“Sounds like the perfect date so far,” he deadpanned.
“Shh, I’m getting there. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m a Jordan fan. I get why the Bulls have the legacy they do, but Brad was driving me a little crazy, so I started going for the other team. And that was the night the Kings came back by thirty-five points, which pretty much made my night even if Brad wasn’t happy.”
“That’s your best date? The Bulls were robbed that night.”
“They were not robbed; they were cocky. They came in from a two-game winning streak, pulled ahead early, then slacked off midway through the third quarter. They assumed they had it in the bag, and the Kings took advantage. They deserved that loss.”
“Wow. All this time, I thought you had no flaws, but it turns out you’re a terrible Bulls fan.” I playfully slapped his bicep. “How did the date end?”
I grimaced at the memory. “The night went downhill pretty fast. After that, we spent date nights at home and only watched the games Brad already knew they’d won.” It had been one of the first and last real dates Brad had taken me on, and yet I’d stayed with him for ten years. What did that say about me?
“He’s an idiot. If it had been me, I would’ve taken you out every chance I had.”
“Just not to a Bulls game.”
“I’m not a masochist.” He joked before kissing me and dropping my towel to the floor.
“So would I make the top five?” I asked between kisses.
His damp chest was flush against mine, and the scent of soap and something uniquely him filled my every breath. “Without a doubt.”
I didn’t register the change in our location until I felt the world tipping and the soft, giving embrace of my bed beneath me as Jackson lowered me.
I was starting to want him in my bed like this more frequently than the sporadic nights we currently had, and that scared the hell out of me.
“Audrey Adam’s office,how can I help you?” Jet had answered the phone on my desk with hardly a second thought, and I was torn between surprise and insult. I’d never had anyone answer my phone before, and I wasn’t entirely sure I enjoyed it. I was perfectly capable of answering my own phone and having someone else do it made me feel slightly impotent.
Jet nodded at whoever was on the line, making notes on the pad in front of him, and I pasted on a smile when he hung up and turned to me. The last thing I wanted to do was make him feel unhelpful. Or that I was ungrateful.
Despite my reticence, having them around was actually nice; I just wished I had more for them to do.
“That was Julia, asking if you could move your meeting with them.”
“Ok, did she say when she’d prefer to have it?”
“They want you to come over to the distillery this afternoon so you can agree on the launch plans.”
On the one hand, I was glad they’d made a decision. I pitched them my two ideas a week ago, and they’d asked for time to mull it over. With the hopeful launch date being just eight weeks away, I was glad they hadn’t taken too long to decide.
On the other hand, there went my afternoon. “Ok. That’s ok. I think I can make that work.” I looked over my calendar; I had three scheduled customer calls to confirm stock counts for reordering. Tapping my fingers on the desk, I wondered what my options were. Maybe I could call them from the road? No, I wouldn’t be able to make notes if they wanted changes. Maybe I could just call during my lunch break?
I could just reach out to them first thing in the morning, but we had to send off the order confirmations to the clients tomorrow, and I was cutting it fine already by only giving myself the afternoon to get the numbers sorted.
“Hmm.”
“I could go if you’re too busy,” Jet offered. My fingers stilled in the air.
“No, no, I just need to make some phone calls. Thank you, Jet.”
“If you’re talking about this month’s reorders, I can take care of that. It’s a piece of cake.”
I chewed the inside of my cheek. It would save me some time, and it would also clear out my afternoon tomorrow.
“Ok.”
“Really?” He seemed surprised.
“Of course, that would be great. Now, you’ll need to prepare beforehand, go into the system and have last month's order up in case they want a repeat. If not, note down what they want to change, and update the amounts on the invoice before sending it. If you have any trouble, get David or one of the other account managers. But remember—”
