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“Yeah,” Greyson said. Once again it looked like he wanted to say something, but he bit it back. He picked up the hammer, disappeared around the corner, and slammed it into something hard enough to make the ground shake.
I jumped in surprise, then let myself out. I could do this. I could totally do this.
15
HARPER
“I can’t do this!” I said, slouching down in the chair at my kitchen counter. Lin and Farrah were on my couch and my house smelled like burnt caramel. I’d spent the past three days trying to come up with a menu to blow Greyson’s mind. I wanted everything to be so perfect that he wouldn’t be able to turn me down.
“Hey,” Lin said. “Fuck off with that negativity. You can totally do this as soon as you stop acting like you forgot how to cook.”
“What Lin means,” Farrah said more gently. “Is that you’ve got all the skills you need to win this job. You’re just trying too hard right now. Find a way to relax. Be yourself and trust your instincts. You’ve always been an amazing cook.”
“Except for the last three days,” Lin said. “That tart was disgusting.”
I slumped deeper in my chair as I heard Farrah smack Lin with something.
“What?” Lin asked. “She doesn’t need to be coddled. Someone has to tell her if the food is good. This is her dream on the line.”
“She knows what’s good and what isn’t,” Farrah said. It sounded like she was talking through tight lips. I could practically picture her holding a rolled-up paper in her hand, ready to whack Lin again. “She needs her friends to support her.”
I grinned, despite the stress threatening to boil over. “It’s okay,” I said. “I think you’re both right.” I got up, took a deep breath, and shook my hands out. “I can do this.”
“So what are you going to do about the kiss?” Lin asked.
For about the hundredth time, I regretted telling her. “Nothing. It was a mistake. It’s like he said. The job is more important.”
I strapped my apron back on and tied my hair up. When neither of them replied, I turned my head toward them. “What?”
Farrah hesitated. “I mean, that kind of chemistry doesn’t just go away. Have you at least thought about how you’ll handle the tension if you get the job?”
“There’s nothing wrong with fucking your boss,” Lin said.
“Seriously?” I picked up one of the tarts I’d made and gave it a taste, wondering if my mood was just telling me it was bad. Nope. It was still bad. “Sleeping with your boss means your job and your relationship are intertwined. How is that not a bad idea?”
“It’s a great idea,” Lin said. “It means if you screw up at work, you can just put in a little overtime in the bedroom to fix things.”
“If I ignore the horrible morality of what you just said, it doesn’t fix the other side. What happens if he gets tired of being in a relationship with me? What if things go nuclear in our personal lives? And what if it ends up feeling like I can’t leave the relationship without risking my career?”
Farrah gave Lin a severe look. “See? That’s what it sounds like when someone uses their brain.”
“Oh shut up,” Lin said, smirking. “I’m mostly kidding. The real answer is that you two just agree to be adults. Be casual about the relationship. Don’t let things get too intense, but you can still both scratch the itch. That way, if things fizzle out, so what? You go back to work and so does he. No hard feelings.”
I worked my lips to the side. “Just keep it casual?”
“Please don’t tell me you’re considering this,” Farrah said.
“What else am I supposed to do? You said it yourself. The tension is going to be there. Maybe it’s not so crazy.”
Farrah put a pillow over her face and screamed into it. Lin and I both rolled our eyes.
Farrah lowered the pillow and glared at Lin. “If she does this and it goes badly, it’s your fault. You know that right?”
“Harper’s a big girl. She can make her own mistakes.”
Farrah jabbed a finger at Lin “So you admit it will be a mistake?”
Lin held up her hands. “I’m saying if it’s a mistake, it’s hers to make. All we can do is give her advice. The choice of what to do with it is hers. But, if she was smart, she’d take my advice. And let the jury note that Farrah didn’t even give you any real advice. She just told you it was going to be tough. That’s not helpful.”
Farrah folded her arms and I gave her an apologetic look. “I’m going to think about it. Besides, I don’t think he even wants to revisit the kiss. So this is probably all a moot point.”
