Prologue
Remy
“You seriously need to get laid.”
Remy glared over the top of his glass at his best friend Tasha.“We’re not talking about my dating life,” he said firmly.“The point of this luncheon was to talk about yours.”
After his last call from Tasha, Remy had been making an effort to meet up more frequently with his friends.He had gone to the Sunday luncheon that Tasha had insisted on, and he had even managed to attend a couple of evening events, again with his friends, which were fun.
Remy knew he was blessed with his solid friend group.Tasha, Mia, and Tony were all “ride or die” and would support him no matter what.He would do the same for them.Except lately Remy just felt something was missing, which is why he hadn’t been overly pleased when Tasha had insisted on meeting for lunch on a Wednesday of all days, saying she was desperate to talk to him about the latest man in her life.
“We’ve talked about him.”Tasha waved her hand as if he were of no importance.He probably wasn’t.The doctor-slash-accountant-slash-goodness knows what sounded like a full-time scammer in Remy’s opinion, and he made his thoughts known.Tasha agreed with him.“I want to know what’s going on with you.You look like you’ve been pulling all-nighters, and we haven’t done that since high school.”
I’m showered, dressed, and my hair might need a cut, but it’s tidy.Remy had no idea where his friend got that impression.Admittedly, Tasha was a very beautiful young woman.She had a mass of curls and a personality as bright as the red dye she currently had in her hair.She dressed in whatever took her fancy—she seemed to be going through a boho chic phase at the moment—and Remy agreed it looked wonderful on her.
Remy was so tempted to confide in Tasha about his feelings, but the truth was, Remy wasn’t sure of what he was feeling himself.“You’re just going to think I’m being silly,” he said, taking a long slurp of his raspberry soda with extra cherries.“I… something’s changed in the office.”
“Oh my God!”Tasha grabbed hold of his arm.“Have you finally met the mystery boss?Is that what’s got you all in a flutter?”
“No.”Remy sighed heavily.Thinking about Sven lately seemed to cause that reaction to the point that it was becoming a habit.“I thought he might turn up for one of the ballooning events.He asked me for the dates, and I sent them to him right away, you know, like I do.But then… when I thought he’d tell me the day he was coming, he ended the call really quickly, and I haven’t heard from him in a week.”
Pushing his glass away, Remy rested his head on his arms on the table.“I’m clearly an idiot, and that doesn’t feel good at all.”
“Did you consider that maybe he’s traveling to see you and that’s why he couldn’t call?”That was one thing about having a good friend.They could be supportive, even if they didn’t know the situation that Remy had found himself in.
“Oh, he’s definitely traveling.Yep, yep, yep.The company newsletter seems to follow him around like a bloodhound.Only he’s not even in the country, so he’s not on his way here.”
“Aww, Remy, hon.”Tasha sounded so concerned.“Are you sure you don’t have a crush on your boss?”
“It’s not a crush.”Remy was sure about that.“It’s just a feeling.And I know,” he said as Tasha opened his mouth.“I know you think I’m just being really silly.But it’s just…”
He sat up, fisting his hands against his chest.“I need to sniff him, that’s all.Just once.I need to sniff and know that there’ll be nothing between us.Tasha, he is so far out of my league that he might as well be on another planet.He’s rich and successful, surrounded by tons of beautiful women…” he trailed off, his lunch threatening to make a repeat appearance.
“I know that face.You’ve got it bad,” Tasha said sympathetically.“But you know, it’s probably a good thing that you haven’t met him and that he’s not in a hurry to come here.”
Remy couldn’t see how that could be true.He was sure one good sniff would let him know just how ridiculous he was being, and his life could go back to normal.
“No, no.Hear me out,” Tasha said.“You have feelings for this man, which is fair enough.I’ve seen his pics, he gives off the vibes of a powerful alpha.”
“I have feelings about lots of people, not just alphas.”
“Fine, but imagine how much worse it would be if you actually met him in the flesh.Your poor little furry self might go into overdrive.And unless you are mates, which you know reasonably is like one chance in a billion, then your little heart is going to be crushed.At least this way, you can think about him fondly or whatever else it is you’re doing.”
“I don’t think about him that often,” Remy muttered.It was all a matter of how one defined often.In Remy’s head, every waking moment and half his dreams at night didn’t qualify.Tasha might not agree, though, so he kept his rationalization to himself.
“What you need,” Tasha insisted, “is to find a real person in town who will help you take your mind off the boss who never shows up.Doesn’t that make sense?”
Remy nodded slowly.“It’s not like I’m not meeting new people,” he said.“I’m in the perfect job for that sort of thing.I organize all these events.I meet everybody who turns up.They’re all single, eligible people.Otherwise, they wouldn’t be part of the Bucket List Buddies event.And you better be sure I sniff every single one, not just the hunky ones, all of them, big and small.”
“And nothing, I’m guessing.”
“You’d hear about it if just one person set my furry self into a flutter.It hasn’t happened yet.”Remy shook his head.
“You’re excited about this hot air ballooning, though.You were the one telling us just the other day at lunch how awesomely romantic it’s going to be, taking the sunset cruise, soaring over the hills, high in the air.”Tasha shuddered.“Not something I’d want to do, but I know you’ve been looking forward to this for ages.”
“You’re right.I am excited about it.”Remy gave himself a mental shake.“It’s fine.I’m just feeling a bit flat.That’s all.I don’t know what’s going on with my boss…” Since Tasha pointed out that his tone changed every time he said the word Sven, Remy avoided using it.“I just need to get back into work.I’ve got events the next three nights, and then I’ve got the whole of Sunday off, which will be lovely.”
“Why don’t we go shopping?"Tasha suggested.“I’ll pick you up about nine o’clock, we’ll go and have breakfast, and then we can go hunt up some op shops.That’ll be so much fun, don’t you think?”
