Seth scowls at me, but he says nothing while he grabs his flailing daughter as she continues to yell ‘school’ over and over. He’s such a good boy, always polite, despite how annoyed he gets with me. It’s fun to push his buttons to see if he reacts. I’m dying for the day he finally flips me off.
He’s kind of cute when he resists that urge. Hell, he’s always cute, if you like the clean-cut, Boy Scout, preppy type, who’s never said a bad word in his life. Probably. Most likely. He looks like he belongs in a country club playing golf. I’d try to get into his bed if he didn’t have a gaggle of kids. Then again, who wants to sleep with the guy next door? I’d have to see him all the time after that. Talk about awkward.
His daughter looks like a little chaos gremlin. She’s always climbing shit, running off, and perpetually giving my neighbor heart attacks. It’s quite funny, really. Right out of a sitcom. Better him than me. She’d make a perfect commercial for contraceptives.
I have no idea whether he has a partner, a husband, a wife, or what. He appears to be single. I haven’t seen any significant others around at all. I caught him looking at my cock earlier this morning, but that doesn’t necessarily mean anything. It’s not like neighbors walk around in their underwear outside a lot.
“Who cares who he likes, Cal?” I mumble to myself.
I don’t know how he does it all alone. Then again, my mother raised me alone, and look how well I turned out. Sarcasm intended. It’s a wonder I’m successful at all.
I wiggle my fingers at him, and he scowls again as I climb into my shiny new metallic-blue Audi A5.
It’s five minutes before eight when I walk into my office. I own the business, so I can come and go when I want, but as my staff grows, it’s good to be available.
I’m the principal designer, but I have two junior designers and one senior designer. I have a project manager, a couple of drafters, and awebsite designer. My PA, who’s a fucking saint, does her best to keep up with it all. I have no idea how she puts up with me.
I’ve secured half a floor to run my business, and I plan to expand to the entire floor. My goal is to grow more within the next year.
It’s not a huge firm, but I’ve been growing steadily since I opened it seven years ago, and I’m proud of it. Beyond my success, the best thing I ever did for my life and mental state was to leave Houston and get away from my mother.
As soon as I sit down behind my desk, Olivia, my assistant, brings me my usual chicory coffee with a splash of cream and heavy on the sugar.
“Morning,” she says.
“Morning, Olive Oyl.”
She looks nothing like Olive Oyl, with her blonde hair cut into a choppy bob, parted on the side, and her blue eyes.
She rolls said baby blues and sits across from me. I love teasing her. Olivia is a gorgeous woman, and if I were an indecent man, I’d ask her out. Well, Iamindecent, but only in bed. And no, I didn’t hire her for her looks. She’s amazing at what she does and requires very little supervision.
Besides, she’s practically my only friend. She was here when my life fell apart four years ago.
“Any big plans for this weekend?” I ask her.
“There’s a bachelorette party I’m being forced to attend. She’s my best friend, so what can you do?”
“Say no?”
Olivia raises a brow at me and scoffs. “How do you say you have no friends without saying you have no friends?”
“Psh, I have friends.”
“Name one. I’ll wait. And your last hookup doesn’t count.”
“Hey, at least we had a conversation.”
“Talking about who’s carrying the lube and condoms doesn’t count as conversation, Cal.”
My PA is the queen of snark. I love verbally sparring with her. “Ouch, we’re in a mood this morning.”
She smirked at me and sipped her own coffee. “One point to Olivia. Besides, you love it.”
“Sigh… I really do. Anyway, I let him cry in my arms after his ex left him at the altar. He even got some snot on my bare shoulder. See? I’m not all bad.”
Olivia nearly spits up her coffee. “I don’t know which is weirder, you holding someone, or your hookup crying after sex.”
“God, when you say it like that… What else could I do?”
