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April sat up abruptly as she heard the floorboards creak. “Lana?”
“Yes!” There was a pause, and then, “Do you want pizza? I’m ordering from Pink’s!”
April scratched Damien’s back to quell his protests. “Sure!”
Lana swung her head into the room. “Yay! Oh, how was the meeting today?”
“Good. Your brother liked my designs. And he fired our supervisor.”
“Ha! Of course he did.” Lana sat on April’s bed and held her hand out for Damien to sniff. He hopped into her lap. “He has to make the over-the-top gestures. Announcing his big plans in the middle of family dinner, firing someone not before or after the big meeting, but during. He’s so dramatic.”
“He planned to fire the guy afterward, but Hutchinson was late and acting like a jerk.”
“Well then, drama justified, but I don’t withdraw my previous accusation.” Lana smiled slowly and started pulling back her long hair. “How’s it been with him? Are you getting along any better?”
“I think we are. The talk we had after the meeting was really good.” April shrugged. “When I’m around him, I just, I don’t know. I feel like I’m about to jump out of my skin. Like he should be able to see my heart about to fly out of my chest, it’s beating so hard.”
Lana’s brows rose slowly. “Wait. Do you like him?”
“What are we, teenagers?”
“Oh, pardon me. I forgot we were adults. Do you want bang him?”
“He’s my boss, Lana!”
“That’s really not what I asked.” Lana swiveled around and lay on her stomach, resting her chin in her hand. “Tell me. You must. You owe me for years of telling you all the details about my relationships.”
“I never asked. And there’s nothing to tell. He flirts, I told him to stop, he’s more professional now, and we… talked. That’s all.” April paused and twisted her fingers. “Also, he wants me to come on a business trip with him.”
“Ohhhh!”
“No! No ‘ohhhh!’ It’s for business. He needs my eye on the designs—”
“And your thigh on his lap, and your ass in the air…”
“Cut it out! God, you two are exactly alike. Do you think I want to lose my virginity to my best friend?”
Lana rolled over onto her back dramatically. “Take me!”
April grabbed her pillow and smacked Lana in the face.
“Ow! That’s not sexy!” Lana complained.
“Neither is stupidity. I’m not going to go turn into the office slut.”
“What a nice sentiment that is,” Lana drawled. She snatched the pillow from April. “You’re allowed to look. I never understood why you’re such a monk.”
“Monks choose celibacy. Some, on the other hand, have celibacy thrust upon us.”
“That’s just silly. You’re cute. I’d date you if you weren’t my best friend.” Lana got up. “I’m going to order the pizza. You want mushrooms and black olives?”
“Yes.”
“Great. Then we can hang out with my Netflix.” Lana smirked as she left the room. “And we don’t have to talk about my brother anymore, but know that you could—”
“Lana,” April warned.
“If you needed to talk, you could talk. Not that you need to. But if you did.”
“I’m going to start throwing shoes.”
Lana breezed out of the room and April heaved a sigh. She really wanted to go on this trip. It wasn’t just travel anymore, either. She found that it was getting easier to spend time with Samson. She both wanted to be around him and avoided him. Possibly because his proximity sometimes made it harder to breathe.
Deny as she might, April knew what that meant. It wasn’t something she’d ever felt before. Not like this, not so intensely. It was hard not to be consumed by his presence, and even harder not to want to be consumed.
Chapter Six
“It’s ugly,” Samson said with disappointment.
“It isn’t!” April protested.
“I’m not sure how anyone could find something so lumpy and pointless attractive. Aside from being very big, which I’m sure is satisfying in its own way, I’m not sure what the point is.”
“You really don’t know anything about what’s satisfying, then.”
Samson looked up at the skyscraper once more. So far his trip with April was going well, if not wonderfully. It had been a kick to watch her see Chicago for the first time from high above. When they landed, he took her out to a nice restaurant, which she had enjoyed but not gushed over. She was nervous again, for some reason. He couldn’t figure out why she would stiffen up just as she seemed to get comfortable with him.
