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I didn’t want this date to end. Didn’t want to walk her to the end of the sidewalk and say goodnight. But there was something I’d been wondering. And I couldn’t stop myself from asking.
I put my truck into park along the curb and turned to her. She looked beautiful with the light from my dash reflecting off her skin, her dark eyes on mine.
“Can I ask you a question?” I asked.
“Another one, you mean?”
I gave her an exasperated shake of my head.
She giggled, nodded, leaning her head back against the headrest.
“When I asked you out... you told me your job had a rule against it. What was really holding you back? I only ask because I wouldn’t ever want to do something that made you uncomfortable...”
Two lines formed between her eyebrows. “What do you mean?”
“After the way Janessa came on to me at the build site, there’s no way there’s a rule against dating contractors.”
Her lips parted. “What did Janessa do?”
At the disbelief in her voice, I felt like I should tread carefully. “That first day... she asked me out to dinner and implied we should spend some time together, if you know what I mean.”
Henrietta pressed her lips together and shook her head. “That same day, she told me that I could lose my job if I dated you. I’ve been fretting over my attraction to you for weeks because of her.”
That made so much more sense, the way Hen held me at arm’s length. The sincerity when she said no to dating me.
“Why would she do something like that?” Henrietta asked, hurt clear in her voice.
“She saw the way I was looking at you after I told her no.” It was the only thing that made sense. “She was threatened by you.”
“Threatened by me.” Hen snorted. “The girl’s a size two, and she felt like she had to threaten my job to keep me away from you.”
“You know size isn’t the only thing a guy sees,” I said.
She raised her eyebrows. “Maybe it’s not the only thingyouspecifically see, but that’s not my experience with most men.”
“What do you mean?”
“Do you know what it feels like to have people make fun of you at the beach for simply existing at your size? Do you know how it feels to walk by magazines and have headlines shouting at you that you need to change? Do you know how it feels to always be the funny fat friend?”
I studied her for a moment, hating anything and everyone that had made her feel like that. “I’ve never seen you that way.”
“How do you see me?” she asked.
I took her in, and only one word came to mind. “Beautiful.”
25
Henrietta
Confession: For a woman named Hen, I have a hard time not counting my chickens before they hatch.
All this time,I’d been so worried about my job, worried about my grandma, worried about my future. When in reality, I’d just been missing out on an incredible guy, all so my boss could call dibs on him, like a child licking a cookie to make it their own. Kenner had more maturity than her, and he was still wearing Pull-Ups to bed.
Tyler was only here for nine months, and I’d missed so much of it just by following the “rules.” Well, I was done wasting time, especially when it came to Tyler.
I unbuckled my seat belt and leaned closer.
His eyes flicked from mine to my lips.