He rocked his jaw from side to side, looking rueful. “Yeah. Not usually, not, but…I’ve been jealous in the last month. Being honest about that is important. But that’s my feeling to work through, not your problem. It’s a temporary spark. And on the other side of that, I’m always over it. Chemistry is a complicated thing, too. So I focus on what makes me feel good, without hurting people.”
“Chemistry,” she whispered. Brent had said something about that.
“I want who I want, and what I want, and it’s just that simple.”
It didn’t sound that simple to Jess.
But the part about not being someone’s everything sounded great. She loved Brent, she was sure of that now. But they weren’t always in synch. And if he were open to dating other people, maybe that could work.
They could see each other, and other people at the same time.
“Tacos,” she finally said. “Yeah. That sounds like a lot of fun.”
15
“What do you think of the new influencer campaign, Jessica?”
Influencer campaigns are a waste of your freaking money.“It’ll be interesting to see the metrics,” she said out loud as she leaned in close to the mirror to carefully apply her eyeliner. “Have you run one before?”
“This is the first one,” her client said over the speaker.
She rolled her eyes at the phone because they couldn’t see her, and then smiled to put enthusiasm back into her voice. She was consulting with them on the pitch and messaging for a future campaign, not the implementation of their current one. And it put her in an awkward position to criticize another firm they were working with.
What she needed was a way off this call. And she had a date to get to in a few minutes, too.
A text message flashed at the top of her screen.Brent.
“It’ll definitely be interesting to see how it plays out in the London market,” she said breezily, then realized she’d just called it interesting twice in a row. That was a red flag, but maybe they wouldn’t notice. “Listen, I’ve got another call to make now before my next meeting, but let’s check in again at the end of the week, okay?”
“You’re a workhorse, Jess! Thanks for your help.”
“Any time.” She tapped the end call button.
In the past, shehadbeen a workhorse. And she still worked late a lot of days. But right now, her next call was a text to her husband, and her meeting was a date with a friend she liked to kiss. Dating was a lot more fun than working, that was for sure.
She checked her messages.
Brent: What are you up to?
Jess: Just got off a conference call.
Jess: And getting ready for dinner.
Brent: Where are you going?
Jess: In search of tacos.
Jess: With Evan.
Brent: Ah.
Oh man. She hit the call button. “Hey,” she said softly when he answered.
“Hey.”
It was good to hear his voice. “I’ve got a few minutes.”
“Is he picking you up?”
