Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 96752 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 484(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96752 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 484(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
Anika’s mom runs the craft services table. It’s set up in the ballroom, so they won’t wander down here. Reid rolls off the air mattress and collects the rest of his clothes.
“Ladies,” he says with a nod and then walks right out of the pantry like he didn’t get caught with his pants down.
I sink into the bed because the air mattress did what they do, and now I’m kind of sliding off one side.
“I just… I mean I always thought if one of us was going to get caught sleeping with someone we shouldn’t, it would be me,” Anika says.
How soon they forget. I drag the sheet with me as I ungracefully force myself off the floor. “You did. You got caught sleeping with the dude you were competing with like a hundred other women for.” I manage to get to my feet and look Ivy’s way. “And you got caught sleeping with Heath when you wouldn’t answer anyone’s texts and we all thought you were dead in a ditch somewhere.”
“It’s New York City. I don’t think we have ditches,” Ivy replies. She looks Ani’s way. “Do we have ditches?”
“You know what I mean.” I need to find my lost dignity. I drape the sheet around me and try to appear as regal as possible. “Fine. Reid and I had an unscheduled meeting and we discussed the fact that we might be attracted to each other.”
“You discussed it.” Ani didn’t sound sold on the idea.
“Maybe not so much with words,” I allow.
Ivy’s grinning. “I think her vagina discussed the situation with his penis.”
I grab my clothes and try not to think about the fact that Reid’s brother folded my bra and undies. I definitely hope they were dry at the time or Jeremiah Dorsey knows way too much about how his brother affects me. “It’s just a fling. You have flings.”
Ani shakes her head and passes me a bag. “I went by your place and got fresh clothes. Your mom left a note. Something about meeting with Paul and a reminder that your eggs are shriveling up. Is that how eggs go bad?”
My mother…
“I do not have flings.” Ivy ignores the egg convo. “I have had four boyfriends, if you count Kyle Woods in the fourth grade. I do because I spent a lot of time writing out my married name in a notebook when we were supposed to be taking notes. Ivy Woods. I dodged a bullet there. Then there was college.”
“The Irish guy.” Anika winces. “Henry Plant. Yeah, you did not pick a guy based on how weird your name would sound with his.”
“My point is none of us are known for straight on hooking up with a guy. We plan it. We think we can do the sluttiest of things with some dude we recently met and are working with and then we wake up and he’s still there and he’s offering you a breakfast bagel and it’s a good bagel, and he likes tacos, too.” Ivy can be weird sometimes, but she’s pretty accurately described Heath’s courtship.
I shake my head. “I don’t think Reid and I are going to bond over food.”
“I believe the point that Ivy is trying to make is that you aren’t known for having wild flings, and you definitely aren’t known for dating coworkers,” Ani points out.
I manage to get clean undies on. Even though I’m irritated at being found out, I’m also grateful for the clean clothes. “There’s a reason I don’t date at work. I’m the boss. It’s a bad idea. Reid is not my boss. I’m not his. There are no power issues between us.”
“I don’t know. His pecs looked pretty powerful to me,” Ivy replies. “You know this is inevitable. Emma says so.”
Ah, Emma. Ivy and Heath named their AI matchmaking baby after Jane Austen’s Emma. I’m certain they only read the CliffNotes since the heroine of that novel was a terrible matchmaker. Or maybe they did since she matched me with Reid.
“Emma is wrong, and you need to check out the code you’ve written because Reid and I are not a match.” I point Ani’s way. “Do not make a snarky statement about how matched we looked while we were sleeping. It was cold.”
“It looked pretty hot to me,” Ani replies and reaches out to the countertop behind her, bringing back another coffee. “To tide you over until your lover brings you some.”
I growl her way, but I take that coffee. Now that I’m dressed I’m feeling less vulnerable. Not to them. I can be vulnerable to them, but Reid and I haven’t talked and he seemed…weirdly cool with the idea we would do this again. “Not my lover.”
“So he was bad?” Ivy asks. “Because you were wrapped around him. Were you looking for a good cuddle?”