Page 27 of Chasing the Dream

“Not to mention Maria.”

“What about her?”

“I don’t think she’d be happy about us…you know…”

He held up his hand to stop her. “I get it. Everything you said makes perfect sense, and you’re right. I don’t want people giving you a hard time at the office because of me. I also don’t want Maria on my case, and I know she would be if she thought that I…that we…”

“Exactly. I’m glad we understand each other.”

“I apologize for getting carried away. I was looking at you as a beautiful woman in a bikini instead of my sister’s best friend and my employee. My mistake.” He pulled the cover-up from behind his back and held it out to her.

“Hold on,” she said, blinking rapidly. “You think I’m…beautiful?”

He set the cover-up on his lap and smiled. “Well, yeah. I mean, look at you. The last time I saw you, you were a scrawny kid with…”

“Pimples?”

He shrugged. “I was going to say something else, but yeah, probably that too.”

“What else were you going to say?”

“Never mind. It’s not important. How about dessert?” He started to rise, but she motioned him back down.

“Not until you tell me what you were going to say.”

He rubbed the back of his neck and squirmed uncomfortably. It was about time she had him on the hot seat instead of the other way around. “Well?”

“I was going to say a flat chest, but then I decided that wasn’t very nice. For all I know, you had boobs back then, and I failed to notice. Either way, I’m sorry.”

She gaped at him, unsure whether to hug him or hit him. “For the record, I wasn’t completely flat-chested, although I wasn’t nearly as well endowed as your friend Tina.”

“Okay, then. Now that we’ve cleared that up, let’s go in and have dessert.”

He offered her the cover-up again, and this time, she snatched it out of his hand, stood up, and put it on.

“I’ll stay only because I really like dessert, but then you have to take me home.”

“Deal.”

They went inside to change. Once she was safely behind the locked bathroom door, she let out a big breath and tried to regain her bearings. Before she took off her swimsuit, she eyed herself in the full-length mirror on the back of the door.

He thinks I’m beautiful. Since when? Since I grew breasts or before that? What the hell just happened?

She peeled off her swimsuit and placed it back in the tote bag. If he likes me in a bikini, what would he think of me naked? Then she turned away from the mirror with a huff and hurriedly got dressed. This after they’d agreed that they shouldn’t be flirting or thinking of each other as anything other than friends and co-workers!

Pulling the pins out of her damp hair and shaking it out, she continued to reprimand herself. It doesn’t matter if he thinks I’m pretty. I’m going to have dessert (not him!) and go home. There will be no more flirting, swimming together, or being alone with him other than in the car on the way to and from work, because that she could handle. From now on, it was strictly business.

Then came a rap on the door. “Need any help in there?”

Her mouth dropped open, and then he laughed. “I’m kidding. Meet me in the kitchen once you’re dressed.”

She heard his footsteps retreat down the hall, along with the rich sound of his laughter.

Later that night, she was lying on the couch, watching Friends reruns, when Maria came in.

“I’m surprised you’re still up.”

“I was waiting to hear about your date.”