He’d still drop off her sweater, but not having to have an awkward conversation on the phone with her was probably a blessing in disguise.
Fifteen minutes later, Simon got behind the wheel of his electric car and headed to Heather’s place. If she wasn’t home, he’d just leave her ID and sweater in her mailbox. She was bound to find it when she got home.
When he pulled up to her house he found that the lights were on. So, somebody was home. Maybe she was ignoring his calls. He didn’t blame her. Who would want to take a Friday night phone call from their boss?
Simon grabbed the sweater and jogged out up to her front door. He rang the doorbell and Heather answered, dressed in nothing by an oversized shirt and the tiniest pair of shorts he had ever seen. Her hair was down, and she wasn’t wearing her glasses. He hadn’t ever seen her look so casual. It was sexy. Well, she was always sexy, but this time he was taken by surprise.
“H-Hi.” He did his best to sound casual, but the sight of her bare legs was making it hard to think straight.
She narrowed her hazel eyes suspiciously. “Simon? What’re you doing here?”
“You left your sweater at the office,” he replied.
“Right,” she said, sounding totally unconvinced by his explanation.
“Your ID was inside the pocket,” he said.
“Oh.” She reached for the sweater. “Thank you. I can’t believe I forgot it.”
“Work was hectic today,” he said. “It was probably easy to forget.”
She paused. “Would you like a drink or something?”
No. Say no. Turn her down.
“Sure,” he said. Because that was what he truly wanted to say. The rational part of his brain that he always listened to was shouting at him to walk away, but every other part of him just wanted to be near her. “But I can’t stay long.”
“Of course.” She led him inside and he followed her into the kitchen.
The house was small, but extremely neat and organized. Cozy even. A bit like Heather herself.
She motioned for him to sit at the island and he obliged while she put a kettle on.
“Got any weekend plans?” he blurted out. Small talk had never been his strong suit, but he’d do anything to make sure there weren’t any uncomfortable lulls in the conversation.
She took some mugs from the cabinet and set them down on the island. “I might go catch a movie with some friends, but I’m pretty much a homebody.”
“Home is good.” After a pause he asked, “Need any help?”
“No, thank you,” she said as she grabbed a couple of teabags out of a box and placed one in each mug. “How do muffins sound?”
“Great,” he said.
She grabbed some muffins from a tray on the kitchen counter and placed them on a small plate. Then she handed it over. “They’re banana nut.”
He reached for one and took a bite. Delicious. “This is good. Did you make these?”
Heather nodded. “I’m not much of a cook, but I love to bake. There was a bake sale at Finn’s school and I made one batch too many.”
“Finn is lucky to have you for a mom,” he said.
Her cheeks turned pink. “Thank you. And Kylie is lucky to have you.”
“Kylie?” He took another bite and thought over Heather’s words. A thought suddenly occurred to him and he nearly laughed out loud. “You think Kylie and I are an item?”
“You looked very nice together.” She nodded her head vigorously, like she was trying to convince herself that what she was saying was true.
“I’m not dating Kylie,” he said. “I mean, she’s lovely, but she’s not my type. And she’s happily married.”
“Oh.” She stared down at her hands. “So, is she like your friend... or something?”
“Kylie was an engineer at Dover,” he said. “We were the first company she worked for when she was just starting out. She moved on to a smaller startup because it was a better fit for her. Kylie just visited the office today because her company wants to partner with Dover on a small side project. You really thought we were dating?”
“Well, you hugged her and seemed so happy to see her—”