AllFreeNovel
Share Us
‘Though not against the company code of conduct, if you were concerned about that,’ Cat says, ‘since you’re not in the same chain of command.’
‘Great. Thank you. I’ll be asking why you know that later,’ Tori says while Cat blushes, before angling back to Jules. ‘Samantha said the welcome night gets boozy, right?’ Tori wiggles her eyebrows. ‘That seems like a perfect time.’
‘When we’re both inebriated and unable to consent? How’s that better?’
Tori rolls her eyes. ‘I’m not saying have sex with him that night. Hell, don’t have a fling at all if you’re not up for it. But maybe … use the liquid courage to lay some groundwork. Flirt a little. Wear something revealing and see how he reacts.’
‘Cat?’ Jules asks her more reasonable friend.
‘I was going to say ‘ask him out’, but with the Todd stuff—’
Jules shudders.
‘Yeah, you probably don’t want to do that,’ Cat finishes. ‘So, Tori’s isn’t a bad idea. See how he responds to some flirting before you make any big moves.’
‘See!’ Tori gestures broadly to Cat, a piece of pepperoni flying off her pizza in her enthusiasm, narrowly missing Cat’s sewing machine set up in the corner of the living room. ‘Thank you. And it’s perfect for you because you’re a flirty drunk.’
Jules rubs a hand over her face as Cat retrieves the flyaway meat. ‘If I’m going to try and get closer to Cameron—and I haven’t said I am yet—can we have a plan that’s more realistic than ‘get flirty-drunk’?’
‘I think that’s plenty realistic,’ Tori says into her wine glass. ‘In fact, I’ve seen you pull with that tactic before.’
Jules narrows her eyes. ‘If you’re talking about at Felicity and Bianca’s wedding—’
‘You know I am,’ Tori winks.
‘That doesn’t count. You know I’m not big on spontaneity.’
‘Emotional-security is your middle name, yes,’ Tori nods. ‘But when orgasms are on the table, you might be convinced to step outside your comfort zone.’
‘But what if I don’t want it to be about orgasms? What if I want it to be about, you know, a relationship.’
‘Without orgasms?’ Tori’s jaw drops.
‘Connecting on an emotional level.’
‘Without orgasms?’
‘Okay, okay,’ Cat interrupts. ‘Moving on.’ She grabs a clean napkin and a pen from the stack that lives on the coffee table, ready to be used for her crosswords.
‘“Sober plan to win over Cameron”,’ Cat narrates, writing on the napkin. ‘This’ll be your game plan. Step one is—Hang on.’ Her head snaps up, gaze locking on Jules. ‘Do we know for certain he’s single?’
‘Yes.’ Jules takes another sip of wine as her body heats. ‘He, uh, told me on the phone the other week.’
‘He told you, huh?’ Tori smirks, extending her leg to dig her toes into Jules’s thigh. ‘Did you tell him you were also single?’
‘Maybe.’ Jules tickles Tori’s foot when she starts winking exaggeratedly. ‘Stop that.’
‘Moving on again,’ Cat brigs their focus back with a snap of her fingers. ‘Here’s your plan. Step one is flirt, while sober, and see how he responds. Step two is—’
‘Sex,’ Tori says.
‘Tori! You can’t jump straight to sex from flirting!’ Jules argues.
‘Why not?’ Tori shrugs. ‘I do it all the time. Works out brilliantly.’
‘Because I want to use this week to test if we have longevity, not sexual chemistry. Or not only sexual chemistry.’
‘Step two,’ Cat continues, ignoring their arguing, ‘is having a face-to-face conversation. Actually, maybe that’s step one.’ Cat readjusts the numbers on her list. ‘Step three is a trial date.’
