“Neither of us is the product of a booty call gone bad,” Neesa scoffed. “Your mom was married, and I’m sure she got it when she wanted it without making a call. My mom’s a lesbian who picked my dad from a catalog at the sperm bank. Stop.” She grabbed Rylee’s sleeve. “Look, they’re coming up the sidewalk. Stand by this tree.”
“What is this, seventh grade?” Rylee found this incredibly funny. She’d never seen Neesa so worked up over a guy.
“Yeah, well, you know, I might be having a good old middle-school girl crush on Jasper. It’s been a while since I felt the zing. Can you give me this without handing me a hard time?
“I think that’s what you want Jasper to hand you,” Rylee whispered.
“Stop,” Neesa said, striking a casual pose under the tree. “See? That’s what I mean. Don’t make this a joke.”
“Okay. Turn around. Stand here and look in the shop window with me. We can watch them walk up in the reflection. So Jasper, which one is he?”
“The short one in the middle.”
“Who are the other ones with him?” Rylee asked.
“The couple I don’t know,” Neesa said. “The tall one is the Secret Service dog guy. His name is Dakota Kayne.”
“Hmm, he looks familiar to me, but he’s also a little warped looking in this window.”
The two women waited outside the bar for Erica to show up until a text came through saying she had to take a phone call and was just leaving work. It would be about ten minutes to go in before it got too crowded and snag a stool for her.
She had a point. It looked like everyone had had a shit day, and they were making a beeline for libations.
Inside, Rylee and Neesa snagged the last three stools that were together, and the friends draped their coats over the center stool for Erica before ordering beers.
Neesa stood on her toes. “They’re in the very back, in the corner.”
“Go let them know you’re here.”
“We’ll both go,” Neesa said.
“I’m going to wait for Erica and guard our beers when they’re served. Besides, I’m your wingman. You keep me a secret until you need a way to duck out gracefully, then you nod my way and say, ‘Oh, look, there’s Rylee. Nice to see you. Cheers.’ And make your way back to me.”
“You think I’ll want to flee?”
“No, but you just want to let Jasper see you out of the work sphere as a normal human, and then you leave him wanting more.”
Neesa looked their way, then back at her friend. “You okay here by yourself?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. There’s a bro who’s trying to catch my attention from the other side of the bar, hopefully Erica will get here before he finishes his glass of liquid bravery and comes over here.” As Rylee said that, the man sent her a smile, picked up his glass, and stood. “Shit, too late. Here he comes.”
“I should stay then,” Neesa said.
“I’ve got it handled.” Rylee flapped her hands, shooing Neesa away. “No worries. Go. Go enjoy.”
Chapter Twelve
Dakota
Tuesday
So apparently, Dakota didn’t need to see Rylee to feel that odd sensation.
When they found a table at the back of Macadoo’s, there it was, the now familiar buzz. Boom experiment complete.No Rylee in sight, and my circuitry is going nuts.
But before he could take that thought to its next rational step of medical intervention, Jasper said. “I think that’s Neesa at the bar. She’s here with another woman.”
Dakota turned and looked across to the front. “Rylee Jones, Neesa’s co-director.”This time, Dakota managed to keep his atoms mostly stitched together, but she definitely gave him butterflies. Wasn’t it interesting that he hadn’t seen her when his nervous system first reacted?
