Page 236 of A Matter of Time

I got up, walked down to the other end of the table, and squatted beside her chair. She turned to look at me, one rusty-colored brow arched up high.

“Hiya.”

She smiled slowly, and her fingers brushed the hair out of my face. “Hiya back.”

“Would you like to dance with me?”

“I would.”

She took the hand I held out for her, and I led her to the dance floor.

“I’m Jory.” I smiled at her.

“Aubrey.”

“Beautiful name, beautiful lady,” I said as I dipped her low.

She didn’t giggle, she laughed, and it was deep and throaty. “Rightbackatcha, pretty boy.”

I chuckled as I brought her back up to her feet and we started to dance. It was fun, and she followed me as we moved around each other like idiots. Twenty minutes later she called a time-out for alcohol, and I followed her back to the bar. It quickly became a routine: dance a little, drink a lot, rinse and repeat. We both lost track of how many we had. I bought a round, then her, then me again…and there was yet more dancing until we took a long break to sit down, gulp water, and put our numbers in each other’s phones.

The dance music came pounding out of the speakers, and we went back to the floor. It was fun, and I didn’t care what had gotten me there anymore, I was just looking forward to getting to know my new friend. I saw us shopping for matching sequin tube tops or something equally ridiculous. When I spun her around and dipped her in my arms, she laughed so hard I thought she was going to pee.

When we were both tired out and liquored up, we decided to sit for a while. I had her in my lap when her date, Adam Myers, came and grabbed her arm. She yanked it out of his grasp, and when he did it again, harder, she lost her balance, slipping off my legs to the floor.

“What the hell are you doing?” I yelled at him, kneeling down on the ground to make sure she was okay.

“She is embarrassing me, and you are embarrassing Bran. God, do you guys not understand that this is where everyone at our firm hangs out after work? From the associates on up, this is where we go.”

I looked at Aubrey, and she shrugged.

She pointed back at him over her shoulder. “I just finally gave in because this guy’s been asking me out for a month and a half.”

“Are you okay?” I asked, helping her to her feet, checking her over, realizing she looked no worse for wear. It was more a bump than a fall.

“Yes, honey,” she said with a sigh, smiling at me, standing up, and straightening her skirt. “Does this look right?”

Straight woman, gay man…we were a match made in heaven.

“I think the slit needs to go in the back.”

“Ohmygod yes, that’s right.”

“Where do you work?” I wanted to know, smiling at her.

“At a company called Barrington. We do⁠—”

“I used to work at Barrington.” I smiled wider. “But I left to start my own business. I run Harvest Design now. I work with⁠—”

“Oh shit.” She laughed and launched herself at me. “Jory, I’m Abe.”

I pushed her back so I could look at her. “What?”

“I’m Abe Flanagan, who’s coming to help you when Dylan’s out on maternity leave.”

“You are not!” I shouted at her.

“Yes I am,” she shouted back, which sent us into peals of laughter.