Page 31 of About That Pact

WITH HER BLUE eyes shining with amusement, Rafe couldn’t handle it. Instead of doing what he wanted, which was to push her against the sink and devour her in kisses, he did the opposite. He took her hand and yanked her into the next room, which was his office. Now wasn’t the time to start anything more than friendship with her. She was finally getting to the point of realizing she didn’t need to work crazy hours, having a serious relationship on top of it would be overkill. He knew Charlie, and it would make her feel like she was balancing too much with the change.

And there was no way in hell he was getting another chance with her only to have it fail.

“Your office is crying for some life in it,” she pointed out. The room was how his living room used to be: only black and gray.

“Why do you think I have a box of tissues on my desk? The curtains are quite emotional over the lack of color.”

His quick comeback made her giggle. He loved her laugh. Perhaps because it was obnoxiously loud and she was more of a reserved person. It was a beautiful inconsistency.

“Let’s see the other rooms so I can win already,” she told him. As she walked by, she slipped her hand in his, nudging him to lead the way. The next room was a guest room. Pretty standard, and she didn’t have any comments. She was probably sick of mentioning the theme needing more vibrant colors.

Finally, they made it to his bedroom.

They walked in together, and she immediately dropped his hand while she inspected everything, taking it all in. Then she went to his closet and opened the door, nodding in approval of the walk-in closet. In the corner of the room, there was a small sitting area that led to the master bathroom.

“Your bedroom is huge,” she mentioned as she went into the bathroom. He didn’t follow her because a bathroom was a bathroom. Instead, he sat on the loveseat. A window was directly above it, so sometimes he read there because it provided good light during the day.

“That’s what she said.”

Charlotte returned to the sitting area. “Ah, there’s the college boy.”

“You set me up for that one,” he told her, standing back up. “There’s something else to show you. I saved the best for last.”

They walked back into the dining area, and he slid the drapes to the side, revealing French doors. Opening them, he showed her the reason he was obsessed with his apartment. They moved to the balcony and sat down in the chairs, taking in the view of Eaton Park. It was such a sight to see.

“You win. Even if your apartment was a dump, this would make up for it,” she said, gesturing with her hands to the park.

He smiled, not sure whether he was happy he won the money maker of all favors or because she liked his apartment. While she snuggled into the chair, he went to get them some wine. Perhaps his smile was because she was in his space and had nothing to do with a bet. Perhaps his smile was because he loved being with her.

Chapter 12

REREADING THE EMAIL from his manager for the fifth time didn’t change the words. Lance had been his boss for two years, and normally, they got along well. He was forward thinking, so whenever he gave Rafe an idea, it was great.

Not this time around.

In a way, it made sense they wanted to tackle the topic. One of their competitors had recently done a story on a similar subject and it had garnered some buzz. Lifestyle could do the topic better and have it trending in no time.

Generating conversation through his work was something that invigorated Rafe. With this particular assignment, though, he wanted to pass.

He called Lance. There had to be another angle or subject he could focus on.

“Rafe, how you doing?” his boss answered. He was awfully cheery, but he should have been—he didn’t have to write a shit article. “I take it you read my email. According to our readers, they want us to talk more about dating. We are running multiple pieces, having my team do a fresh perspective on how to meet new people and hopefully find love. I thought you would love getting on Tinder and swiping right or left.”

“No.”

His answer was immediate, leaving no room for confusion on how he felt about doing a Tinder article. There was no way in hell he was joining online dating. Not that he was against it, but because it was a waste of his time. He had his person, all he had to do was convince her. If he joined Tinder, regardless of the reason, Charlotte wouldn’t like it. All the time they’d spent together would retract because of one required swipe.

“We are upping the dating article from Live Your Life’s spread. They had one person do variations of dating. I want to present something different. We will do online dating, picking someone up at a bar, blind dating. Kelly had a great idea to do a set-up where her mom will pick someone she already knows. We are brainstorming how we can change the release of our story, but I want them released every few days. We will hashtag it #datingintechnologyage, #oldschoolpickuplines, #blinddatesstillathing, and #mymompickedhim, and all articles will have #lifestylelove.”

Lance acted like this story was his greatest idea yet. Rafe had to hand it to him, the hashtags were catchy. But couldn’t this all be done with one person? It didn’t make sense to have multiple writers working on a dating piece.

“Doesn’t this seem a bit overdone?” Rafe asked, staring at his computer screen and the email he had yet to delete.

“Since when is anything that has to do with dating, kissing, and possibly sex overdone?” Lance pointed out. “Why are you against this?”

“I’m not against all of it.” He paused to think of a better solution. “I have no desire to do Tinder. Can’t you put Reggie on that? He’s twenty-three and is all about the single scene. That kid was made for swiping.”

Lance was silent. Rafe had his work cut out for him.