I was smiling – and this time, for more reasons than one. Apparently, she had no idea who I was. And for all kinds of reasons, it seemed smarter to keep it that way.