Page 22 of About That Rule

Becca knocked on her office door, peeking her head in. “Free for a few?”

Samantha was. She motioned for her friend to come in. “I just sent some promotion ideas to leadership since they take a week or so for approval. I hope I can run it at end of month. It looks sharp. I only made a few tweaks from our team meeting last week.”

“Nice.” Becca nodded while flopping down in the chair across from Samantha’s desk. “I’m bugging you to see what your plans are for this weekend.”

She shrugged, unsure if she had anything concrete. Nate was visiting for a week, but that didn’t mean she was going to see him over the weekend. “Undecided at the moment. Why, what do you have going on?”

“I have another date with Teddy on Saturday. He has a younger brother, Matty, who’s equally as hot.” She wagged her eyebrows.

“Teddy and Matty? I’m trying not to be judgy on their names right now,” Samantha chuckled.

Becca giggled while lightly tapping her foot on the edge of the desk. “You’re failing at that effort. Anyway, it’s going to be fun.”

“Where are you guys going?” she asked.

Her brown eyes were filled with excitement. “Taking a drive to Redwood Park. Matty wants to go with us.”

“I hope Matty likes being a third wheel. You should tell him to bring a book or something. Does he fish?”

“Geez, do I need to spell it out for you?” Becca sounded agitated.

Her phone vibrated with a text from Nate. This would be their first time talking without any more discussion of the infamous kiss. She hoped to hell she wasn’t blushing since she was remembering how turned on she’d gotten just from speaking to him on the phone.

Flying in Sunday. Want to grab dinner?

Dinner would be fun, and the odds of her demanding more kisses from him were minimal. She was optimistic like that. Quickly, she responded back, so she wasn’t rude to her friend.

Sounds perfect. Let’s meet at Tony’s around 7:30.

Becca knocked on the desk to get her attention. “Sammy, hello? I’m asking you to come with us. You’ll love Matty.”

This was something she would normally be down for. But it wasn’t like she could go on a date with someone who wasn’t her husband.

“I can’t,” she answered without much gusto.

Becca leaned back, surprised. “Why? Just last month you were saying how you were ready to have a new friend with benefits. Matty could be it for you.”

Had she said that? Last month felt like a lifetime ago. Last month, she’d been casually seeing men and having fun without consequences. Now, she had a damn husband.

A husband she was struggling to keep in the friend-zone.

“I’m kind of seeing someone.”

An awkward truth at its finest.

Another surprised look on Becca’s face as her eyes widened. “Is it serious?”

Ha, what a loaded question.

“Um, TBD?” was all she could muster.

Becca stood up to leave. “Okay. Well, if anything changes, you have an option for a double date on Saturday.”

Her friend went back to work, and Samantha let out a deep breath. She hadn’t had to explain her marital status to anyone, and she was happy for it. The whole thing was so convoluted and full of emotions she didn’t know how to handle. There was no way she’d be successful at explaining it.

No matter what, she and Nate were more than casually seeing each other. She was freaking married without any of the sexual benefits. And after their fight last weekend, she had the feeling her husband wouldn’t like her on a date with someone else.