Conklin's Blueprints by Brooke Page Read Free Book Online Page A

anything else to do, and well, I needed to make some big changes,” I said, my eyes drifting to the original plans.  His eyes followed mine.
    “Not in need for kids’ rooms?” He smirked.
    I tried to hide my blush.  What an inappropriate thing to ask!  I barely knew him!  He noticed my uncomfortable reaction.  “I’m sorry; I probably just offended your boyfriend,” he laughed, trying to lighten the mood. 
    “Well, there’s no boyfriend to offend.”  
    Shoot, maybe I said that too fast .
    His eyes suddenly looked intense.  They were blue today, probably because he was wearing a blue dress shirt, no tie, with the top button undone.  He had more questions I could tell. 
    “You sound a bit bitter.”
    I furrowed my eyebrows at him; did he really just ask me that?
    Again he noticed my reaction and tried to recover from his question, “I’m sorry, that was a bit harsh of me to say, but you clearly had someone?”
    Why is he probing? 
    “Yes.  I did, but that was a while ago.  I don’t really like to talk about it.” I said, hoping that would be enough of an answer for him.  Not that I needed to even give him an answer.  This was all a bit deep for my liking.
    He scratched his chin as if he were contemplating.  “I was going to go grab something to eat, would you like to join me?”
    Wow, quick change of subject!  I guess that was what I wanted anyway, to talk about anything other than my awful love life.
    “Sure,” I answered without thinking.  I stood up to get my things together.  Tyler stood patiently waiting, not taking his eyes off of me.  As I felt his eyes boring into me I suddenly remembered what I looked like.  I was wearing jeans and a zip-up hoodie, and I didn’t bother with makeup after my shower.  I probably only had a hint of eyeliner left on my eyes.  I became self-conscious; did I even make sure I didn’t have any eyeliner smudged under my eyes?  I quickly wiped under my eyes while looking the opposite way of him.  My hair was thrown up into a pony tail; thank God I blew my hair dry so at least my bangs looked decent.   But it wasn’t like he was asking me out on a date or anything.  He probably felt how I felt; we were put in a weird conversation and he was looking for an out.  My brows furrowed at the thought.
    “Everything ok?  Do you need a hand with anything?” He said, gaging my reaction to my thoughts.
    “I’m fine, let’s go,” I mumbled, avoiding looking at his beautiful eyes. 
    We walked to the elevator, which was still on our floor.  Turns out we were the only ones who didn’t have lives outside of work, but then again, it was 11:00pm.
    “So where were you thinking of going?” I asked, breaking the silence. 
    “There’s a coffee shop six blocks down by Rosa Parks Circle that has good sandwiches if you don’t mind the walk.”
    “Sounds great,” I lied, not really hungry.  I hadn’t eaten late at night for a long time.  Not since Connor and I broke up.  Jamie caught me with a pint of ice cream watching The Notebook one night shortly after the break up. 
    So why am I going out for food with him if I’m not hungry?  I thought to myself.  He is way out of my league, and I’m 99% positive he was not interested in me in that way.  Maybe he was lonely too?  We were the only ones left in the building besides the unfriendly security guard who quickly sat up straight when he noticed I was with Tyler.
    “Have a good evening Mr. Conklin!” He said with an overly friendly smile. 
    Tyler gave him a stiff nod and opened the door for me.  We walked in silence until we were three blocks away at a stop light.
    “So… do you always work so late on a Friday?” I asked, trying to make the air a little more comfortable. 
    He smiled and looked at the ground, “Not always.  I had some plans that needed to be reviewed by Monday, and I am taking a flight to Chicago early tomorrow morning and won’t be back until Wednesday.  What about