I know the feeling because it’s my fear too.
“Good, you deserve to be happy. And Josh, how is he?” I ask.
“Josh is thrilled. To be honest, he’s way too fucking excited.”
I giggle. I’m happy he’s excited. Having that energy around her will rub off on her, and she will be happier soon enough too. He’ll be doting on her more than ever, and I couldn’t be more thrilled for my friend. She deserves this.
“How was your first day?” Ava asks, changing the subject.
“It was good. The people are surprisingly really welcoming and nice.”
“I knew you would love it.”
“I will, but there is a lot to learn.” I sigh at how many notes I took in the meeting today.
“Of course, but that’s part of the job. It won’t be long, and you will know all the ropes.”
I sigh. “I hope so.”
“Yeah, and any other news?” she asks curiously. “Any Marc updates?”
My throat constricts at the thought. “Ah…yeah. Kinda a lot.”
She gasps. “What? Spill.”
“So first, last night, I went for a walk to his address, expecting to knock on his door and surprise him—”
“Oh, good idea,” she interrupts.
I snort. “Not so much. I was about to cross the road when a woman and a girl knocked on his door. He grabbed the girl’s hand, and they all went inside.”
She gasps. “No way. And you’ve never asked if he had children?”
“Uh-huh. No. It never once crossed my mind. But I swear, I was gutted right there on the sidewalk. Like we hooked up at Christmas, and I guess it wasn’t the place for him to say, ‘Hey, I have a wife, or girlfriend, and teenage daughter,’ but it would have been nice not to see that, especially after he said he wasn’t married or seeing anyone.”
“I bet. I’m so sorry, Gracie. What a dirty dog.”
I laugh. “Oh, I haven’t finished with the story yet.”
“What? No.”
“Mm-hmm. So I met the team, and like I said, they’re amazing. I couldn’t have asked for a nicer workplace. I go to a meeting with Mason, and guess who is at the meeting?”
“Fuck off.”
I chuckle. “Right! Crazy. He works for the opposition, and both my company and his are working together on a joint venture for this client.”
“Did you talk to him?”
“No. He kept looking over at me during the meeting, but I didn’t want to speak to him. What could I say? I was working. I left afterwards as quickly as possible. I didn’t want to make a bad impression in the first week.”
“Yeah, good call. But now what? Will you see him again?”
“Yep, for another meeting next week. He presented today, and I had to watch him and act all professional while he looked hot and intelligent, talking all this shit I didn’t understand, and I had to keep taking notes to make sure I was listening to everything. He makes it so hard to concentrate.”
She snickers. “Hot and intelligent are a lethal mix.”
“And good in bed,” I mumble.