by Piper Rayne
“Great. Let me know how that goes.”
“And yours?”
I shrug. “I was going to do healthy habits for women in their twenties, but now I’m thinking I need to write an opposing piece to yours. Maybe the benefits of dating your co-worker.”
He chokes and almost spits his hot chocolate at me but ends up swallowing it down. It’s the first time he doesn’t appear to have it all together since I met him. “I don’t think there are any.”
“Mr. Ryland, are you questioning my journalistic abilities?”
“I’d never dream of it, Miss Mancini.” His words are serious, but his eyes flirt with me.
Am I necessarily pro co-workers dating? No. But as with everything in my life, you tell me no and I want to prove you wrong.
Like when Carm said I couldn’t run a 5K because I never exercise. I trained for months and ended up beating his time. The look on his face was worth the months of torture. Or Mama when she dared me to cook an entire meal on my own. It might not have been the best meal my family ever had, but no one got sick.
“Do you feel like putting a wager down?”
His eyebrows crinkle in the most adorable way. “Wager?”
“Yeah.”
“How is the winner determined?”
Huh, I hadn’t thought about that. “Whoever gets the most comments online agreeing with their side of the argument?”
He narrows his eyes like he’s not sure I’m serious. What can I say? This is how I solve things. Competition and bets.
“What does the winner get?”
“Hmm…” I tear off part of my brownie and pop it into my mouth while I think.
“We do a platonic getting to know each other like tonight? Loser pays?”
I suppose we’re still pretending this isn’t a date, which is absurd.
“Nah. That’s like a tease.”
“Loser has to buy lunch for the week.”
That was disappointing. I’d thought he’d come up with something better. Something sexual would’ve been nice. I stretch my hand out over the table between us. “Deal.”
He shakes my hand and I feel the contrast of calluses and soft skin. “Deal.”
Chapter Eight
Blanca
*
I walk into my apartment and Rian is sprawled out on the couch with the remote pointed at the television. Sierra has her legs propped up on the coffee table with a magazine on her lap.
“Oh look who finally returned from her work meeting,” Sierra teases, flipping the page of her magazine.
“Damn, I just lost the bet. I had you doing the walk of shame tomorrow morning.” Rian peeks over the edge of the couch.
“Sorry to disappoint you.” I drop my purse on the kitchen table and slip off my shoes, throwing myself into the chair across from Sierra. I glance at the television. “Do you watch any shows from our generation?” I ask over the audience laughter of something quirky Sophia has said onscreen.
“Hey now, Golden Girls is a classic,” Rian says, and I nod.
“You’re right. But Blue Bloods I’ll never understand.”
“Don’t knock it until you try it.”
“Speaking of knocking it?” Sierra interjects and I glance over to see her smiling wide, tossing her magazine on the table.
“I told you it was work.”
“And then you came in looking like you just fell in love.” She raises an eyebrow.
I sigh and my head falls back to the chair. “Have you ever had that feeling like…?”
“Yeah,” Rian says and sighs, her own head falling to the pillow on the couch.
“Not really, but then again I’ve never met Prince Adrian,” Sierra says.
All three of us laugh.
“What about Sigmund?” I ask.
Rian glances over to Sierra as though she doesn’t know the answer. I’m desperate to figure out why this guy made such a lasting impression on her, but yet they broke up.
“Not really? I mean there was an instant attraction and I want to sleep with you factor but I’m not sure I ever looked the way you do right now.”
Rian raises her hand. “I can attest to that. They went from googly eyes to dating one another to hating one another to despising one another.”
“Hey!” Sierra throws a pillow at Rian.
“What? It was toxic.”
“You’re just agreeing with Dylan because you’re in love with him,” Sierra says.
And there it is. One of the many questions I’ve had about my new set of friends. All those looks from Rian at Dylan weren’t my imagination. The good girl always loves the bad boy.
Rian sits up straight, panic in her eyes. “I am not.”
“Oh please, it’s Blanca, she’s not gonna tell him.”
Rian sets her questioning gaze on me.
I hold up one hand in the air and one like it’s on a Bible. “Your secret is safe with me. Can I ask a question though? Why don’t you tell him?”
Sierra stands from the chair and heads into the kitchen, returning seconds later with three glasses and a bottle of rosé wine. “I’ve asked the same thing.” She pours three glasses, handing one to each of us and sitting down next to Rian. “Maybe the two of us can refute her insecurities together.”
Rian slumps back into the pillow and whimpers. “I thought we were talking about Blanca’s magic connection?”
“Nope. We’re on to you.” I point, sipping my wine and crossing my legs to get comfy on the chair.
For the next twenty minutes Rian describes how she had that feeling I was describing in the pit of her stomach the first time she met Dylan. And how she purposely makes her heart-shaped cookies every Valentine’s Day just for him, although he doesn’t know it. That she’s tried to get him out of her mind by dating other people, but no one compares.
Sierra and I are interrupted from telling her how lucky Dylan would be to have someone like her when my phone dings in my purse. If only I wasn’t as transparent as Rian because the smile that transfixes to my face the minute my phone dings is just as blaring as her whimpers. I get up to grab it and then sit back down.
Ethan: As an older brother myself, I feel like it’s my obligation to make sure you got home okay.
I down the last drop of my wine.
Me: Brotherly love?
*
Ethan: Just plain old stalking.
*
Me: If you were stalking, you’d already know I’m home.
The three dots appear and my stomach fills with flutters waiting for what he’ll come back with. Just as my phone vibrates, it’s snatched out of my hands.
Sierra waves it back and forth in her hands. “What kind of lines does this guy have to make you smile that way?” She sits down on the couch and Rian slides closer preparing to have a glimpse at my phone too.
I’m usually an open book. Not that I’d share personal intel on Ethan, but checking out his flirtatious lines would be something I would share with my friends. Just not yet.
“It’s nothing.” I hold out my hand.
It’s still so new and fresh and awesome that I’m not ready for anyone to say otherwise. And girls always have their opinions.
Sierra sighs and shakes her head, putting the phone back into my hands. “I can’t wait to meet this guy.”
I ignore her and look at the text.
Ethan: It’s my way to stay undercover. Look like I’m the good guy.
My thumb poised to fire back a response, but I look up to find two women on the couch sulking.
“What?”
Sierra cocks her head to the side. “Have you been out of a girl gang that long?”
I put my phone down on the armrest. “What does that mean?”
“Rian just poured her heart out to you about Dylan. You know all about my obsession with my prince. And here you are all lovesick over a guy and yet we know nothing about him.”
Sierra’s right. She just entered my life again and it’s been a long time since I’ve had
true girlfriends I felt like I could be close to.
Me: Well good guy, I’ll see you tomorrow. I have to go gossip about you with my girlfriends.
*
Ethan: Are you having a pillow fight in your underwear after?
*
Me: I guess you’ll have to use your spy gear and find out. ;)
I place my phone on the table and refill my glass of rosé, filling up Sierra’s as well. Rian’s half full one still sits on the coffee table.
“It’s crazy. I’ve only known him for twenty-four hours, yet I didn’t want to leave him tonight. He says he can’t date people he works with, but tonight felt like a date from start to finish.”
“You kissed him?” Rian asks, her eyes wide as saucers.
“Or did you sleep with him?” Sierra looks at the clock like she’s trying to do the math.
“No and no, but I would’ve done both if the opportunity presented itself. What does that say about me? I’ve never been someone who sleeps with a guy right away.”
Sierra laughs hysterically. “Um, it says you’re a woman with a sex drive. That you know what you want and it’s your sexy co-worker. Do not let that Italian good girl guilt eat you up inside. Let him eat you up instead.”
“Sierra,” Rian gasps.
I can’t help but laugh. “It’s not that.”
“Are you sure? Your brothers were always warning you about guy’s intentions.” Sierra has a point. My brothers have not only lectured me most of my life about boys who use girls for sex, but I witnessed it firsthand when they did the same. None of them had settled down until recently.
But I’ve had relationships before and I’m not that thirteen-year-old girl who needs advice from anyone.
I pick up the pillow next to me and scream into it.
“What?” Sierra still knows me well. “What did you do?”
I peek over top of it. “Nothing.”
“How do you know she did something?” Rian asks, truly curious. She probably never heard my name until Sierra said I was moving in.
“She’s beating herself up and she only does that when she thinks she’s made a fool of herself.”
I drop the pillow. “Not a fool of myself, but I did make a bet.”
Sierra laughs because she’s her. She’s the same person who found it funny when I bet Tony DeLuca I’d eat a cricket for every touchdown he threw that Friday night. In my defense, he was saying my brothers weren’t worthy of their legendary status at our high school and he hadn’t even thrown a touchdown yet that year. Family sticks up for family and I ate four crickets for the Mancini family that year.
“What was the bet?” Sierra leans forward.
“We’re writing opposing articles and whoever gets the most comments on their side has to buy the other lunch for a week.”
They both stare at me like I just admitted to owning six cats.
“What?”
Sierra covers her mouth with her hand as she exaggerates a yawn. “Boring. It’s not even sexual.”
“I don’t think I’m his type.”
Rian quirks an eyebrow. “You’re everyone’s type.”
“I’ve tried everything I can think of to get him to admit we were on a date tonight and he wouldn’t budge. And shouldn’t I play hard to get anyway?” Maybe I do need some advice.
The plus side of having three brothers should be that I understand men, but they’re as confusing as ever. Then again, once I was in adult relationships, none of them let me come to them for any real advice on the opposite sex. They’d rather imagine me saying the rosary in a head to toe flannel nightgown every night.
“Write the articles and see who wins the bet.” Rian finally sips her wine.
“Then you can make another bet with sexual favors involved.” Sierra waggles her eyebrows.
I roll my eyes in return. I love Sierra and she pulls a side of me out which I adore, but we’re different on some levels. Not good or bad, just different. Then again, I bet she wouldn’t have thrown little hints out there like I did with Ethan. Sierra would’ve thrown herself at him and gotten what she wanted. Just like she did when we were fourteen and at the mall to buy Justin Timberlake’s new CD. She flirted with a guy in the store and I ended up waiting on a bench with his friend while she did whatever she did in the photo booth behind the curtain. She’s always had the self-confidence to go after what she wants, and I’ve always been more reserved. Is that what made our friendship work so well?
“Let me figure out this article first. A little scary with it being the first one I’m writing for the magazine.”
Sierra shakes her head and glances at Rian. “She’s a self-doubter. You two are almost replicas of one another.” She laughs, finishing off her wine and setting the glass down before grabbing the remote. “Let’s watch some You Tube videos of Prince Adrian.”
Rian groans like this is something she’s forced to do regularly.
Sierra clicks on a video and for the next half hour my thoughts drift back to Ethan. How am I going to nail this article and squash my attraction to him? Leaving for another magazine can’t happen until I gain enough experience at this one. So I have to train myself to ignore those dimples.
Damn, like magic his face comes into my mind.
Whack.
I pick up the pillow from where it fell onto my lap and look over at a smiling Sierra. “Daydreaming about Romeo over there? Stop the moaning, it’s making me horny.”
Rian giggles and lays her head on the pillow.
I snuggle the pillow into my chest. When did my life get so complicated?
Chapter Nine
Ethan
*
For being a type A personality, I really lack skills in time management. Arriving late to work isn’t a new thing for me, but this morning I’m an extra ten minutes late because Mrs. Andrews decided to chat with me about her concerns over Seth. I mentioned that Dylan was probably a better candidate to have that conversation with since he still lives with him. Then her questions about why I wanted two bagels instead of one today started and I couldn’t get out of there fast enough. Lying to her didn’t feel great.
Dropping off a French toast bagel with plain cream cheese on Blanca’s desk was something I envisioned from the moment I decided I’d do so last night.
In my head she’d be all flirty smiles and hopefully forgot to button her blouse all the way up. Okay, yeah, I knew that last one was a long shot. But I didn’t think she wouldn’t be there when I arrived, and I sure didn’t think I’d be the second person to leave a bagel on her desk.
My eyes bore into the sesame bagel with chive cream cheese and a bite mark out of it sitting on her desk. I scan the immediate area for which dog is pissing around my tree. Was it Carl from accounting or Bill from marketing? Who else has their eyes on Blanca in this office?
Shit. I run a hand through my hair.
Cool down. You’re not trying to win Blanca Mancini over, remember douche?
“What’s with the face?” Blanca slides by me and all I smell is her perfume. She’s purposely upping the enticement. I just know it.
She sits down and crosses her legs, her skirt riding up her thighs.
Can I please gouge my eyes out right now?
“What face?”
“The murderous one.” She points at me like I know what I look like. I smack on my smile and her frown forms a crease between her eyebrows. “No need to fake it on my account.”
She picks up her bagel and it’s then that I notice the wet spot on her blouse. She must see me check it out because she shakes her head. “Cream cheese fell off.”
“Very convenient place.” I shift my gaze, but it immediately floats back since the wet spot is literally right above her right breast.
Someone up there finds this funny, right? I take a quick glance upward.
“Oh, you already got a bagel?” she asks, her shoulders sagging a bit as she stares at the one in my hand.
I look down like I didn’t know it was ther
e and hand it over to her. “No, it’s for you, but I see someone else…”
“Go check your desk.” She giggles, taking the bagel from me.
I peer around the thin partition between our desks and sure enough a bagel sits there from The Bagel Place. “You got me a bagel?” I ask.
“You sound surprised. Then again, the things I’ve heard about you already… I can see why maybe no one would bring you a bagel.”
I step over to my desk, quickly typing in my password so my computer can start the painful process of booting up. “What did you hear?” I step back over to the partition so I can see her.
“Nope. I’m not going to be the water cooler of the office.” She falls back into her seat.
I unwrap the bagel she got me. The Bagel Place isn’t even comparable to Andrews Bagel Co. but she’s new in town so she wouldn’t know that. “I’m impressed.” I change the subject because I can imagine the stories she’s heard. I’m not a well-liked guy around here because I don’t do their Friday night drinks and I didn’t contribute to the potluck last month. Nor do I join the weekly lottery pool. I guess it holds no weight that I chipped in for Carl’s birthday cake or gave a gift to Mandy when I didn’t even attend her wedding. People probably don’t see me as a team player.
“I impressed you?” She spins her chair around.
I can’t help the smile on my face when I see that she’s ditched her bagel for mine.
“You guessed right.” I hold up the Asiago bagel with plain cream cheese in my hand.
“Oh good. I wasn’t sure about the flavor of cream cheese, but I spotted the Asiago yesterday. I’m not a mind reader or anything.”
I prop myself up on her desktop, opening up my bagel. “You could’ve just said ‘yeah, I’m pretty cool like that.’”
“I am cool, but I don’t take credit for things I didn’t do.” She tears off a piece of her original bagel, setting the French toast one down.
“So I guessed wrong, huh?” I nod toward the discarded bagel.
She laughs. “I’m a savory over sweet kinda girl but I see why you thought sweet, what with dessert last night.”
“Then why would you take a bite?”
“It’s called being polite, which I hear you have a hard time being.” Another giggle falls out of her lips and I want to swallow it down. Preferably with my tongue. Then she eyes the bagel in my hands. “You’ll come to find out that Andrews Bagels are the best.”
