along from start to finish. She was so confused that she could feel her
temples starting to throb, signalling a headache coming on.
“I— I appreciate your offer,” she stammered again, not at all confident
in what words would come from her snarled up thoughts. “But I— would I
be able to think about it for a while?”
Christina’s eyes shifted again, this time to the projector on the middle of
the table, but they quickly darted back to Taylor’s face. Something was
definitely not right.
“Sure.” She managed to sound reassuring, and Taylor envied that
quick recovery. When she felt frazzled, it took her forever to calm down.
“Would you like me to call you tomorrow morning?”
Taylor had no idea how long it would take her to make a decision. She
was apparently being given twenty-four hours. She wanted to ask for more
time, but she nodded. “Can you check in then?” There. That way she wasn’t
committing to anything. She didn’t say that she’d have an answer.
“Absolutely.” Christina pushed back her chair and extended a hand. She
had a small silver or white gold band with a tiny green stone on her index
finger, but nothing on her left hand.
Taylor quickly shook it. Her fingers tingled at the contact and her lungs
burned from holding her breath. She snatched her hand back as quickly as
possible and, face burning with embarrassment for even checking
Christina’s left hand for a ring, she ducked down and pulled out the crinkled
paperwork from the day before. She passed it over. “Here. You’ll probably
want this.”
“Thank you.” Christina’s smile was easy enough, but Taylor thought she
saw uncertainty or even something bordering on panic in those frosty blue
eyes. She studied Christina’s smile, but just found her stomach clenching
when she truly let herself notice how lush and full Christina’s lips were.
“Thanks,” Taylor mumbled, flustered. She picked up her bag and
shouldered it. Christina moved to see her out, and Taylor walked quickly.