“Didn’t Claire and I hear Tiffany talking about a threesome with you and her friend the other day?”
He looks sheepish. “Well, um, maybe. But it wasn’t fun at all. I don’t ever want to do that again. The movies make it seems so much easier.”
I skip right over the porn reference, because those make a lot of things seem easy—a woman’s orgasm, for example. “Anyway, we have to consider Claire if we decide to become more than friends.”
He huffs. “Fine. Claire can have a say. What do we do if she says no?”
“We’ll have to follow her lead and see if we can convince her. She can’t feel like it’s two against one.”
“I want it clear that I hate this—not only asking my baby sister for permission but also waiting for hot, kinky sex with you.”
Kinky? Aggghhhh, he makes this so hard. I close my eyes a moment.
I open them to look at the clock, and it’s after ten. “I guess I should head home. I’m too tired to work anymore, and tomorrow morning is going to come quickly.”
“I’ll call Greg, and he can take you home.”
“No, that’s okay. That seems like a ride of shame. I’ll call a rideshare.”
“It’s what I pay him for. He doesn’t mind.”
I make a few clicks on my phone. “I have a ride waiting for me outside.” I gather my belongings and give Landon a hug. “Six months will go by in a blink of an eye.”
“Not likely,” he grumbles.
The elevator pings, and I step inside. “See you tomorrow.”
He nods. “I’m going to have to use my hand now.”
“It’s good for you.” I wink at him and grin as the elevator doors shut. Then I hold on to the wall to keep standing. That man makes me weak in the knees. While I know growing a friendship is what we need to do, it’s not going to be easy.
I’m going to need Bob tonight.
On the ride home, I keep rehashing the conversation. My cell phone pings.
Landon: Be good to Bob tonight.
I snort-laugh.
Me: Don’t get carpel tunnel syndrome. I’m going to need that right hand in six months.
Landon: Whenever you’re ready to help, let me know.
Me: You’re very naughty.
Landon: In six months, I plan on showing you how naughty I am.
A shiver rushes through me.
Me: I can’t wait. It’s not going to be easy for me either.
Landon: Sleep well, my friend. See you in the morning.
Me: Goodnight.
I wake in the morning before my alarm goes off. Bob took care of me before I went to sleep, but Landon was in my dreams last night. He was teasing me and not letting me finish.
This sucks.
I debate another round with Bob, but instead, I pull myself out of bed and head over to the YMCA to work out. I love the Y. It’s a great cross-section of San Francisco—from billionaires to people barely making it—all hanging out together.
I spend forty-five minutes swimming laps. As I drink from my water bottle and try to cool down, I hear my name.
I turn and see a guy I dated at Stanford, Tomas Vigil. “Tomas, how are you?”
We’re both wet from the pool.
“I’m great. How about you?”
“I sold my idea and my company to Disruptive Technologies last week. Life is good.”
“No fucking way. That’s fantastic.”
“Thanks. Where are you?”
“I’m still working on the water-purifying software.”
“When we depend on seawater for drinking, you’ll be a wealthy man.”
“That’s what I tell myself.” He rubs his towel over his wet hair. He’s a six-foot-two Adonis and has filled out quite nicely since college. “We should get together soon.”
“I’m kind of seeing someone, but I’d love to catch up. The partners and I are talking about meeting up tonight at Chemistry Bar & Grill. You should join us. Claire and Landon Walsh are awesome and deeply connected in the Valley.”
“You’re working with the Walshes? That’d be great. My cell phone number hasn’t changed. Do you still have it?”
“I do. My number hasn’t changed either. I hope you can make it tonight.”
The morning at the office with my team goes great. I assure them there are a variety of software and network experts diving into my issue. But Mattis is nowhere to be found today. I check with Landon, and he isn’t sure where he is either.
As our meeting breaks up, I let my team know I’ll be working from Landon’s apartment in the afternoon.
“Does he work with his shirt off?” Ginger asks dreamily.
The girls all giggle.
“I hope not,” I answer. “But even if he does, I work at the kitchen table, and he works from his home office.”
“I’m married, and I’m not even into men, and I still think it would be hard to work with him closely.” Vanessa looks at Ginger, shaking her head.
Danica leans in to the group. “I understand he’s off the market. He told Lori Laine he wasn’t interested in her anymore and had met someone.”
My head snaps up. “Where did you hear that?”
“My best friend was behind them in line last week at Paradise Bakery,” she says. “She couldn’t believe it. Landon got coffee and left, but Lori made a scene after. That girl has had too much plastic surgery and uses too much bronzer.”
I can’t believe what I’m hearing. That was our first day in the office when she dropped by. “He’s a great guy, but he’s just my business partner,” I assure them. And right now, that’s true, I remind myself.
Landon appears a few minutes later, just as
