I’m still rubbing the sleep from my eyes, barely keeping pace with Mina’s rapid-fire questions as she drives me to work. I’m not even fully awake, and she’s already on a roll, impatient as ever and dying to know what happened last night.
“Wait, go back. So you had drinks with your boss?!” Her eyebrows shoot up with dramatic flair.
I offer a tired smile. “It wasn’t like that. We didn’t go together. I went, and he happened to show up after.”
“Uh huh,” Mina says, unconvinced.
I whip my head towards her. “I’m serious! And then he gave me a ride home,” I blurt, hoping the explanation will satisfy her.
“Well, I hope you thanked the man properly,” she teases, her voice dripping with innuendo. Before I can reply, she adds with a wink, “Any other rides you got last night you wanna tell me about?”
I wince, knowing there’s no sidestepping this one.
“Other than that?” I pause as I feel a blush creeping up my cheeks. “Just the one in my dream last night.” My face twists up into a grimace, the memory still fresh and mortifying.
I rush on, desperate to reclaim some dignity. “I had a sex dream about my boss. I know, I know! You don’t have to tell me—“
“Avery Elizabeth!” she interrupts, delight and shock mingling in her voice. Her eyes widen, and she lets out a laugh that’s more of a cackle. “You dirty girl! Tell me everything!”
“Absolutely not.”
I fold my arms, pretending firmness, though I can feel the heat spreading to the rest of my body. There’s a moment of silence, a standoff between my embarrassment and her insistence.
I cave first.
“But just know I had to take a very cold shower this morning.”
“So what about Nash?” she asks.
“What about him?” I feign ignorance, but Mina’s sharp gaze tells me she’s not buying it.
“Is he still in the picture?”
She already knows the answer. She just wants to hear me say it.
“What picture, Mina? There is no picture.” My voice climbs an octave, betraying me. “There is only my job where I work with two ridiculously sexy men who I definitely don’t think about outside of our very professional workplace relationships.”
“Soooooo…” Her voice stretches, inviting me to fill the silence with a confession.
“Yes, he’s still in the nonexistent picture.” I sigh, exasperated but amused by her persistence. “When I got back to the office from court yesterday, there were two dozen red roses on my desk with a card.”
I can still picture the vibrant blooms, a splash of color in my otherwise muted office.
“It didn’t have a name, but I know they were from him.”
Mina gasps and clutches the steering wheel tighter. “What did the card say?”
“It said, ‘Have dinner with me.’”
The words were simple but bold, and I can’t help remembering the way my heart skipped when I first read them.
“Ohmygod, you have to have dinner with him!” Mina practically squeals.
“No, I definitely don’t.” I shake my head, pretending I’m more certain than I feel. “I can think of about a hundred things Ihaveto do, and that’s not one of them.”
“Just have dinner with the guy. What could it hurt?”
“My career?” I shoot back, the words tasting defensive. “How do you think it’d look for me to be dating my paralegal?”
