She laughed under her breath as she started applying the base coat. "I don't need the polish to tell me that. No man, no wait, no boss is going to go so far out of his way as Jeremiah is going for you if he didn't feel anything."
"What he feels is responsible for my safety since the Jannie incident. I don't think it necessarily means he feels anything more for me than that just because he's driving me home."
"The man is driving to the opposite end of the city from where his office is every morning and every night, and you don't think that means that he feels anything more than responsible?"
I shrugged, but it didn't stop the seed of hope she planted from burrowing itself deeply in my chest. "I wouldn't know. He did mention there were a lot of expectations on him to become a better boss and businessman, maybe this is part of that."
Tiana lifted her eyes to mine, disbelief seeping out of her every pore. "You don't really believe that, do you? If that was what it was about, he could have just asked the security company to accompany you. Think about it, if it was only about employee safety he would have to rent a bus to drive everyone to work and back."
"Jannie didn't attack everyone," I said, although I knew I was on the losing side of this argument. "Only me. But maybe you're right. I just don't know with him."
"I know," Tiana said confidently, setting down the nail polish to admire her handiwork. "The man is crushing on you just as hard as you’re crushing on him."
"It feels like more than a crush, actually." I thought about how we were with each other, how I shared things with him about my family I hadn't been so honest about with anyone else and how he returned the favor by telling me about Jack and his dad. When I told him about Jannie, there had also been real worry and concern for my well-being in his gorgeous eyes.
"What do you mean by more than a crush?" Tiana asked, motioning for me to put my feet up on the coffee table while the polish dried and started applying it to her own toes. "I thought you just said you weren't falling in love with him."
She was right. I did say that. It was way too soon for anything even remotely that serious. And I wasn't falling in love with my boss, that would be crazy. A tried and tested recipe for disaster.
Lifting my shoulders and letting them drop, I waved the question off. "Nothing. I don't know why I said that. It probably is just a crush that I'll get over after the first month of working for him."
It sure didn't feel like just a crush, but any alternative was too big and too soon for me to even be thinking about. Tiana didn't look convinced, but she let it go and tossed the remote back to me. "You choose the next movie. I think you need to get out of your head more than I do."