On my last night before heading home, Marcus leaned back in his chair and stretched.
“I’m spent. We need drinks tonight. I need to get laid and take some heat off.”
Shannon scoffed, “Marcus, you’re disgusting, but I could use a drink.” She turned to me. “Jason, you in?”
“Sure,” I said.
I sent Natalie a quick text.
Jason: Going out with Marcus for a drink. I’ll text you tomorrow when I’m up and on my flight.
A few minutes later, she responded with a thumbs-up; the new standard for us when I was away.
We headed to The Campbell in Midtown, a place I liked for its old-world charm. Plus it wasn’t too loud and you could actually have a conversation. Once we got settled with drinks, Marcus was already scanning the room for prospects. He spotted a group of four women in the corner and stood up. “Excuse me, ladies and gentlemen.”
Shannon rolled her eyes, “Oh, God.”
She shot me a look and laughed.
“Yeah, Marcus is on a mission. The only time I’ve ever seen him semi into a girl was with my sister-in-law Meredith.”
“Sister-in-law?” Shannon repeated.
“Yeah. Natalie has one sister. She actually lives in Manhattan, but she spends a lot of time visiting Natalie and the kids.”
Shannon hesitated for a second. “Oh.”
She looked like she wasn’t sure what to say next. Like the idea of me having a sister-in-law upset her somehow.
We never really talked about my family. Neither of us wanted to acknowledge that part of my life, so we could keep pretending that whatever was happening between us wasn’t crossing any lines.
“You don’t really mention your wife,” she said, sipping her drink.
A tightness settled in my chest. I swirled the ice in my glass and exhaled.Change the subject, Jason.“Let’s talk about something else,” I said.
Shannon raised an eyebrow. “How about how the Rangers beat the Blackhawks in overtime?”
I groaned, shaking my head. “You really want to rub that in, huh?”
“Obviously,” she said, grinning. “I mean, I could be nice about it, but where’s the fun in that?”
I chuckled, leaning back against the barstool. She was good at turning tension into light conversation, making things feel natural. Maybe that was why I liked being around her so much.
She nudged her drink closer to mine, the rim of her glass brushing against mine for a fleeting second. A small, innocent movement, yet I felt it like a jolt to my system.
God, she was beautiful, and I wanted to kiss her, to see what those lips tasted like, to feel her soft, full breasts pressed against my hand.
Shit.
I glanced toward Marcus. I needed him to come back. “Should we check on my boy over there?” I asked.
“He looks like he’s doing just fine,” she said.
Marcus was sitting with the women, making them all laugh.
All the same, when I got up, so did she. We crossed the crowded room to Marcus.
“Hey,” Marcus greeted us, just a little too loudly. “This is Jason, my boss.”
