Her shoulders lowered a little, but she kept her back to him and continued to scroll through her phone. “I heard the lead singer sent her hate mail. Blew the comments up, too.”
Jasper leaned forward on the counter, intrigued by the husky sound of her voice. Her words weren’t coming out as clipped anymore. “I don’t doubt it. But I looked up some of his songs after the article and, man, I’m not sure anyone would call that music. Miz Poppy spoke the truth.”
Hollyn closed the web browser on her phone and turned around. Her lips were pressed together like she was concentrating. Or annoyed.
He set her coffee on the counter and then slid his phone next to it. “You know, if you’re too busy later and need a second cup, you can text me your order. I’ll walk it up or send someone up with it.”
Her gaze darted up, meeting his. “Really?”
He had no idea why he was offering this. He hadn’t offered delivery service to anyone else. “Sure. No problem.”
She reached out and took his phone, typing in her number and texting herself. Her phone buzzed in her other hand. She set his back on the counter and took her coffee. “Thanks, Jasper.”
“Anytime, Ms. Busy.”
She wrinkled her nose.
“Sorry,” he said quickly. “Just messing with you.”
She shook her head. “It’s not… Never mind. Thanks for the coffee.”
“You betcha, little lady.”
Little lady? What the fuck was that?
She made another face and quickly turned away.
Smooth, Deares. He rubbed the spot between his eyes. Since when had he forgotten how to talk to women? He was the improv guy. He was quick-witted. He was excellent at nonaggressive flirting. It was one of his favorite sports.
But somehow this Hollyn woman and her clear disapproval of him turned him into awkward dude who sounded like a 1950s cowboy.
She was probably adding him to her never-speak-to-again contact list.
Who could blame her?
But three hours later, Jasper got a text from an unknown number.
This is Hollyn. Extra-hot decaf please, one sugar. Thank you.
Yep, she was in avoidance mode. He was never going to speak to her again. Way to go, Deares. He stared at his screen. He should just let it lie. Not everyone had to like him. Not everyone had to be his friend. But his fingers started moving before he could finish the thought.
Jasper: The decaf has asked not to be objectified. He prefers to be referred to as handsome decaf, slightly sweet.
Jasper groaned at his own bad joke. Now he was going to make the woman regret sharing her phone number. The little dots appeared on his screen, then stopped, and then appeared again.
Hollyn: I beg his pardon. I guess I should refrain from asking for something as crass as whipped cream on top.
Jasper let out a breath and smirked. So she did have a sense of humor. Good to know.
Jasper: He is officially scandalized. He’s filing a report with Ellen in HR.
Hollyn: All comebacks I’m thinking of would actually get me a file in HR. So I’ll just say thank you.
His eyebrows went up. Well, then.
Jasper: Now I’m scandalized. Tell me everything.
Hollyn: *GIF of Tina Fey zipping her lips*
Jasper set down the phone, grinning but totally confused. In person, Hollyn acted like she could barely tolerate him. On text, she was a different person. And hell, she’d sent a GIF of one of his improv idols and could play along with a joke.
He needed to be careful. He could walk past a nice body, a pretty face, or a sexy smile, but funny women were his kryptonite. The last thing he needed was to hook up with someone at work and then have to serve her coffee every day after things were done. Because he definitely wasn’t looking to date anyone. He only had one love interest right now, and that was getting his career back on track. Relationships were too much of a distraction for him. He fell hard and fast. Made impulsive, life-altering decisions based on simple infatuation. He’d learned that the hard way.
He looked back down at his phone and smiled. That didn’t mean a little flirtmance couldn’t be entertaining. He grabbed Hollyn’s coffee cup and a pen.
* * *
Hollyn came back to her office from the bathroom, where she’d been kinda, sorta, most definitely hiding from facing Jasper, and found a cup of whipped-cream-topped coffee on her desk. She picked it up and laughed. Jasper had drawn a face on the side with a monocle and mustache. A proper gentleman coffee.
A bolt of satisfaction moved through her. She’d done it. She’d talked to the guy. So what if it’d required an anxiety pill this morning and a mostly text-based conversation? She was still here. She’d survived.
Cal and Mary Leigh were going to be so proud.
Though now she had no idea what to do next. She scrolled through her phone and decided on a GIF of a giraffe with a monocle and mustache and a thank you. She hit Send.
That was a start.
“Since when do we get desk-side service?”
Hollyn turned around, realizing she hadn’t shut her door behind her. Andi had poked her head in, and she pointed to the coffee. “New guy delivers?”
Hollyn nearly fumbled her phone. She tucked it in her pocket and attempted a casual shrug. “I guess?”
A mischievous look lit Andi’s eyes. “Or maybe the hot barista only delivers to you?”
Hollyn shook her head. “No, it’s not like—”
Andi walked inside Hollyn’s office uninvited and plopped into the armchair. “It’s not like he’s adorable?”
“I didn’t say—”
“Ha. Gotcha. You’re totally blushing.” She grinned. “You should go for it. He seems nice. I could get a friend to run a background check on him for you. You know, make sure he’s on the up-and-up.”
Hollyn still hadn’t fully processed that Andi was chatting with her like they were old girlfriends catching up. Her heart was beating fast, and she could feel her cheek muscles trying to tic. She picked up her coffee to have something to do with her hands. “I’m good. Did you need something?”
Andi smiled, seemingly unperturbed by Hollyn’s abrupt question. “Well, sort of. First, I wanted to stop by because how crazy is it that we work three doors away from each other and I didn’t know your name? I felt like such a dick yesterday.” She made a face. “I get so wrapped up in my own stuff sometimes that I get tunnel vision, you know? So I wanted to fix that.”
Hollyn stared at her, a weird emotion rippling through her at the thought that someone had cared about not knowing her name. She sat on the edge of her desk, her fingers doing their four count against her thigh. “It wasn’t a big deal. I hadn’t exactly introduced myself.”