While I admire her ferocity to do what makes her happy, I know how much her family means to her after hearing her talk about them last night. "You never know, he could be an old soul and handing out advice as he sees fit."
She shrugs, "Maybe. He'll always support me with whatever decisions I make. He just has a hard time with them when he's about to leave for school again. He's mostly only being the typical annoying brother, and I can’t fault him for that."
That eases my fears, at least a little bit. Looks like I'm going to have to up my game to get little brother firmly on my side. The only thing I want to know now is what happened to make him feel the need to be protective of his sister in the first place. There has to be a reason, but I will wait for her to tell me in her own time. Sooner rather than later would be great, but I’m not going to push her for the information. "It's almost time for the first appointments to be rolling in. Are you sure there's nothing I can do to brighten your mood?"
Sophia stands and pushes her chair under the table. The screech of the chair leg scraping across the floor makes me wince. "Not really. Unless you're hiding a stash of chocolate somewhere." Her gaze is hopeful. She doesn’t know me very well if she thinks I hide chocolate everywhere. I can’t even stand it most of the time.
Stalking toward her, Sophia backs up until her back is flush with the wall. I place my hands right above her shoulders, and she stares at me, her mouth forming an “o” in surprise. It may be forward of me, but I meant what I said last night when I told her I wanted to do it again. I wasn't just talking about the date. "Are you sure about that?"
She shakes her head no and that's the only permission I need. Lowering my head until my lips are mere centimeters from hers, I pause savoring the effect I have on her. Her breaths are quick, and I wonder if her heart is beating at the same pace. Just before I seal my lips to hers, there's a quick intake of breath as she melts into me. I won't allow this kiss to go into panty dropping territory because we are still at work. That wouldn’t be good for anybody if they happened to walk in. It's a promise for later, though.
She pulls back grinning like a Cheshire cat. "I lied. That one hundred percent put me in a better mood." The smile doesn't last long. Within seconds her brows are pinched, and she's biting on her lower lip. "Not to be a downer or anything, especially after that kiss. But what are we doing?"
Seriously, after last night and my concern over her brother not liking me, I assumed she knew where this was heading. "I kind of figured we would start dating. It's fast, I know that. But I can't get you out of my head and I want to get to know you better."
"Good," she breathed out a sigh of relief. "I thought that’s what was happening, and I just wanted to make sure." She runs her hands along the fabric of her shirt, and combs through her hair, making sure nothing is out of place. I don't know why; I never even touched her hair. If it makes her feel better though, I won't say anything. "Okay," she beams, "we should probably get out there before people, and by people, I mean Charleigh and Bianca, become suspicious."
Grabbing her hand, I give it a quick squeeze as I kiss her on the cheek before walking out of the breakroom. Who cares what Charleigh and Bianca think? What Sophia and I do isn’t anybody's business unless we want it to be.
Hopefully, Sophia doesn't care what they think either. There is absolutely nothing wrong with she and I seeing each other, and I won't apologize for my feelings. The only person I can think of that might be mildly concerned is Corey, and that’s because he doesn't want to lose a kick ass receptionist, or tattoo artist, should things go sour. I'll have to make sure I talk to him sooner rather than later.
* * *
So far, today has been filled with one client right after the other, leaving no time for me to see, or talk to, Sophia. Her reservations this morning have me feeling nervous. I don't want to act like some lovesick teenager, but that's how badly Sophia has me wrapped around her finger after one night of drinks. It would be different if we didn't know each other and were meeting for the first time. That's not the case, though. I've been watching her from afar, not wanting her for more than anything but a coworker. Maybe if I had approached her sooner, I wouldn't be quite so hung up on her. I only hope I don't scare her away.
"Hey, Adrian." Sophia pokes her head into my room. "I'm going to run across the street and grab some dinner. Do you want anything?"
The sound of my name on her lips is amazing, I want to hear it over and over again, preferably when we’re alone and free from interruptions. "A hamburger and fries would be great."
"Alrighty, I'll be back in a little bit." She flounces out of the room before I have a chance to tell her to get some money out of my tip jar. If everything goes well with this client, and I don’t have any more breaks, I might even get to eat my dinner with her.