I huffed as I got into the elevator. Yeah, that’d go over real well.
The next few days went exactly the same. He didn’t strip me, didn’t demand to be undressed, and he didn’t invite me over. He gave me an assessing look, and wished me goodnight. He was treating me like a buddy. Not even a buddy with benefits!
I was definitely in the insecure girl stage of the relationship, or whatever this really was. By the end of the week I was a ball of stress, so when I found myself outside the building, waiting for Bert, I hadn’t expected the “Hey!” out of the blue.
I jumped and swung around with a pointed finger. “Hah!”
My friend Kimberly walked toward me with a sensuous gait, loosely curled hair spilling over her shoulders, and a quizzical smile. “Why are you pointing at me?”
I dropped my finger as a blush crept into my face. “Sorry. That was my attempt at defense from an attack.”
“Pointing and laughing is your natural defense against attackers?”
“I wasn’t laughing, I was shouting. Apparently that scares people away.”
“If it does, then you’re not doing it right…” Kimberly laughed. “Where have you been?”
I gave her a belated hug in hello. “Working my tush off! I’m so sorry I haven’t returned your call—I’ve been wound up so tight.”
“It’s fine—” Kimberly cut off as Bert pulled up in the sleek black town car.
He heaved his sizable girth out of the driver’s side and walked toward me with a grin. “Ready?”
“Oh.” Kimberly backed up a step.
“Do you want to come over?” I asked Kimberly, wanting to clutch her and drag her regardless of her answer. I hadn’t seen her in a while, thanks to the job and Hunter’s emotional sabotage, and missed her.
She shrugged, smiling at Bert. “Sure. I have a few hours.”
“I have to get ready for a business meeting…dinner…thing, but you can pick out my clothes. You like that sort of thing.”
Kimberly laughed as she followed me to the car. Once we were both tucked in, she said, “So you get a ride to functions?”
“I have to take the car everywhere, actually. Hunter doesn’t trust public transportation and yet he trusts cabs, for some reason. When his car service is busy and Bert is off, he wants me to cab it. Apparently having no witnesses doesn’t worry him.”
When we got to my apartment building, I asked Bert, “Are you picking me up, or who do I call?”
“Mr. Carlisle will be around to pick you up.”
“Ah. You get to go home on time. What’s the occasion?”
Bert got out of the car with us, holding the door even though he hadn’t been quick enough to open it. He shrugged his huge, meaty shoulders. “I think he’s using the limo tonight. He probably wants to impress these business guys.”
I scowled. Brenda had said the meeting was more of a formality than anything. Everything had been hashed out behind closed doors. This dinner was to shake hands and celebrate the contract that had been signed. They called it a meeting, but it wouldn’t be in any meaningful sense.
“Huh.” I shrugged and waved at Bert as I made my way into the building, Kimberly on my heels.
“So what have you been up to, Miss Busy?” Kimberly asked as we climbed the stairs.
I gave a world-weary sigh. “Long hours, number one.”
“Yeah. Part of the job…”
“Plus, this guy Bruce—whose company we’re buying—has a project I’m working on. It’s just for fun at the moment, but at the rate we’re going, he’s thinking we have a moneymaker. So he’s talking about partnering up for that.”
“Is that the guy who offered you a job?”
“Yeah, but I turned it down. Well…kinda. I said I’d work on it in my spare time while I worked for Hunter full-time.”
“Do you have time?”
I let us into the blissfully empty apartment.
“Not really. But it’s really fun. And great experience. More up my alley, you know? Besides, it’s really hard to say no to Bruce. He’s just so passionate about creating and programming—it’s great working with him.”
“And what’s going on with Hunter?” She settled on my bed with a beaming smile.
“Don’t get comfortable just yet—you have to pick out my outfit!” I opened my closet door and invited her to take a look. Hunter had given me leave to dress myself, amazingly.
Which had added fuel to my crazy fire.
“Oh.” She bounced up.
“He’s… We’re…” I slumped onto the edge of my bed. “I don’t know. It was going great—you know, but then…”