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“Holy shit,” Esther said when she realized where she recognized the guy from. There was a photo of him in the lobby at work, along with his parents and his sister. These must be the friends Lacey was talking about who worked for an aerospace company. Only, the guy didn’t so much work for the company as own it. Or his family did, anyway.
“What?” Jonathan said.
“Her date is Jeremy Sauer.”
Jonathan frowned and glanced behind him. “That’s Lacey’s ex.”
Esther’s eyes widened. Lacey’s ex currently had his hand on this Melody chick’s ass. “Lacey dated Jeremy Sauer?”
Jonathan turned back to Esther, still frowning. “How do you know him?”
“The company I work for? Sauer Hewson? He’s one of those Sauers.”
“Fantastic.” Jonathan took another swig of beer.
“Hey, if you’re going to be passed over, at least it was for a gorgeous billionaire, right?”
He gave her a sour look. “Is that supposed to make me feel better?”
“Yes. He was on some list of the country’s most eligible bachelors. Who can compete with that?”
Jonathan’s scowl deepened. “Clearly not me.”
Esther hooked her arm through his. “Hey, you’re a pretty good catch too.”
She meant it. He was excellent boyfriend material—insomuch as she was qualified to determine such things. Considerate, easy to talk to, sweet. Some woman was going to be lucky to have him.
The thought made her sad. One day he’d find a girlfriend who appreciated him, and he wouldn’t need her. He wouldn’t drop by her apartment to hang out anymore, because you couldn’t do that sort of thing when you had a girlfriend. They’d go back to being just neighbors who said hello when they saw each other in the laundry room. She already missed him just thinking about it. She didn’t want to lose him.
Her eyes found his, and her stomach did a little drop. She let go of his arm. “Maybe not Jeremy Sauer good,” she said, trying to sound light.
Jonathan didn’t smile. “Awesome.” He took another swig of beer.
Esther felt out of her depth. Like she was doing everything wrong. “Do you want to leave?”
His gaze dropped to his shoes, and he shook his head. “It was one date. It doesn’t matter.”
It seemed like it did though. “You sure?”
“Yeah, it’s fine.” He forced a smile.
She’d made the offer and he’d rejected it. Unless she wanted to drag him out of here against his will, she’d have to take him at his word. “Good,” she said, “because I’m having a good time.” It surprised her how much she meant it.
“Are you?”
She shrugged. “You have cool friends. Who’d have thought?”
His mouth curved a little. “I told you.”
“You did.”
His smile made it all the way to his eyes. “I’m glad you came.”
She smiled back at him. “I’m glad you asked me.”
Something shifted in his expression and the moment stretched out, growing heavy. It made Esther feel unstable. Her hand twitched at her side, looking for something to grab onto for support, but there was nothing within reach except Jonathan. She couldn’t grab onto him, because he was the one upsetting her equilibrium.
“I need another beer,” he said, looking away. “You need anything?”
