I put down my wine and pushed her toward the bedroom, laughing the whole way.
46
Michael
I was in Phoenix all weekend visiting my mom, so I didn’t get to see any of Ginny. But she was on my mind the whole time. It was rare that Iwasn’tthinking about her these days. While I visited with my mom, there were several times where I almost mentioned Ginny. Like, in the context of someone who was in my life. Someone special. Each time, I felt like I was withholding something from my mom bynotmentioning Ginny. Even though we hadn’t discussed changing our policy of just-fooling-around, I felt myself yearning for more.
It’s too late now,I thought.I’m her boss. We missed our chance to go public with our relationship. Not to mention the complications with August…
It was strange sharing a woman with my best friend. Strange, but notbad. I trusted August with my life. So why shouldn’t I trust him with Ginny? I knew they were hooking up sometimes without me, just like I was having sex with her when he wasn’t around. And when the three of us got together, it was good. Really good.
So who cared what it was called?
But I still felt like I was missing out on something by keeping the whole thing a secret.
During lunch on Monday, I followed Ginny down to the parking garage attached to our office building. “So, what’s this big surprise you need my help on?” I lowered my voice and looked around. “Do you want to do it in the parking garage? Because honestly, I’m not into public sex the way August is.”
“No!” she said as we got into her car. “Although you shouldn’t knock it until you’ve tried it.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“I need your opinion on something. You’ll see what it is when we get there.”
She pulled out of the parking garage and turned west. We drove through downtown Fort Perth for a bit.
“I saw Sandra Trout’s response to your email,” I said. “You did a good job defusing that bomb.”
“Thanks! I thought she would be happy with our solution. And I didn’t have to give her preferential treatment. Hopefully next time she goes through the normal process, like everyone else.”
“And if she doesn’t?” I asked.
She grimaced, and glanced sideways at me in the car. “Yeah, yeah. I’ll do whatever it takes to make her happy.”
“You’re sexy when you pout.”
“That wasn’t what I was going for. But thanks!”
“I’m surprised you hadn’t met her PA before then,” I went on. “He’s usually following her around to all her meetings like a golden retriever.”
“Yeah, I guess so.”
“I remember the first time Allison met him. Her eyes popped out of her head like a cartoon character looking at a giant steak. She was never shy about appreciating the masculine form. I’ll miss that about her.”
“Uh huh,” Ginny said.
“You had a similar look when you saw him. It’s a shame we don’t have security cameras in that hallway, or I would have played it back for you. It was cute.”
She kept her eyes on the road while she drove. “I wasn’t looking at him like that.”
I barked a laugh. “Yes, you most certainly were.” I held out a hand to stop her from replying. “I’m not accusing you of anything. It’s totally fine. Kai is averygood looking guy. I’m not jealous at all.”
I meant it, too. I wasn’t jealous that the mere appearance of Sandra’s trophy-model assistant caused Ginny’s brain to overload for a few seconds. That kind of surprised me, actually. I was more comfortable with myself and Ginny than I ever was with my ex, Erin. Maybe it was because I was already sharing her with August. The thought of her eye-fucking another guy just didn’t set me off.
“Yeah, okay. You got me. He’s not unattractive.”
“He’s hot,” I corrected. “If I was a girl, I’d be into him.”
“Settle down,” she said with a nervous laugh. “All I did was look at him.”