by Leah Atwood
Hallelujah. Among the clamoring of chairs moving and people standing, Luke rushed to power off his tablet then slipped it into the padded pouch of his backpack. A shadow crossed in front of him, and he looked up to see Kate, her sweet smile directed at him.
“Nice job, earlier.” She laid a manicured hand on the table. “I think you made an impression on Nancy, I mean Mrs. Houser.”
“Thanks, I think?” He lifted a brow, twisted his mouth. “I didn’t realize the two of you were on a first-name basis.”
A soft, musical laugh danced off her lips. “When I started at Sinclair, she was the human resource manager for the Lafayette office. She hired me and played a pivotal role in me getting the resource training position last spring.”
“Yet she calls you Katherine?” Casting a wink, he couldn’t resist baiting her.
She scrunched her nose, gave an indifferent shrug. “She doesn’t believe in nicknames.”
“Katherine does have a nice ring to it.”
Her gaze narrowed, but her eyes still sparkled with humor as she shook a finger at him. “Don’t think about it. Kate, it is.”
“How about Katie?”
A wistful look with a small frown flickered on her face, but she quickly blinked it away and shook her head. “There’s only one person who can get away with calling me that and it’s no one here.”
The chink in her always upbeat attitude intrigued him, but he didn’t press. He examined the cleared-out room. “They didn’t waste any time leaving.”
Adjusting the bag on her shoulder, Kate gave the room her own once-over. “I know a large group made reservations for an Italian restaurant five blocks away that someone wanted to try.”
“Are you joining them?”
“No, not tonight.” Her lips quirked into the faintest of frowns again.
Its unexpectedness tugged at his heart. “Are you okay?”
A weak smile appeared. “I’ll be fine. Just a rough holiday.”
She shouldn’t be alone this evening. He didn’t know what she was facing, but he could tell she needed a friend.
A janitor with scraggly white hair popped his head into the room. “Would you two mind moving your conversation outside?” His keys jingled. “Time to lock up.”
They left the training room and ambled to the elevator. Kate didn’t seem in any hurry to go anywhere, thus reinforcing Luke’s belief that something was wrong. This wasn’t the Kate he’d known for four years.
He pushed the ‘down’ button outside the elevator and waited. “What are your plans for dinner since you’re not joining the others?”
“I hadn’t thought that far.” She gave a delicate shrug. “Probably order room service or walk to the deli next to the hotel for a sandwich.”
“Care to split a pizza with me?” So it wasn’t the date he’d envisioned asking her on many times, but he didn’t want to miss out on this opportunity. It wasn’t often anymore that she approached him outside of a group.
Blue eyes sparkled after a split second of indecisiveness. “You know what, that sounds much more enticing than spending the evening sulking in my room.”
“Sulking?”
She cleared her throat. “Don’t mind me. I’m in a weird mood.”
Ding. The elevator doors slid open.
Luke stepped in after Kate. “Is seven okay? I need to log in to the Sinclair Portal to review and approve two reports before I go.”
“Perfect. It will give me time to change.” A wry smile rolled across Kate’s face when she looked down at her navy skirt and matching jacket. A magenta scarf added her own style to the outfit. “Pizza should never be eaten in a suit. It takes away the fun.”
“I agree.” Next to her, he felt underdressed in his business casual attire even though it was the conference’s dress code. At least I won’t have to change for dinner.
“Which pizza place did you have in mind?”
“Any of them within walking distance of the hotel?” He chuckled, a reaction to his nervousness. His mouth had opened and made the invitation before he’d thought it through. “Or we can go to the deli next door.”
“Pizza’s fine.”
A circular button with an L glowed, indicating they’d reached the lobby. The doors opened, granting them access to the main floor of Sinclair Industries headquarters. An impressive, global logistics company, Sinclair Industries had their top North American office located in downtown Baltimore. Behind the front desk, the company’s name hung proudly in three-dimensional bronze letters. Two employees, one female, and one male, stood behind the reception desk, each speaking into an earpiece. The spacious open area had a constant stream of employees coming and going.
Kate’s eyes were large as she watched the constant activity around them. “Can you imagine if our location was this busy?”
“I prefer our laid-back atmosphere, but the staff here is a study in efficiency.” He shut his mouth before he launched into accountant speak sure to bore her.
A wall of arctic air hit him when he went through the revolving door, and a shiver shook his body. Brr. Why didn’t I wear a coat this morning?
Two seconds behind him, Kate stepped out, her teeth chattering. “I don’t think it ever gets this cold back home. Maybe a few days in January, but never in November.”
“I heard tonight’s overnight low here is in the teens.” A sign on the post in the pickup area drew his gaze. Last shuttle to hotel: 5:35. “Looks like we missed the shuttle by ten minutes. Mind sharing a cab?”
Her arms enveloped her midsection in a self-hug. “Anything to get out of this cold.”
A white car with a painted stripe drove toward them, slowing down. It was a car from the taxi service he’d used while in Baltimore for his orientation when he’d first joined the company. Leaning forward at the waist, he flagged down the cab.
When the car came to a stop, he opened the rear passenger door and let Kate climb in first. He slid in after her and gave the hotel’s address to the driver.
“I love Christmastime.” Kate tore her attention from their surroundings. “When I was fourteen, my parents took my brother and me to New York City for a weekend in December. It was magical.” The faraway look from earlier returned.
“I’ve never been.” A flashing Frosty in a storefront caught his eye and made him smile. His mom had one very similar. “My dad tended to be gone at Christmastime, so it was just my mom and my siblings. Me too, of course.”
Kate frowned, opened her mouth to say something, then closed it, as though not sure what to say. Once. Twice. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. Once Dad came home, we had our own celebration, only a few months late sometimes.” He smirked. “If that were nowadays, we’d have all video chatted instead of waiting.”
Curiosity shone in her eyes. “Was your dad in the oilfield?”
A logical question coming from someone who’d lived in South Louisiana her entire life, but no. “Military. The Marine Corps had a bad habit of sending him on deployments and field exercises during the holidays.”
“Your dad was a Marine?” Her broad smile shrunk.
“Is. He’s still in, stationed at Quantico now.” Luke stretched his cramped leg. “In fact, he’s going to try to meet me for dinner tomorrow since we’re so near.” Bright spot number two.
“That’s great.” Her frown lacked the enthusiasm of her words and her gaze drifted out the window, leaving him confused.
“Did I say something wrong?”
“I’m not good company tonight.” She turned back to him, wiped her eye. “I’ll understand if you’d rather have dinner without me bringing you down.”
The taxi chose that second to stop, even though the hotel was still a hundred feet away. Kate grabbed her bag and jumped from the car, not giving him a chance to say anything.
Whoa. He scratched his head before handing money to the driver. What had just happened?
es of Weatherton)