One Good Thing Read Online Free

but I didn’t want my coworkers to know we were dating.
    I never encountered Drew during the workday. SLQ was a big company and his office was in another department. The job itself was fine. Typing data into a computer for most of the day was monotonous and there wasn’t anything remotely creative about it, but it didn’t bother me as much as I thought it would. If there was no creativity, there was also no pressure, nothing to live up to. My chest didn’t feel tight when my fingers flexed over the keyboard, not like it did when they grasped a paintbrush.
    Those first couple of days, I was content in the monotony and I looked forward to my first paycheck, even though it wouldn’t be a lot. Maybe things were looking up.
    But I never should have thought anything so hopeful. I jinxed myself.
    Because on my third day of gainful employment, I saw
him
.

Chapter Two
    It was Hot Lips. And not casual jean-and-T-shirt Hot Lips but slacks-and-button-shirt-with-a-tie Hot Lips. No sports jacket. They went for a look somewhere between business casual and formal at SLQ.
    He walked toward an office across from the cubicles, one I’d noticed had been empty the first two days I was at work. He must have taken some time off. And lulled me into a false sense of security.
    I ducked my head as my cheeks heated; I prayed he wouldn’t notice me.
    “Hi,” a voice said.
    Either there wasn’t a God or He liked to laugh at me—I would have known that voice anywhere; it was smooth as velvet, richly timbered. The kind of voice I normally liked to listen to in audiobooks. But this one was associated with public exposure.
    I pretended I was really busy, slowly tearing my eyes from the computer screen to look at him like he was distracting me from a really important task. Hopefully he didn’t glance too closely at the blue screen; I’d just turned the computer on and it was still running through updates.
    “You look familiar. Have we met before?”
    “Uh …” Why was I hesitating? If he didn’t remember me, I wasn’t going to remind him. But how could he not remember the girl who’d flashed her ass at him? My mouth went dry as the seconds ticked by; I could hear them as loudly as if I’d had a clock on my desk. Was it possible he remembered and was being nice by pretending nothing happened? Or was this amusing to him?
    The silence stretched on. A smile quirked the corner of his lips.
God, just answer the question! It’s not like he saw you stark naked.
Butts were nudity lite, anyway; you could show five of them in a movie and still get a PG-13, right?
    At least that’s what I told myself; it didn’t make me feel any less exposed.
    “No,” I said. I managed a lame little smile. “I mean, I don’t think so.”
    He reached out his hand. “I’m Evan.”
    Like a skittish animal, I tentatively raised my arm and placed my hand in his. His fingers wrapped around me, strong, warm, imprisoning. “Danielle,” I said. “But my friends call me Dani.”
    I didn’t breathe until he released his grip.
    “Can I call you Dani?”
    “If you want,” I said, keeping my voice neutral. I lowered my hand to my lap and flexed my palm against my thigh. The skin where he’d touched me felt overly sensitive.
    “You just started here?” he asked.
    “A couple of days ago.”
    “Let me know if you need any help with anything, all right?”
    “Sure, thanks.”
    “Hey, nice flower,” he said before he turned away, his eyes on the desk, “I like that shade of red on you.”
    I frowned, my head snapping toward the carnation.
    I’d bought a red carnation, unwittingly selecting the same bright hue as the thong I’d worn to the park.
    He’d been toying with me the whole time.
    *
    Lucy, the woman who occupied the office next to Evan, stopped by my desk that afternoon. She was older than me, in her midthirties maybe, with a round face and blond hair that she usually kept in an efficient bun. I was sort of jealous, since my own hair was boring mousey