“Yes, I think we’re all a little happy about that, to tell the truth.” He gave me the last bite of cake and sat back in his seat. The waiter came back with our check and he ordered both of us tea. I thought we should get back to the office, but I wasn’t complaining.
We sat and sipped and enjoyed the hum of the restaurant around us. Or rather, he did and I chewed my lip and felt like crap about lying to him, but there was absolutely zero way of explaining this to him in a way he would understand, or a way that wouldn’t make him ashamed of me.
Yes, my parents knew I wasn’t a virgin, but having them know that and have them know that I was engaging in an almost purely sexual relationship with someone I worked with was something else entirely. They’d probably call in a priest and break out the holy water. Or at least have some sort of intervention.
And Lucah would be out on his ass before you could say “Daddy’s little girl.” I didn’t mind taking the heat for this, but I didn’t want it to go on him. If it were only about me, I could take it.
I cared way too much about him. I wished it would be possible to freeze a relationship and keep it the way it was. Because right now, things were great. I just didn’t know how long it was going to last.
“Ready to get back to work?” he said, bringing me out of my own head and back into the restaurant. He looked at his phone and then sighed. “It seems Mr. Craig has a new car that I simply must see when we get back.” I rolled my eyes.
“Well, take a ride and tell me how it is,” I said, as he gave me his arm and we walked toward his car.
“Love you, Rory.”
“Love you, too, Dad.” He gave me a big hug before we put our professional faces on and went back to the office. My phone rang as soon as I sat down at my desk.
“How did it go?” He knew I’d been worried about lying to my dad. It was actually kind of sweet.
“It was fine, thank you for your concern, Mr. Blaine. If I’m not mistaken, it’s time for your lunch break.”
“Why thank you Miss Clarke. It seems that it is. Am I going to see you tonight?” As much as I wanted to see him, I really needed a girls’ night, sans penis.
“Um, so how would you feel if I went out with the girls?” I braced myself for him to be pissed.
“I’ll be honest and say that I would rather have you to myself, but I’m not one of those guys who doesn’t know how to share. Middle child, remember?” He kept his voice low because there were a lot of people walking back and forth. I also kept my eyes on my computer.
“Good. I was hoping you weren’t going to be one of those possessive guys who doesn’t want his woman out of his sight.”
“You’re not my woman,” he reminded me.
“True enough. But I swear, I will more than make it up to you. Saturday night? I’ll text you with details.”
“Does this mean I finally get to see your place?” I grinned and hoped that he saw it.
“Maybe. Wait and see.” I hung up without further ado.
Sloane and I had been talking about the situation and she said she was completely supportive, and to show that support, she was giving me the apartment for the night, and she was going to make us a fabulous dinner.
Have I mentioned she was the best friend ever?
She was having so much fun with her new lingerie line that she wanted to pull an all-nighter at her studio and get a collection together to send to her new manufacturer so they could pitch it to her existing clients.
I had something potentially sexy and potentially silly in my head and I was going to ambush him with it when he came to my place. Plus, the extra night off gave me a chance to make my apartment so clean and sterile, you could eat off every surface. I also removed anything that I didn’t want him to see, like stupid fish-faced pictures of me Sloane had taken, and shoved half of my shoes to the back of my closet. Guys were weird about shoes, as in they always thought women had too many, but I say that there was no such thing.
Sloane thought I was being ridiculous, but it was a big deal for me to show him my place. She just didn’t understand.
“So how’s everything going with that guy from work?” Marisol said as we sat at the bar and waited for open mic to start.
I’d made Sloane swear to keep her trap shut, and so far she’d kept her word.
“Oh, it was one and done.” I couldn’t deny going home with him the last time we’d been here, but I had decided to tell them that was it, and we were back to our working relationship. It was easier.
“Bummer. Was it bad?” Far from it.
I shrugged and hoped I sounded convincing.
“I was drunk the first time and sober the second and it just wasn’t worth potentially ruining my career over. Plus, can you imagine if Dad found out? I think I’d die of embarrassment.” Yup, probably would. Which was why Dad could never find out.
“Too bad,” Chloe said, pouting. “Is it weird working with him now? I don’t think I could ever screw someone I was working with.”
“It’s not too bad. We’re both adults enough to make it work.”
The three of them burst into laughter.
“You are so full of shit, Rory,” Marisol said, holding onto Chloe. “Tell us the truth.”
I took a sip of my drink and Sloane nudged me under the table. She really had to stop doing that.
“It’s awkward, okay? It’s like we don’t know what to say to each other, or how to act normally. I feel weird asking him to do things, even though it’s his job. So there. Are you all happy now?” I pretended to pout and sat back in my chair.
“Well, that’s what you get for eating where you . . . how does that expression go?” Chloe said and then she and Marisol spent the next ten minutes trying to figure it out as the first victim took the stage. It was a girl we’d seen before and she didn’t fare any better the second time around.
“Anyone else thinking a lobotomy would be a good idea right about now?” Sloane said, squeezing my knee and then changing the subject. A few seconds later I got a text from her.
Got your back. I didn’t message her back, but I volunteered to get the next round and that was as good as a thank you.
19
“Have you shaved?” Sloane said, sitting on my bed as I got ready for Saturday night.
“Yes.”
“You’re waxed, yes?”
“Sloane. This isn’t the first time he’s seen my downstairs. He’s seen it a lot. So I’m pretty sure he’s cool with how it looks.” He had actually informed me that he thought it was very nice and that it would make a lovely portrait. I hoped he was kidding about the last part.