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of my time fantasizing about Bennett and his dreamy emerald eyes. And his broad shoulders. And his cleft, Superman chin. And his soft, full lips. And his long, dark eyelashes.
    I drummed my fingers on my desk as I leaned back in my chair, thinking about nothing but Bennett. I remembered how he had kissed my forehead before leaving that morning, and nothing but butterflies and giddiness filled up my entire being. He kissed me. He has to think fondly of me, right?
    I wrapped up work a few hours later and headed home, trying my hardest to get out of there before Michael saw me. He always liked to walk out with me, and sometimes it turned into a twenty-minute conversation when all I wanted to do was go home.
    The moment I walked into the apartment, Claudia was lounged out across the sofa with a gossip magazine in one hand and the remote control in the other. She had some reality show paused on the screen.
    “Hey,” I said as I kicked off my painfully beautiful heels and sunk into one of the arm chairs.
    “So,” she said as she sat up. “Tell me about your date last weekend.”
    I’d realized between our ridiculously opposite work schedules and the insane amount of time she’d been spending with Eric, I hadn’t even had a chance yet to tell her about my night with Bennett.
    “Well, he didn’t show up until way past eight,” I said with an eye roll. “But he redeemed himself.”
    “How so?” Claudia asked.
    “He brought pizza and a chick flick,” I said. “It was sweet.”
    “Does he know you don’t like movies?” she laughed.
    “No, I didn’t tell him that,” I said. “We had fun though. He fell asleep here.”
    “Really?” Claudia’s eyes widened. “Did anything… happen?”
    “No, no, no,” I said, waving my hands in front of my face. “It wasn’t like that. It was completely innocent. He ended up leaving around two thirty. Got called into work.”
    Claudia pursed her lips. “Seems rather odd to me.”
    “Not given his line of work,” I said, defending my new Prince Charming. “They captured some guy he’d been after for a long time. He went in to question him. It’s his weekend on call.”
    “Okay,” Claudia said. “Fair enough. I just know how you get sometimes. You see what you want to see in people, especially guys. I just like to be the voice of reason for you.”
    “Noted and appreciated,” I said. I stood up, stretched and headed back to my room to slip on some comfortable lounge clothes.
    I sauntered back out and hit up the freezer for a salty frozen dinner. They’d become a staple meal for me lately. Ever since Sam and I broke up, I’d stopped cooking. Occasionally Claudia and I would whip up something together, but that was rare. We often had such different schedules and such different tastes in food. God forbid she found a tomato chunk or a mushroom piece in anything. I’d never met anyone so picky before.
    “How was your date with Eric?” I asked as the microwave hummed behind me. “Or your week with him, I should say.”
    “Good,” she replied. “So far, anyway. He seems interesting. Nice enough. I think my mom would like him.”
    “Does he still talk about Ayla all the time?” I asked.
    “Actually, no,” she said with a smile. “I think he only did it that one night because he was trying to impress me or something. He’s never brought it up since. Can’t say I blame him. If I dated a local celebrity, I’d probably embrace those bragging rights too.”
    “Hm,” I said. “Makes sense.”
    Claudia flipped her show back on as the microwave beeped. I pulled my piping hot plastic container of salty mush out and let it cool on the stove for a bit. I grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator and took a few swigs.
    “We’re getting low on everything,” I said as I noticed the lack of milk and general food in the refrigerator.
    “Yeah, we should go to the store soon,” Claudia said. “We’ve both just been so busy this week.”
    I grabbed my food and