“I’m fine.” I smiled wide. “Just came in here to touch up my make-up.”
She nodded. “Okay… Well, uh, Calvin is done with that song, so—”
I made a face. “What? That song? Oh, I thought it was a beautiful tribute to my mom. I’m sorry I had to miss the end of it.” I put my arm through hers. “Now c’mon, let's get back out there. I have more groundwork to lay with my boss.” I winked at her, and she smiled, but I could tell she wasn’t fully convinced by my little act.
I’ll just have to really sell it, if I want her to quit looking at me like I’m a wounded puppy.
And that means—I’m going to need another drink.
* * *
I was four beers in, when Cal’s set ended at the same time that Becca got a text from her fiancé and said she had to go. This left Jonah and me alone, at the table, which was exactly what I had been hoping for the moment I saw him standing at the bar watching me.
“So,” I said. “I met your friend Sean earlier, before you got here. He seems like a nice guy.” I smiled. “Once we found out we both knew you, he sort of let slip that you were out on a date.”
Jonah shook his head. “I love the man, but he is not good at keeping secrets.”
“It was a secret date?”
“No,” he said. “Not really. That makes it seem like it was a bigger deal than it actually was. I just don’t like the idea of everyone knowing my business.”
I held my drink up. “Cheers to that.”
He clicked his glass against my bottle, and we drank. “But to answer your question, yes I was on a date.”
“How’d it go?”
“As well as could be expected,” he said. “I wasn’t really feeling it, and she didn’t seem to be feeling it either.”
“I doubt that,” I said. “Why wouldn’t she be feeling it? You’re successful, and rich, and not bad looking. What’s not to like?”
“Not bad looking?” He grinned. “Such high praise.”
I sipped my drink and waited for him to go on, and he did.
“I guess I’m just not looking for anything serious right now,” he said. “And not that I claim to be an expert on women or anything, but I feel like a girl can always tell when you’re not channeled in, you know? I’m sure it’s a major turnoff.”
I found it funny, that he said these women could tell he wasn’t ‘channeled in,’ sinceIhad been able to tell that hewaschanneled into me since the moment he saw me in the elevator that morning. I tucked some hair behind my ear and eyed him flirtatiously. “I think it makes a lot of sense, that you’re not looking for anything serious. You were married to your wife for what—13 years?”
“Not quite,” he said. “But almost, yeah.”
“And I don’t know how true this is, but I read somewhere that you can expect to get over a relationship once you’ve been out of it for half as long as you were in it. I’m not sure if it works the same way when you lose a partner instead of just breaking up, but I would say if anything, you’ve earned yourself more time than the average person to get over the loss.”
He nodded, and then his face lit up as he thought about what I just said.
“You know what? You’re right. Why is everyone in my life in such a hurry to get me to meet someone new? I should be allowed to take all the time I need, right?”
“Absolutely,” I said.
“I should be allowed to date or not date, sleep around or not sleep around, without anyone judging me for it!”
Sleep around?
I guess my intrigue was written all over my face because he laughed when he noticed my expression. “Not that Iamsleeping around,” he clarified. “I just mean, I should have the right to—have a few casual flings—if I was so inclined.”
“Sure,” I said. “Who doesn’t love a good casual fling?”
Especially a workplace one.