Free Grounded by Jennifer Smith Page B

gorgeous,
    blonde man. Th e sam e gorgeous, blonde man she’d met on the sidewalk when she’d been knocked down. And now he was standing here while she was in sweats with wet hair!
    Geez, a girl just couldn’t get a break! "You, um, you’re here. How? Why?"
    He grinned at her and she thought she’d fall over. Had she thought him gorgeous? No, he wasn’t gorgeous, that was too mild a word to describe the man before her. He was an Adonis, a Greek God, a dream come true. Good grief, could she drop her panties right here and jump on top of him?
    "I found an envelope and some papers on the sidewalk just before the street sweeper got them," he explained. "I’m sorry to have opened them, but it was the only way to find out who they belonged to. Or rather, I thought perhaps they were yours since I’d seen you after that little fall you took, I just didn’t know how to reach you. I opened them to see if I could find an address."
    "Thank you." He handed her the papers, his fingers brushing hers, and she felt electrical shocks run up her arm . Oh, say something, Patty, don’t let him get away again!
    "You’re welcome. Sorry to have bothered you," he told her and turned to go to the elevator.
    "Coffee!" She shouted after him . Oh, my god, I’m an idiot!
    He turned. "Excuse me?"
    "Coffee. I have coffee. " Dammit, can’t I say one coherent sentence?
    "Okay," he said slowly. "That’s great. See you later."
    Crap! Come on Patty, you can do this ! "Would you like a cup? I can make some if you’d like to come in." He smiled again and Patty felt her knees begin to buckle . What is wron g with me ? He walked back to her apartment and stood looking at her. Patty met his gaze and her heart thumped . He is soooo beautiful! Can I keep him?
    "Excuse me."
    "What?" she asked, confused.
    "You invited me for coffee, right? I can’t come in unless you move."
    "Oh, right." She jumped out of the way and bumped her head on the door, then ran into the gorgeous hunk as he came through the doorway. "Sorry," she mumbled.
    "No problem. I’m Dion, by the way," he said and offered his hand.
    "Pat-Patty," she said and tripped as she started to shake his hand. "Sorry."
    He caught her before she was completely off balance. "Pleased to meet you Patty. Is that short for Patricia?"
    "No, it’s Patience. It’s such an old fashioned name. I was named after my grandmother. I always hated it, so I shortened it when I was a kid. I used to cry whenever anyone called me Patience. I got teased a lot when I was a kid, too. You know how cruel kids can be."
    She took a breath . Stop rambling, Patty. You sound like an idiot ! "Coffee, I’ll make coffee. You sit." She shook her head. "I’m sorry. Please, sit."
    "Thank you," Dion said with a big smile. "Do I make you nervous?"
    "No," she said, lying through her teeth.
    "Good. I don’t want you to be nervous."
    "I’m not," she assured him and heard him chuckle as she went about making the coffee.
    He sat at her tiny, Formica kitchen table, and when the coffee finished brewing, she poured them each a cup and set a plate of sugar cookies on the table between them. "Do you take cream or sugar?"
    He shook his head, his blonde hair falling around his shoulders, and Patty felt her heart do a flip.
    "No," he said. "I drink it black." Patty stared at him , not knowing what else to say.
    He seemed to sense her utter loss of social skills and smiled again. "You have a nice apartment. Lived here long?"
    "About two years," she answered. There was another silence . Why can’t I make simple conversation with this man?
    "What do you do? Were you coming home from work when we met on the street?"
    Nodding, she said, "Yes. Coming home from work for the last time, actually. I got laid off today, downsizing they called it."
    "I’m sorry to hear that."
    "I’ll find another job," she said more to herself than to him.
    "Well," he said, "thank you for the coffee, Patty. And good luck to you in your job search."
    He rose from the chair