“Holy shit.”He pitched his voice artificially low but his eyebrows were still trying to bury themselves in his hairline.“You are so screwed.Who else knows?The other partners?”
“No and they won’t.Not unless you tell them.”
I glared at him and he held his hand up in front of his face like the most unlikely Boy Scout on the face of the planet.
“I’m not telling.So what’s the deal?You recuse yourself this morning and have her accounting for her orgasms by dinner?What the fuck, man?”
I didn’t like how crazy it sounded when he laid it out like that.I directed things; I didn’t react.Except with Alex.All bets were off where she was concerned.
“Remember the woman from the bar a couple of weeks ago?”
The speed with which he recalled the casual meeting was a testament to how long it had been since my friends saw me with a woman.
“The one with the redhead.I remember.”
I waited for a moment while he puzzled through things.
“No way.She’s Dr.Smithson?The one you were trying to ruin this morning?”
I nodded, letting the realization settle over him at the same time it all came rushing back to me.
“The Lexi responsible for the clusterfuck at the club?No shit.”He blew out his breath and shook his head.
“That about sums it up.”
“So what happened?You had a colossal hard-on for her this morning,” he said, grinning at his choice of words.“I remember talk of ‘burying the reckless woman who had no clue what she was playing at.’How did you get from there to here?”
“I got her to agree to take me through a session.”I left out the paying her part.I was already on legal ground so shaky I could go under at any moment.I didn’t need to add to the quicksand.
“I’m not sure whether to bow to your awesomeness or run before the lightning strikes.You’re either a genius or totally fucked.”
Or both, I thought.
“It didn’t work out exactly the way I’d planned.”Understatement of the century.
“I don’t know, man.She’s calling to tell you she got herself off in the tub.It seems to me that has promise.”
He gave me a shit-eating grin and I felt my lips curving in spite of the warning alarms going off in my head.
“Maybe.”
“Are you going to bring her to the club?It’s been a long damn time since you played in public.What better way to teach her what she doesn’t know?”
Jared had a point.I couldn’t explain why the idea didn’t sit well with me, but something about taking Alex to play at the club felt off.I was going to continue letting my gut run the show.For now at least.
“It’s too soon.”It was a bullshit answer but it was the best I could give him.
“For her or for you?”he asked, clearly skeptical.
“Both maybe.”
“You’ve got to know, but don’t wait too long.Julie’s been gone a long time.”
Hearing him say my ex’s name caught me off guard and I realized she didn’t even play into my decision not to take Alex to Bacchus.Interesting.
The server appeared with two rocks glasses of Scotch and the chef’s apologies.Apparently Matt was too busy in the kitchen to join us.It had been a long shot.The restaurant was packed.
“No worries,” said Jared, winking at the pretty young woman.“At least he sends exceptional presents.”
