Because Cary hadn't been around to manage something fancy with my hair, I'd pulled it back in a ponytail. "You like?" "I'm hard." His voice was husky, and he adjusted himself in his trousers. "How the hell am I going to get through the day thinking about you dressed like that?" "There's always lunch," I suggested, fantasizing about a nooner on Gideon's office couch. "I have a business lunch today. I'd reschedule, if I hadn't moved it already yesterday." "You rescheduled an appointment for me? I'm flattered." He reached over and brushed his fingertips over my cheek, a now-habitual gesture of affection that was tender and fiercely intimate. I was coming to depend on receiving those touches. I leaned my cheek into his palm. "Can you carve fifteen minutes out of your day for me?" "I'll manage it." "Call me when you know the time." Taking a deep breath, I dug into my bag and wrapped my hand around a gift I wasn't sure
Never mind that the day after they would arm me with a racket before unleashing me on the rest of the class. I was glad to leave campus, so I would be free to pout and mope before I went out tonight with Jessica and company. But right after I walked in the door of Charlie's house, Jessica called to cancel our plans. I tried to be happy that Mike had asked her out to dinner -- I really was relieved that he finally seemed to be catching on -- but my enthusiasm sounded false in my own ears. She rescheduled our shopping trip for tomorrow night. Which left me with little in the way of distractions. I had fish marinating for dinner, with a salad and bread left over from the night before, so there was nothing to do there. I spent a focused half hour on homework, but then I was through with that, too. I checked my e-mail, reading the backlog of letters from my mother, getting snippier as they progressed to the present. I sighed and typed a quick response. Mom, Sorry. I've been out
annaabi.ee 
