I watched her closely. Shereallydidn’t like me poking around her head. That only made me want to do it more, especially now that I was getting somewhere. But I owed Justin a beer, and he wasn’t going to let me off the hook until he got it. I took my wallet from my jeans. “What d’youwant?”
“Whatever you’re having,” hesaid.
I walked away. If Ihadbeen hitting on Georgina, this would be the perfect opportunity for Justin to fuck with me. So, it shouldn’t have surprised me to overhear him say to her, “Well, well. It’s a fine line, isn’tit?”
If Justin wasn’t careful,I was going to knock the smug right off his face and onto the baseball diamond. It was the second time since we’d returned to our seats that he’d caught me watching Georgina and François instead of thegame.
Justin’s face split with a grin. “Enjoying theview?”
“Of course not. I’m at aYanksgame.”
“That’s a pretty big sacrifice you’ve made for Georgina. You told me we were coming here to judge her datingskills.”
“What do you think I’mdoing?”
Justin folded his hands in his lap and shrugged. “I think you’re trying to figure out how you feel about her. And seeing her with another dude is making it prettyclear.”
I looked back at François’s arm around her, tempted to go down there andinterruptone more time. The last time. “I’m just going above and beyond for my job,” I said. Justin might’ve been right, but he already had all the ammunition he needed. “Making sure Georgina is up for the position she tookon.”
Justin adjusted his sunglasses. “You’re telling me you betrayed your precious Red Soxandgave the people in these seats a two-hundred-dollar gift card to Peter Luger just to make sure Georgina sucks at herjob?”
“To make sure she sucks atmyjob,” I pointed out. “You forget my ass is on the line here. Vance warned me I was on thin ice, meanwhile he can’t stop fawning overGeorgina.”
Justin glanced over at me. “You think she’s gunning for the creative directorposition?”
She wouldn’t be the first to try, but judging by Vance’s reaction to her, she could be the first to succeed. She’d never mentioned wanting to stay on full-time, and she didn’t run the office as if she planned to stay, but it’d be a lie to say it hadn’t crossed my mind. Tussling with Georgina could be many things, including fun, but I’d given everything I’d had to this job, including my reputation. I’d never give it up without a down-and-dirty fight. “Maybe.”
“Don’t get paranoid,” Justin said. “I happen to like her. She’s smart, funny, and looks cute in your baseball hat, don’t youthink?”
She lookedadorablein the hat. I grunted myassent.
“What do you think she’s like in the bedroom?” Justin asked. “All business, or you think she’d let you take thelead?”
Unprepared for the vivid image of sheet-wrestling with a bossy Georgina, my throat locked up—and then my balls. Georgina and I might’ve been on a level field in the office, but our entire relationship had been a power play. I wanted to be on top. So did she. I imagined that would carry over into the bedroom as well, but taking it to the sheets sounded way morefun.
The more pressing question, though, was whether she was having a good time with François. We’d arrived at the game to find her shoulders square. She’d looked tense and neglected without food or drink. This guy seemed more into the game than her, but some chicks dug that. They liked to work for the attention—I knew from firsthand experience dating an actress here, a model there. The less attention you showed, the harder they tried to getit.
“How long are we going to sit here?” Justin asked. “This is like watching sports in slow-motion.”
I rubbed my jaw, not even trying to hide the fact that this time, Iwaslooking at Georgina. “We stay as long as they do,” I said. “You think it’s fun for me listening to everyone root for a rivalteam?”
“Fun? No. But clearly a price you’re willing topay.”
I ignored him. I didn’t have the patience to try to throw him off the scent. “What were you saying to her when I went to get yourbeer?”
“Just commenting on how cozy you twowere.”
“You nosyfuck.”
“You know, I don’t think I ever got a ‘thank you’ for the lengths I went to so you could sit here and stalk her.” He crossed an ankle over his knee. “My spies aren’tcheap.”
“Yeah? How much did you pay for thisinfo?”
“It cost me three trips to the vending machine before my operative was able to get a clear view of Georgina’s phone screen while she was waiting for a bag ofchips.”
I heaved a sigh. “Sometimes I can’t believe what I’ve been reducedto.”
“Man, don’t worry. The date obviously isn’t going well, and now you not only have something over Georgina, but you also get some peace of mind about her datinglife.”
