eyes, shy and oddball personality back in place. He wasn’t surprised by that; she’d probably only approached him because she’d been under the influence. He wanted to say hello before he left, anyway, to make sure she’d found her key. He was on his way out the door to see if he could find her when John appeared at his shoulder.
“Thank you again, Will, for stopping by,” he said.
“Sure, no problem.”
“I’d like to stop by this week to take a look at your famous home, if you have the time.”
“Sure, I make a point of getting home early on Friday evening. Would that work?”
“Yes, perfect. Thank you again, Will,” John said, walking away.
“Sure, no problem,” Will said, stepping into the hall and searching for his neighbor.
***
Okay, that should do it, Katrina said to herself. Her hands were some kind of clean now, seeing as she’d washed them three times. Cleanliness was next to Godliness, she’d heard somewhere, reaching into her purse to find her lotion and slowly applying it to her hands. She looked at her watch. Yep, Will should be long gone by now. She’d waited an extra five minutes beyond the meeting’s start time, just to be sure.
She opened the door and looked both ways. No one there. So far, so good, she said to herself as she walked back down the hallway leading toward the conference room. Her footsteps faltered as she took in Will, leaning against the wall a little way down from the door to the conference room.
She inwardly sighed, her hands twitching at the picture of him. She sighed again. He could have had sex with her that night; would that have killed him? He turned to her and remained there, watching her walk to him, a smile on his face.
“So, we meet again,” he said, standing up straight, his smile widening, showing off perfect white teeth. He secured her hand in his strong grip. “I didn’t want to leave without saying hello. I haven’t seen you around much lately. I assume you found your key,” he said, watching her.
“Yep, sure did. Thank you,” she said, her eyes skimming across his face before moving away to a spot just above his right shoulder.
“You’re welcome. I can tell that you’ve recovered,” he said, beckoning her eyes back to his face. She wished she’d worn something nicer, something other than her usual jeans, extra-large T-shirt, and baseball cap.
“Yep,” she said, looking into his eyes.
“That was some New Year’s Eve party. Did you enjoy yourself?” he asked.
“Hey, congratulations on your home,” she blurted out, a blatant attempt to change the subject.
“Thank you,” he said, slightly taken aback by the turn in the conversation.
“Oh, look at the time. I’d better get back in there. You’ll excuse me, won’t you? I’m late enough as it is,” she said, pulling her hand from his and walking quickly away.
“Sure,” he said, his voice trailing away, watching her disappear into the room, inwardly smiling. She was not so bold today.
He’d seen embarrassment and discomfort in her eyes just then, and he hadn’t seen her out working in her yard anymore, not as he was used to. He’d given some thought to going over to check on her, but decided against it. She liked him, very much it seemed, and he now knew how much. He liked her, too, in a mostly friendly way. Okay, it was not all friendly; there was a little sexual interest mingled in there, but not enough to act on. She had been funny and interesting that night and different from what he’d originally thought her to be. He headed toward the front of the building, realizing that he’d been standing there lost in his thoughts. He walked out the main door and headed to his jeep pulling his keys from his pocket, recalling Katrina’s earlier behavior. So she was going to try and avoid him, to pretend that night hadn’t happened. He understood the merits of her plan, and he should allow her to implement it, but for some reason he didn’t want to.
***
Thank