“Well . . .” Well, because I have a stalker and that’s stressing me out so every time I try to sit down and work when I’m at home, I’m too distracted, wondering if he’s out there lurking in the bushes or something. But I didn’t want to talk about Noah right now. I never wanted to talk about Noah again, actually. “I’ve just been busy, I guess.”
I finished the second drink, and I pushed the glass away, hoping that a third would not appear. I’d be in pretty bad shape if that happened. “So there’s no boyfriend that you’re going to go home to after this?” Ian asked.
This struck me as particularly hilarious, and I burst out laughing. “Ha ha, no. Definitely no.”
“I kind of figured; most guys wouldn’t be too psyched about their girl going to get drinks with some other guy.”
Especially not one who looked like you. How was he so good-looking? I blinked, then blinked again, trying to figure out if this was all just some sort of mirage. Ian looked at me closely.
“Are you all right? Is there something in your eye?”
I shifted on the barstool, so instead of just the sides of our knees touching, my whole upper thigh was pressed against his. I leaned my torso a little too, and felt my shoulder brush against him. I could still smell the faint traces of whatever aftershave he used, a light cedar smell, with a little bit of spice. He had a perfectly square cut jaw.
“I’m fine,” I said. “It’s just funny—I’m not really that successful when it comes to the dating department.”
“Is that so? I find that hard to believe.”
“Well, you shouldn’t. What about you? Are you dating anyone?”
Did I really just say that?
“No, I am most certainly not involved,” he said.
The energy between us felt so intense that it was like something I could reach out and grab. The whole right side of my body where we were touching felt electrified—hot and sizzling, though I knew that was just my mind playing tricks on me. I felt a warm happiness spreading in my chest when he said that he wasn’t involved with anyone, and even though our glasses were empty, I held up mine up, waited till he picked up his own, then clinked them together.
“Cheers to that,” I said.
When I got home, I called Caroline. I’d still felt fairly buzzed when we left the bar, so I let Ian drive me to my place, then he caught a cab home. He’d walked me up to my door, and I thought that maybe he was going to kiss me, but he didn’t. Instead, he reached out and lightly squeezed my upper arm.
“Thanks for the great evening,” he said. “Make sure you drink some water. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
It felt a little like walking on air as I stumbled into my apartment and found my phone. “You won’t believe where I just was,” I said when Caroline answered.
“Where?” she said. “Don’t make me guess. I’ve had a really long day.”
“I was at that bar, The Knock. You’ve been there before, haven’t you?”
“Yeah, once or twice. Once with that guy, Derek. It’s a little . . . upscale for my tastes, though. Or maybe not upscale—pretentious? I do remember that everyone there was like a supermodel or something. That made me feel great.”
“You’re just as gorgeous as any of them,” I said. “More so.”
“That’s sweet of you to say, even if it is untrue. So you went to The Knock? Who with?”
“Ian.”
“Your boss?” I could hear the surprise in her voice.
“Yeah. He randomly asked me at the end of the day today.”
“Wow. How’d that go?”
“It was all right.” I thought back t
o sitting there next to him at the bar, feeling his knee resting lightly against mine, how exciting I had found that to be. Caroline was my best friend, yes, but even still, I wasn’t sure I wanted to tell her this small but important detail. It sounded rather pathetic, even to me, even though I was the one who had found it so thrilling. “It was almost like an extended job interview or something. He was asking me all these questions.”
“Yeah? Like what?
“Like . . . how I was enjoying the job so far, and what sorts of things I liked to do, and whether or not I was seeing anyone.”