actions. Did she mean what he thought she meant? Was she telling him she was waiting on him?
She continued to stir the eggs, and he couldn’t see her face clearly any more. Clenching his teeth, he tried to control his galloping heart.
Breakfast, he was sure, was wonderful, but he barely tasted it. He was too busy tossing her words around. As soon as was polite, he made his excuses and headed out the door, promising to be back in a few hours.
John drove to his apartment in a daze. What had she meant, “waiting for the right guy”? He tried to twist things around, but he kept coming back to the same conclusion. With her words and the fact that she was staring at him so hard at the time she said it, only one thing was possible. Shannon was waiting on him to ask her out.
The thought chilled him to the bone.
What on earth did he have to offer a woman like her? She appeared to be his exact opposite. He’d grown up in foster homes and group orphanages with no family to speak of. She had grown up in rural Ohio with parents and siblings that loved her. When he signed up to go to war, she had signed up to go to college. And when he returned a broken man, she was growing into being a professional woman. What could they possibly have in common?
A matching desire to be together?
Snorting out loud, he turned into the parking lot of his apartment complex, automatically winding his way through the generic boxes to his own. He pulled past the spot assigned to him, with its very own bright blue handicapped sign, and slid into one further down, not marked. That fucking sign pissed him off to no end. He knew the anger was irrational. But he couldn’t help it.
Hell, he should thank them for having the spot at all. Not every business did.
John’s mood was sour, to say the least, when he finally let himself into his apartment.
He knew what the problem was. It was Shannon.
What the hell was he going to do with her?
Reclining on his couch hours later, the question still nagged at him. What if he did make a move on her? And she laughed her ass off?
What if he made a move on her, and she didn’t laugh her ass off?
That was even scarier.
*****
Shannon had not intended to make John uncomfortable with that statement at the table. Just wanted to…open his eyes a bit. For months she had hoped he would look at her as something other than an employee. Even though it was wrong, she had not looked at John as an employer for a long time, rather as a potential mate. He had every characteristic she had always wanted in a man. Humor, strength, level-headedness. The physical characteristics came in a distant second to his quiet personality and sardonic humor. They were what had drawn her most at the beginning. As well as his unrelenting loneliness. Shannon felt special in that he seemed to relate to her on a level that he didn’t with anybody else, so he opened up much more with her than anybody. Granted, she was the only female in the office, but Shannon had a feeling it was more than that. Possibly much more.
While he was gone, Shannon spot-cleaned and went from window to window putting little tiny pieces of blue tape over the crack where the window met the sill. She had heard once that you could tell if somebody had opened a window that way. If the tape was loose, there was a high probability that somebody had been in the house.
She felt neurotic doing it, and a little stupid, but it made her feel better. Every piece of tape was hidden out of sight from the exterior. It didn’t make sense to do it at the garage door, because she used it so much. The French doors at the kitchen she put two pieces on.
At noon, she sat down to watch the news. It wasn’t good. A cold front was sweeping down from the north. When it hit the warmer air over Colorado, it was expected to dump a boatload of snow. The mountain passes were already closed, and were expected to be closed for several days, if not weeks.
Shannon took stock of her pantry and set
She continued to stir the eggs, and he couldn’t see her face clearly any more. Clenching his teeth, he tried to control his galloping heart.
Breakfast, he was sure, was wonderful, but he barely tasted it. He was too busy tossing her words around. As soon as was polite, he made his excuses and headed out the door, promising to be back in a few hours.
John drove to his apartment in a daze. What had she meant, “waiting for the right guy”? He tried to twist things around, but he kept coming back to the same conclusion. With her words and the fact that she was staring at him so hard at the time she said it, only one thing was possible. Shannon was waiting on him to ask her out.
The thought chilled him to the bone.
What on earth did he have to offer a woman like her? She appeared to be his exact opposite. He’d grown up in foster homes and group orphanages with no family to speak of. She had grown up in rural Ohio with parents and siblings that loved her. When he signed up to go to war, she had signed up to go to college. And when he returned a broken man, she was growing into being a professional woman. What could they possibly have in common?
A matching desire to be together?
Snorting out loud, he turned into the parking lot of his apartment complex, automatically winding his way through the generic boxes to his own. He pulled past the spot assigned to him, with its very own bright blue handicapped sign, and slid into one further down, not marked. That fucking sign pissed him off to no end. He knew the anger was irrational. But he couldn’t help it.
Hell, he should thank them for having the spot at all. Not every business did.
John’s mood was sour, to say the least, when he finally let himself into his apartment.
He knew what the problem was. It was Shannon.
What the hell was he going to do with her?
Reclining on his couch hours later, the question still nagged at him. What if he did make a move on her? And she laughed her ass off?
What if he made a move on her, and she didn’t laugh her ass off?
That was even scarier.
*****
Shannon had not intended to make John uncomfortable with that statement at the table. Just wanted to…open his eyes a bit. For months she had hoped he would look at her as something other than an employee. Even though it was wrong, she had not looked at John as an employer for a long time, rather as a potential mate. He had every characteristic she had always wanted in a man. Humor, strength, level-headedness. The physical characteristics came in a distant second to his quiet personality and sardonic humor. They were what had drawn her most at the beginning. As well as his unrelenting loneliness. Shannon felt special in that he seemed to relate to her on a level that he didn’t with anybody else, so he opened up much more with her than anybody. Granted, she was the only female in the office, but Shannon had a feeling it was more than that. Possibly much more.
While he was gone, Shannon spot-cleaned and went from window to window putting little tiny pieces of blue tape over the crack where the window met the sill. She had heard once that you could tell if somebody had opened a window that way. If the tape was loose, there was a high probability that somebody had been in the house.
She felt neurotic doing it, and a little stupid, but it made her feel better. Every piece of tape was hidden out of sight from the exterior. It didn’t make sense to do it at the garage door, because she used it so much. The French doors at the kitchen she put two pieces on.
At noon, she sat down to watch the news. It wasn’t good. A cold front was sweeping down from the north. When it hit the warmer air over Colorado, it was expected to dump a boatload of snow. The mountain passes were already closed, and were expected to be closed for several days, if not weeks.
Shannon took stock of her pantry and set
Similar Books
