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barely knew them, so
why would they? Of course I didn’t exactly know anyone at work well
aside from Carl and maybe Patricia.
    Had Carl been right? Did I really have a
secret admirer? I felt a strange pang when I remembered my note,
and that whoever it was had seemingly obeyed.
    For the first half hour I expected Ashley to
buzz me, asking to be let out. The next half hour I spent resisting
the urge to go peek at him. At eleven o’clock three things happened
at once. My phone buzzed, the co-ops walked through the back door
carrying coffee, and Carl stepped through the front door.
    Shit.
    I answered the buzz with, “Just a second,” I
hastily thanked and paid the co-ops, and I watched Carl approach.
Before he could nod his hello and reach for his key, I said, “Sonny
at HR’s looking for you. It seemed urgent.”
    Carl made a face, stared at his office door
for a frantic heart-in-throat second, and then handed me his coat.
“I’ll go see him now. Is one of those coffees for me?”
    I handed him the cup that had been meant for
me and watched him disappear among the cubicles. As soon as I
stepped inside his office I hauled Ashley to his feet and shoved
the second coffee into his hands. Flinging Carl’s coat over the
couch, I grabbed Ashley’s shoes and jacket and steered him toward
the door.
    “Wh—” Ashley began, resisting my manhandling.
He was adorably sleep fuzzy.
    “Carl’s back, and I have exactly one and a
half minutes to clear this place up before he works out Sonny
didn’t need to see him at all. Out.”
    “Okay, I—” Ashley’s mouth was still open when
I shut the door in his face. I stuffed the blanket and pillow in
the cupboard, ran around to open the blinds, hung up the coat, and
opened the door to reveal Carl standing there, his hand raised to
unlock it.
    “Sonny said he didn’t talk to you at all
today. He didn’t need me.” I winced internally, but I figured Sonny
deserved it for handing out private information.
    “Oh, I must’ve misunderstood.” I smiled
blandly. Carl gave me an odd look, glanced around his office, and
then headed for his desk. I mourned the loss of my latte.
    “All right. If you have time now, I’d like to
go over next week’s branch meeting.”
    I forced a bright smile. “Let me go grab my
tablet.”
    I heaved a sigh of relief once I stood
outside his office. Not that Carl would’ve minded the intrigue, God
no. But there was no sense in encouraging him. He’d probably think
Ashley and I were having an affair or something.
    At the thought, I barked out a laugh, and
gazes swiveled my way from the nearby cubicles. I cleared my throat
and grabbed what I needed from my desk. Me and a smart, older, very
handsome man like Ashley? As if .
     

     
    At half past one I was passing by Ashley’s
office on my way to the supply closet when he called me inside.
    “Dinner,” he stated.
    “Uh.” I surreptitiously glanced at the clock
over his head. “I just had lunch.”
    “No, I mean you and me, tonight.”
    Oh.
    My mouth went dry. Was he…? No, he was just
being nice. “I can’t. I have a… thing.” With Mother, since it was
Thursday, which I didn’t want to tell him in case he was starting
to like me. After all, I’d told him free snowplowing had been the
highlight of my year, and he’d already met my cat. If I mentioned
Mother, I could kiss any prospects of his respect good-bye.
    I could cancel on Mother, but I’d really
enjoyed last week, and I didn’t want to ruin the easiest we’d been
with each other in… well, ever.
    Ashley straightened a little in his chair. A
light pink flush sat on his cheekbones. Was he getting a fever? “I
see. No problem.” He smiled without dimples and looked away.
    I hoped I wasn’t coming across as rude. “You
look better than you did this morning,” I tried. “Less tired. You
have more”—I waved a hand at my face—”color.”
    “Yes, you were right. I was about to ready to
drop. That nap really helped, and thanks