Page 26 of Soft Rebound (Mad City Moments #2)

Joe

“Y ou need to come to lunch with me today,” Trey says, peeking through my office door.

“Why?” I ask, not looking away from my monitor. I’ve got meetings all afternoon and a bunch of paperwork to finish.

“Just do it, all right?”

I sigh. “Fine, but I have a ton to do so we gotta make it fast. Can't go anywhere far.”

“Shouldn't be a problem. We're going to the cafeteria.”

I stop typing and swivel around in my chair to face him. “I told you I’m not going to the cafeteria. And you know why.”

He gets inside my office and closes the door behind himself. “I know you’re avoiding it because you don’t want to run into Liz, you want her to feel comfortable at work and all that. And I’m still telling you that you need to come with me to lunch today. To the cafeteria.”

“Dude.” I clasp my hands together, elbows on my desk. “What kind of scheme are you working on?”

“The one where you get a happily ever after and you and I become brothers-in-law.”

“Trey.”

“Okay, okay. You know she asks about you. Liz.”

“I know. You’ve told me. And I ask about her. Allegedly, you tell neither of us anything other than ‘Fine.’”

“Yeah, only this past weekend she actually asked me if you were seeing anyone.”

I straighten in my seat. “What did you say?”

“That you weren’t, at least not to my knowledge.”

“Shit,” I jerk back against the chair, causing it to squeak. “Couldn’t you have fudged a little, made me look better?”

“There is no way to fudge your fishing trips with your dad to look like you're pulling some serious ass.”

I cross my arms. “I could’ve met an exciting fisherwoman for all you know.”

Trey waves me off. “Enough with that nonsense. Lizzie wants to see you, she said as much, but didn’t want it to be a huge deal.”

“Lizzie?”

“Bobby calls her Lizzie, and so do I.”

I can’t believe how much I’ve missed. “So you and he are a serious item?” Trey nods and I go around the desk, slap him on the back. “Congrats, man. I’m happy for you.”

He grins. “Fair warning. You’ll be the best man when we get to that.” Then he scrunches his forehead and shakes his head. “But you’ve just distracted me again with your lawyerly wiles. I’m here to tell you that you are going to lunch with me. Today. In the cafeteria. At noon sharp.”

“I have a lot of work today...”

“Joe!”

“What?”

“Quit the bullshit. Do you want to reconnect with Liz?’

I stop. “I don’t know.”

“Well, I know. I can’t take you moping around and I definitely can’t take any more fishing stories.

You were a whole new man when you were with her.

Fun. Energetic. Outgoing. I never even knew you could be like that—I’d only ever known your depressed post-breakup-with-Kim ass.

Then all of a sudden you’re like this Extrovert Jolly Giant.

I want that dude back. Not this zombie who never leaves his office and won’t go out to lunch with his stylish gay colleague and best friend. ”

“I’m not moping around,” I grumble. “I’ve just resigned myself to eternal solitude.”

Trey rolls his eyes. “You don’t have the hair to pull off that emo nonsense.”

We both laugh.

“Look,” says Trey, his face turning serious, “Lizzie wants to see you, but doesn’t want it to be too much pressure. So here is what's gonna happen. Roxie and Lizzie eat together in the cafeteria on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Roxie is a Jizzie diehard—”

“Jizzie?”

“Your ship name. Joe and Lizzie. Jizzie.”

“Jesus.” I rub my head. “I suppose it’s better than Jiz.”

“Indeed.” Trey grins. “Anyhow, Roxie is happy to help and will make sure Lizzie is there today. She and I will disappear and let you two lovebirds talk.”

My heart beats fast and I think I’ve started to sweat.

I haven’t seen Liz in five months. I’ve thought about calling or texting her to an alarming degree, many times a day at first, and I still do several times a week, even though I’ve pretty much made peace with the fact that I made a mistake falling for her, and that she never felt the way I did.

I’ve been on half a dozen dates through the apps, none of which went anywhere, but that’s what I expected. It’s hard to muster interest when you’re still very much into someone else.

And now, this.

I pace across the room a few times while Trey watches me patiently, seated in one of the guest chairs with arms across his chest.

Finally, I plop in the chair opposite him.

“What the hell.” I throw my hands up. “Let’s go have lunch in the damn cafeteria.”

****

I ’m in a bit of a daze , feeling like a teenager who’s about to see his crush somewhere where she doesn’t expect it. I have no idea what food I order and it doesn’t matter, since my stomach churns and I can’t tell if I’m hungry or not.

I simply follow Trey as we pick up our food and move to the seating area.

“Ladies!” Trey exclaims. “Fancy meeting you here!”

Roxie grins. “Hello, lawyers!” She motions us over. “Long time no see. Come, sit with us.”

When I finally look at Liz, my heart lodges in my throat. She looks amazing, better than I remember. Her hair is styled in a way where the top is pulled back but the lower portion is down. She wears a little makeup and a lavender top that complements her fair skin and tawny hair.

She looks at me with awe and hope and so much longing that it takes everything I have not to toss my food and kiss her hard, far harder than appropriate for the lunch hour in Qpik cafeteria.

“Hey Joe,” she says quietly. “I... It’s really good to see you.”

“You too, Liz. You look amazing.”

“She looks amazing all the time,” Roxie chimes in. “Not that she made a special effort today or anything.”

Liz shoots Roxie a murderous look, and Roxie laughs. “I know when I’m not wanted, so I’m gonna scram. Trey, you coming with me?” She grabs her tray in one hand, Trey’s suit sleeve in another, and pulls him away from the table.

“This is a Tom Ford and you’re wrinkling it,” Trey protests as he lets himself get dragged away.

My eyes follow the two until they’re seated across the room, mostly stalling because the truth is I’m terrified to face Liz.

Finally, I turn and look her in the eye. “May I sit?” I ask.

“Of course. Yes. Please.” She says and I can tell she’s blushing.

“God, you really look amazing.”

“Thank you. So do you. I’d never seen you in a suit before.”

I smile. “Yeah, not exactly lounging attire. I have some client meetings this afternoon.”

“So what are you having for lunch?”

“No idea,” I admitted. “I just grabbed whatever. I was really nervous.”

She smiles. “Me, too.” The fork she’s holding trembles.

We look at each other for a long moment. I scan her face, her hair, her lips. She seems to do the same. The pull between us has gotten even stronger, and I didn’t think it was possible.

“Trey said you wanted to meet in a way that wouldn’t be a big deal,” I say.

Liz frowns. “Leave it to Trey to spill everything. How am I supposed to be all alluring and mysterious now?”

I laugh. “Trust me, you could not be more alluring or mysterious than you already are. It’s a problem, honestly, given there are like two hundred people in here right now so I have to behave.”

She blushes and looks down. “I was thinking, maybe you and I could start over. Slowly. Very slowly.”

My heart thunders. I can feel whooshing in my ears. “What would that mean?” I ask.

“A lunch here and there. Coffee. Some dinners. Like normal people date. Before falling into bed.”

I smile. “Elizabeth Jensen, are you asking me to be your boyfriend?”

“Not yet.” Liz grins. “But I am asking if you’d like to spend some time with me. Get to know each other a little more.”

I finally release a bated breath. “I would love that.”

Liz beams at my words. “Okay. Good. That sounds great.”

“So let’s start over.” I hold out my hand.

“I’m Joe Larson, a lawyer with Qpik. Age 34.

Taurus. From Duluth, Minnesota. One brother, in the Navy.

Excellent parents. Divorced two years ago from a woman named Kim, to whom I’d been married for ten years and who decided to finally tell me she’d never wanted to have kids even though she’d known the whole time that would be a deal breaker.

I love the Vikings, good barbecue, ice fishing, and law.

Perfect gifts for me are beard oil, beer, and all manner of sexual favors.

I am partial to gorgeous Vikings fans who drive small but surprisingly sturdy blue cars. ”

She shakes my hand, blushing and grinning.

“Pleased to meet you, Joseph Larson. I’m Elizabeth Jensen, and many people call me Lizzie, but I honestly like Liz better.

I’m an accountant with Qpik, but only for another month or so until the woman I’m subbing for gets back from maternity leave.

I am 27. Cancer. From St. Cloud, Minnesota.

Two brothers, Mickey and Bobby, who happens to date your colleague Trey.

By the way, I don’t know if you’ve ever seen them together, but they’re so adorable, it’s unbearable—” I smile, and she continues.

“I have loving parents whom I miss, but whom I’m also trying to escape because ever since I’ve left I’ve realized that what they’ve been wanting for me and my siblings might not have been the healthiest thing overall.

Currently hiding in a sublet by someone named Melanie whom I don’t know but who’s a friend of my cousin Chloe’s.

Broke up with my fiancé with whom I’d been for seven years, and have yet to truly miss, but about whom I have a lot of conflicting emotions.

I love the Vikings, homemade cooking, swimming, and math.

I’m thinking of switching careers. Perfect gifts for me are anything frilly and girly, a gift card to Sephora, and any sexual favor from you after we’re done going slow.

I’m partial to bald godlike men who show me just how sturdy my blue car really is. ”

I squeeze her hand. “God, I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you, too.”

The tension between us feels thick and textured, almost corporeal.