I cock my head. “I mean, some judgment.”
“I just worry because I love you.” She sighs dramatically before taking a large gulp of wine then says, “I still think you should consider asking him for an advance.”
I pout as I bring the sloshing glass to my lips and take a hefty swallow. “Can’t,” I say, then take another sip for good measure, “he’s a narrow-minded asshole who was nice to Benjamin and rude to me.”
I drink again, caught up in the unfairness of the meeting. Fallon raises her eyebrows and takes another large gulp herself.
“Nathan West used to be as kind and chivalrous as you could imagine. Hot, but humble. Rich, but generous. Smart, but down to earth. Driven, but, well, you get the point.” She shakes her head as she stares into the distance. “I’m telling you, Mina. Anyone who ended up with him would have won the relationship lottery. But something happened with that girlfriend because he went downhill fast after they broke up. I haven’t figured out why yet, but I’ll keep digging…unless you happen to hear something and feel like passing it on.”
“We’ve been over this. I’m not snitching on my client. It’s wrong and you know it.” I say, blinking to refocus my eyes before taking another swallow of wine from a glass that is becoming decidedly difficult to handle. I wrap both hands around it and bring it to my lips like a bowl to take another slurp. “Besides, you’re supposed to be making me feel better, not turning me into a spy. Let’s talk about anything but stupid Nathan West and his stupid self being nice to stupid Benjamin but not me.”
Stupid men and their stupid stupidness.
“Except Benjamin’s not stupid,” we say in unison, then burst into laughter.
“He’s nice,” I say, thinking of Nathan cutting me off halfway through my introduction, those broad shoulders blotting out the sun like the villain he is.
“And he’s talented,” Fallon adds.
I nod, remembering the way Nathan glared with those thorny eyes. “And Benjamin’s smile feels like sunshine. I like being around people that feel good.”
Fallon finishes off her mega glass of wine and pours another. “And he’s already made a name for himself with the kind of clients you want to add to your roster. Leveraging this relationship could be a big break for you, Meens.”
“Maybe.”
Her words float around my vin santo rosso filled brain and several seconds pass before they bump into my conscience. “Yeah, but I want to focus on how hot he is, not what he can do for me. He’s a person not an opportunity. It’s better to objectify him than to scheme ways to use him to my advantage, right?”
“Give me your phone.” Fallon holds out her hand expectantly.
“What? Why?” I ask, already passing it her way.
“It’s nothing.” Her smirk says it’s definitely something as she holds the phone up to my face to unlock it, then starts tapping away at the screen.
“What are you doing?” I ask, nervous now.
“Playing Cupid.” She’s typing, her smile growing more and more mischievous.
“Fallon. No. Give me back my phone.”
“You’re right. It’s better to objectify him…especially if he knows it’s happening.”
“I have to work with this guy!” I stand and grab for my phone. She jerks it away. “Stop playing Cupid!”
“I want you to know I’ve had a crush on you for a long time,” Fallon reads as she types, twisting out of my grasp. “You’re hot. And smart. And sweet. And talented. And I think we could really be something together. PS—Is it wrong if I dream about sinking my teeth into your ass?”
“Do not send that text.” I make another move for the phone and she holds it away, wriggling it playfully. “Fallon…be careful…”
“I’m not gonna send it, you goof. I’m drunk, not dumb.” She gives the phone one more wriggle as she hands it over. It slips from her hands, but I catch it with my catlike reflexes. Okay, my fumbling, bumbling, just-drank-a-bowl-of-wine reflexes. I drop it two more times before I finally get a good hold on it, then laugh as I plop back onto the couch.
“How’s that catch for a drunk klutz like me, huh? Where’s that capital K now?”
I unlock the phone to delete the text, but the chat box is empty. My heart stops. My jaw drops.
Why is it empty?
Where did the text go?
I blink several times and find the missing message, right beneath Benjamin’s reply…to the group chat with our super important but not at all nice client!
A man who just hired me for a job that pays enough to finally get Mom the help she needs.
A man who already doesn’t like me for some inexplicable reason.
How the hell am I going to explain this?
“Oh, shit.” I look to Fallon, feeling the color drain from my face. I never knew that was something you could feel before now.
Her brows furrow into a look only a best friend can give. A look that says she knows exactly how much trouble I’m capable of getting myself into.
“Oh shit, what?”
“I sent it.”
“You what it?”
“I sent it.”
Her jaw drops. “You didn’t.”
