The Setup

by Rachel Van Dyken

  “Well,” I said in a clipped tone, “it’s not like Jillian did any better, her guy held onto her hands like he forgot how to shake and just decided to do it with his whole body, then moved on to staring at her like he was going to eat her alive, and I’m one hundred percent certain that his craft beer-loving self believes that men should earn all the money and women are best left in aprons making pot roast.”

  Jillian gave me an annoyed look.

  “All right,” Ian said slowly, looking between us. “So, what I’m hearing is that you guys don’t know how to use the app.”

  “We’re not millennials. Of course, we know how to use an app,” I grumbled.

  Lex leaned over and whispered something to Ian. They both nodded.

  “Lex has a great point.” Ian grinned between us. “For the rest of the day I want both of you to learn the app inside and out, not just how to plug in your ideal date and personality type, but learn about our other services, about the bonus content and details you can add into profiles, we need to be ready for launch, and it doesn’t look good if our VP and office manager can’t even seem to manage to get a date that matches what they want. Work harder.”

  Despite my irritation, the rest of the meeting was a breeze compared to what Jillian and I had to do.

  “Dismissed,” Ian said an hour later. “Oh, and Jillian, you think you can manage the phones from Finn’s office for the day?”

  “I’ll step in and help.” Slater offered, which was very un-Slater like.

  “Me too.” Leo smiled helpfully.

  Knox let out a chuckle. “If all the newbies help, then she should have plenty of time to train with Finn, right bud?”

  My mouth went dry. “Right.”

  We were going to be alone in my office all day.

  And just like that, I looked down at my text messages and saw one glaring one I’d forgotten about.

  Aunt Nadine: NOON!

  And she thought I’d gotten a girl knocked up.

  And there was no stopping the train that was Aunt Nadine. I’d just have to explain to Jillian that she was a bit psychotic and, at times, jumped to conclusions.

  Right. It would be completely fine!

  Chapter Eight

  Jillian

  It was the first time in a year that I wasn’t in front at my usual desk with my headset greeting people as they came in, answering phones, organizing the lives of the VPs.

  It felt weird.

  And also, strangely like this was where I belonged. I mean, I did have my masters, but when this was the only job available at Wingmen, I didn’t have a choice. I took it with a promise that I’d get to move up.

  And I wasn’t going to ruin that opportunity just because I couldn’t stop thinking about Finn.

  About Saturday morning.

  “I didn’t take you for a comics sort of person,” Finn said, taking a slow sip of his coffee, his lips touched my favorite coffee cup. It was a chipped white one that said “Girl Boss” in pink. It strangely suited him.

  “Well.” I smiled as I opened the paper. “It reminds me of a childhood where the only thing I could do with my dad on Saturday, other than watch cartoons, was read the funnies.”

  “The funnies?”

  I elbowed him. “Comics.”

  “Funny,” he teased.

  I rolled my eyes.

  And then he leaned over my shoulder and whispered, “Favorite one?”

  I lost all ability to think with his hand resting on my lower back as the smell of coffee flirted between us.

  He was so close I could feel the heat from his ridiculous body sending shots of pleasure in my direction.

  I did my best to remain unfazed and pointed to a random one I hadn’t read in forever.

  And the damned man started to read it.

  In his smooth raspy voice that felt like warm chocolate on a freezing day.

  I closed my eyes.

  And when he was done, he wasn’t looking at the comic.

  In a perfect Hallmark Movie moment, we’d stared at each other until I’d broken the mood by mumbling something about needing more coffee.

  He left soon after that.

  And I kicked myself for not being braver.

  For not leaning in and kissing him just to see how good his lips felt, how soft, how hot.

  Blah.

  I tossed my coffee in the trash and made my way over to Finn’s office. The door was open, and he was sitting on the leather couch staring at his phone like it was a spaceship.

  “Having difficulty with your passcode?” I teased, letting myself into the spacious room. One day I’d have an office like this.

  One day.

  “Very funny, since my passcode’s my face.” Finn didn’t look up, but he was smiling. “Though I had to re-set it after the haircut of 2018 that I refuse to discuss, ever again.”

  “Come on, it couldn’t have been that bad.”

  He looked up and grimaced. “It was a glorified bowl cut.”

  I pressed my lips together to keep from laughing. “O-oh… I’m sure it looked great…”

  “I looked like a serial killer, but thanks.” He reached for a huge black binder and nodded his head toward me. “So, since everything about the app is in this giant-ass book, I say we go through everything in the book, using our phones to make sure that we do the best we possibly can for our next dates and see how we end up for Friday?”

  “It’s a date!” I blurted.

  His head shot up again.

  And more silence stretched between us as I waved my hand in front of us, “Not us, I meant like, it’s a date to figure out our dates.”

  Yeah, because that sounded better.

  His smile was slow, sensual. “I know exactly what you meant.”

  Was afraid of that.

  I pasted a bland look on my face like I couldn’t be the least bit interested in the size of his hands, or the way they fit around my waist and grabbed my phone. “What’s the first thing?”

  Finn eyed my phone in my hand. “Oh, you know, logging onto the app.”

  “Smartass.”

  “Hey you asked!”

  I elbowed him, and really wished I hadn’t. He smelled too good, felt too warm. He scooted closer to me, closer to the binder between us.

  My breath hitched. “And the next step?”

  His eyes drilled me like he wanted to be doing things, other things, like he wanted to be doing me.

  But it was Finn Titus.

  So, my imagination was most likely firing on overdrive because he’d helped me because he’d done the lean on Saturday. Because he was doing it again now.

  A knock sounded.

  We broke apart.

  “How’s it going?” Lex poked his head in.

  “Great,” I chirped in a high voice.

  “Good, keep me updated.” He walked off, leaving us alone again. This time Finn was all business as we ran through the next two steps.

  By the time noon rolled around, I knew way more than I ever needed to know about the new app.

  There were a few extra details users could add on personality that the algorithm picked up on, but they needed to use keywords, not sentences, something I hadn’t done yet.

  And we found out if the discovery button was turned on in the app, the app would reach out to people on the user’s social media, friends lists, and people that were within a ten-mile radius of the user, which prompted another pop-up for an “it’s just coffee” date, which was set up for people who worked late hours to sneak in a quick, non-threatening date during the day.

  I liked it because it made sense to date someone who didn’t live too far away.

  “All right.” Finn’s voice brought my focus back to the app. “Let’s break for lunch and then—”

  “FINNEAS TITUS THE THIRD!” A voice yelled, then a blonde head followed as it poked into his office.

  Bright red lipstick, fluffy blonde hair, a giant leopard scarf wrapped around her neck, six-inch heels that could mai
m a person, and a black pantsuit that looked like it should be on the cover of Vogue, and a smile that looked feral—and was directed at Finn.

  “Y-you can go,” Finn said to me.

  “Ohhh no, I think I’ll stay.” I wasn’t missing whatever this was.

  Chapter Nine

  Finn

  I gaped as Aunt Nadine waltzed into my office. I told Jillian to leave, but she seemed to get more comfortable against my couch.

  Not the time for her to be invasive.

  I would rather she follow me into the bathroom after puking up Thanksgiving dinner than have her sit in that office while Aunt Nadine made her assumptions. And I couldn’t very well say I was interested in Jillian!

  Which killed my entire reason for taking the chance that Aunt Nadine would be normal today and help me!

  “Aunt Nadine, you’re right on time,” I said smoothly, trying to act completely nonchalant as she dropped a bag of takeout onto my desk and then pulled out a chair pressing her hands down the silk pantsuit. Her nails were hot pink… naturally.

  “I like to be punctual.” Her eyes bored into mine. “Now, why don’t we eat, I have enough for both of you.” She turned her attention to Jillian. “One of my greatest fears is not having enough food for my boys. They’re still growing, you know.”

  “Oh, he looks pretty full-grown to me.” Jillian eyed me. “I mean, physically. Mentally, he may need more…” A sly smile lit her face. “…carrots.”

  “Oh honey, same page, that man refuses to eat his vegetables. I think that’s why when he was a child, he couldn’t say his R’s.”

  Horrified, I just gaped while Aunt Nadine talked.

  “Awww, poor Finn!”

  “Can you imagine if his name had been Ralph?” Aunt Nadine burst out laughing. “Alph, Alph.” She waved her hands in front of us. “Sorry, Finn, you know how I worry about you. Why a red-blooded young man should be out there dating! Imagine how surprised I was when—”

  “FOOD!” I lunged for the food on my desk. “Let’s eat first!”

  Aunt Nadine shrugged.

  She’d grabbed Taco Bell.

  For the life of me, I would never understand that woman’s obsession with fast food. She could afford to have a private chef, but instead, she found great joy in annoying the hell out of every drive-through employee in the greater Seattle area.

  She still wasn’t allowed back at University McDonald’s for reasons she refused to disclose to the family, though when I went and got her some food while she was sick, the guy took one look at my card and yelled fire.

  So, we had our suspicions.

  Along with a restraining order from a kid missing half his eyebrow.

  “Here you go.” I handed Jillian a few soft tacos while Aunt Nadine grabbed some food for herself, then tore into her quesadilla like she hadn’t eaten in days.

  Eating passed the time.

  Hopefully, she had an appointment and hadn’t wrongfully cleared her schedule to talk to me about the girl I’d magically knocked up.

  “It was nice of you to visit your… nephew,” Jillian said.

  I whipped my head in her direction. She knew my last name was Titus, but how did she know I was a nephew? Not a cousin? Not a great-grandson? Had she been looking me up? Asking around about me?

  “And I really loved last year’s holiday card,” Jillian added while I choked on my sip of water. “I think the antlers were a nice touch.”

  “Oh dear.” Aunt Nadine put her hand across her chest. “I’m so glad you think so! Normally we don’t have the entire family in the picture, but when you need reindeer, you need reindeer!”

  Jillian nodded her head seriously.

  “And since nobody would play Rudolph…” Aunt Nadine sighed then looked to me.

  “I was the best damn Rudolph the world has ever seen,” I said defensively.

  “Did you have a tail?” Jillian wondered out loud.

  I shot her a glare. “Didn’t know that our card was sent to my place of work.”

  Aunt Nadine shrugged. “Ian and Lex are old friends, and you know I was an early investor.”

  I gulped as she stood. Thank God she could read minds. She was going to go, and we would talk later.

  Perfect.

  Instead, she moved to the couch and shimmied her way between Jillian and me, then placed a hand on each of our thighs.

  I had a sudden memory of the sex talk.

  And the way she used a Bible felt board from her days teaching Sunday School.

  A kid should never have to go through such trauma.

  All I remember was the camel.

  And I still couldn’t look at them in the face without my balls retracting into my body.

  “Now, Jillian, sweetie, I’m glad that my nephew has good friends in his life like you.” And just like that, Aunt Nadine shoved me into the friend zone, son of a bitch! “And the fact that you’re comfortable enough sharing a meal with him tells me all I need to know.”

  “Aunt Nadine.” My laugh was awkward. “Maybe we should talk later? It’s getting late?”

  “No, we do this now.” She straightened, and I felt fear trickle down my spine.

  “Okay.” I gulped.

  “As I was saying…” She squeezed my thigh a bit too tight. “I’m glad he has good friends that can keep him in line, and while I’m upset about the circumstances, I can shove those feelings under the rug and offer up my congratulations over new life being born!”

  “New life?” Jillian peered around Aunt Nadine with a questioning look.

  I had nothing, so I stared back at her, same look on my face, same fear in my heart.

  “Yes!” Nadine reached for her bag and pulled out a blue onesie and a pink onesie. “Now, I wasn’t sure the sex of the baby yet. I mean, I hope I was the first you wanted to tell, Finn, but I figured you can donate what you don’t use.”

  “Holy mother of God!” I jumped to my feet. “This is what happens when you assume!”

  “Assume? I did no such thing! We texted a few hours ago, don’t be nervous, Finn, it’s your lady friend! She understands, unless—” She did a double-take. “Oh, sweet Lord! How did I not see it? The constant tension when eating your burrito? The way you can’t stop looking at one another. Oh well, a woman could pass out under the sexual charge in this room.” She started to fan herself. “You’re the mother!”

  Jillian gaped. “No, no, no, no, no.” Never have I seen another human being so panicked. Good one, Finn. Good one. “I’m not pregnant, we haven’t, we didn’t—”

  Aunt Nadine looked her up and down, then held up a finger while she checked her phone. “Interesting, considering he was at your house this last weekend.”

  “The hell do you know that?” I groaned into my hands.

  “I have my ways.” She just shrugged. “Honey, it’s okay. These things, they happen!”

  “I know they happen!” Jillian shrieked. “But not to us, not between us, I mean we didn’t have sex!”

  “Well.” Aunt Nadine burst out laughing. “Of course, it didn’t happen this weekend. You’re at least a month or two along.” She eyed Jillian up and down.

  Jillian’s face paled as she shouted, “I’m just curvy!”

  “You’re gorgeous!” I interjected. “She’s not pregnant. I was going to ask you for… something!”

  “HELP! You wanted my help!” Aunt Nadine grinned. “And here I am offering my services, and you’re denying me!”

  By now the entire office was probably wondering why we were shouting, and because I couldn’t see any other way to fix this, I clenched my fists and raised my voice a bit louder than I should and said, “I’m a virgin!”

  “What?” Jillian yelled.

  “WHAT!” Aunt Nadine matched her tone.

  And then.

  “What?” Leo.

  “What?” Slater.

  “The hell?” Knox.

  And with my humiliation complete, there stood Lex phone in hand as he snapped a picture of my face. />
  Chapter Ten

  Jillian

  I was still in shock an hour later, after Aunt Nadine apologized with a red face and hugged Finn like she was proud he still held his special treasure. I thought the worst was over until she came back and poked her head back in the office to say. “It’s okay to still have that flower. Water it, let it grow!”

  She used hand gestures.

  I almost died in his place.

  The rest of the guys left the office with huge smirks on their faces, and I was petrified to think of all the ways they were now planning for Finn to lose his virginity.

  Not what I expected my Monday morning to look like.

  The minute everyone was gone, he threw his phone against the couch and muttered something about the next chapter.

  I let him have his moment.

  And then I stared at him like a woman starved.

  Not realizing how creepy it was until he looked up and muttered a curse under his breath. “Not you too.”

  “No, no, it’s not that I’m just… wondering.”

  He cursed and put down the binder. “What? What are you wondering?”

  “How.” I croaked, “Just… how? I mean, wasn’t your job to sell sex for four straight years?”

  “First of all, it’s offensive when you compare me to a male prostitute.” He got up and shut his door, and then turned around, I was faced with pure maleness. Muscles outlined by a white button-down shirt, a blue tie, blue slacks that made his ass look amazing. And thick honey hair that had a bit of a wave to it from his hands. “Second.” He cleared his throat and sat down. “If you think that’s what Wingmen is about, why work here?”

  “Don’t get your panties in a twist, Titus.” I smiled. “I believe in what Wingmen does, but what you did on campus, that was, something very different. And while I admire what the guys did, I can’t imagine that any of you four Pleasure Ponies kept your hands to yourself when you had girls orgasming in front of your faces.”

  He burst out laughing. “So, the truth comes out, you think we just pleased every single person who walked in that room?”

  “That’s exactly what I think.”

  “Hmm.” He moved again, this time to lock his door.