Falling For the New Guy (A Risqué Business Novel)

Chapter Five

Caleb

After an unproductive hour in my cubicle, I needed a break. I tried to focus after the morning meeting, but I couldn't. My mind kept drifting back to the ass I'd made of myself and the woman I saw every time I closed my eyes.

I wasn't hungry, but I forced myself to go down to the cafeteria. It was rush hour in the cafeteria, loaded with people in business professional attire, wearing bored expressions. As I walked in a table opened up in the back corner and I took a seat, opening the book I'd brought with me so that no one would try to strike up a conversation.

I knew I was kidding myself. Most people in the office had no idea who I was, and the ones that did know had been privy to my public shaming earlier that morning. I had a moment of deja vu back to high school, where I spent a good deal of time sitting by myself, escaping into a book or music to avoid the daily drama that everyone seemed to be so caught up in. I was better off alone, anyway.

I was a few pages into the book when a conversation at a nearby table broke through the white noise of the bustling cafeteria. I kept my eyes on the pages in front of me and listened

"I bet Josh over there would be willing to work extra hard to please you."

"My magic wand works extra hard--it plugs into the wall."

When the both of them burst out laughing, I couldn't help but glance up from my book. I shouldn't have been surprised. The beauty in the crimson blouse was there, her radiant smile and unbridled laughter drove every negative thought from my head. I couldn't help but smile, laughing with her. Her laughter faded as something else caught her attention, and I was a second too late in realizing that something was me.

Our eyes met.

I'd been caught eavesdropping. Heat creeped up my neck as I ripped my eyes away from hers and forced them back down on the book in front of me.

Idiot, I scolded myself. I'd come down here to get lost in the crowd and ended up making things more awkward than I already had, if that was possible.

I silently counted, telling myself that I wasn't looking up until I reached two hundred. She'd have to be gone by then. By the time I got to thirty, the heat from my burning ears started to dissipate. At sixty seconds, I'd finally relaxed enough to actually read words off the page of my book.

Eighty-eight, eighty-nine.

"Hey."

The greeting ripped through my self-imposed cone of silence. It was delivered in a casual manner, with just a hint of shakiness. And it pulled my eyes from the open book up to its source.

My heart stopped.

Lexa. The crimson clad beauty.

She stood across the table from me, holding her tray so tight with both hands her knuckles were white. She wore the same nervous smile she'd offered when I was storming out of that morning's meeting like a brooding teenager. The way one corner of her mouth curled just slightly more than the other made it all the more beautiful.

But her mesmerizing smile started to fade, and terror gripped my heart as I realized it was because I had been staring at her in stunned silence for several seconds.

I cleared my throat.

"I don't want to bug you while you're reading," she apologized. "I just wanted to say hi."

"No," I shrugged, slamming the book shut. "You're not bugging me. Please—sit down." The words rushing out of me were on autopilot as she sat down across from me.

"You're not eating?" she asked, noticing the only thing I had in front of me was a book.

"Oh," I chuckled. "I wasn't hungry. I needed to get out of that cubicle." I leaned back. "I might grab something."

"Here," she said. She took a plastic knife and halved her slice of pepperoni pizza before sliding a piece over to me.

"Thanks," I replied, staring at the slice.

"Lexa," she smiled. "You're Caleb, right?"

I nodded, quickly picking up the slice of pizza and taking a bite before I said something stupid.

"I thought you weren't hungry?" she chuckled.

I finished chewing and swallowed, using the few seconds to gather my wits. "Well, it's pizza," I shrugged.

She appraised me for a long second, considering my answer. I held her gaze, but it was like looking into the sun. The answer seemed to satisfy her though, because she took a bite of her slice. God, even the way she ate pizza was sexy.

"Do you always introduce yourself with pizza?" I asked, prompting another smile.

"Nope, first time," she replied, blushing a little.

"I just wanted to catch up after this morning," she said nervously, and my stomach flipped as I realized what was happening. This was pity pizza.

She must have seen the look on my face.

"No, no no, I didn't mean—" she started.

"Look," I sighed. "I get it. The new guy made an ass of himself."

"Brooke is a bitch," Lexa jumped in. "Don't let her get to you. She'll do anything to make herself look like the smartest person in the room. I just wanted to let you know I thought your idea was great."

"Oh," was all I could muster as she stood up from the table and reached into her bag.

"I also thought...this was great too," she said in a half-whisper as she slid a folded piece of wrinkled paper toward me. I recognized it. It was from my notebook. My poem, pulled from the trash like gold from a shipwreck.

I'm not sure how many seconds passed before I picked up the piece of paper. By the time I did, she was gone.

I unfolded it slowly, taking my time. I already knew what was there.

She'd read my poem. And she liked it.