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When the car jerked into motion, I glanced at Tate and he met my eyes for a second.
Should we greet each other? Or pretend our past together didn’t exist?
I opened my mouth, unsure of what to say, but a sharp “Where are your kids?” came out instead.
No hello, no how’s your night, but a demand right off the bat. I was an idiot and he had every right not to answer.
“Back with their mother.” His eyes flicked back to Jeremiah, whose head was ping-ponging back and forth between us as he tried to figure out why the tension was so thick in the air.
I pretended there wasn’t a problem and went back to thinking about Tate’s kids. I had assumed their mother was Dahlia, but I didn’t know that for a fact. He could’ve divorced her years ago and remarried.
I didn’t want to ask, either. It was bad enough when he chose Dahlia over me, but to find out he then chose another woman after that…?
I didn’t want to think about it.
With an arm wrapped around my Grindr date’s waist, I gave it a squeeze like we’d known each other for more than two hours. “Tate, this is Jacob.”
“It’s Josh.”
Shit.
I forced out a laugh and explained to Tate, “It’s a game we play. I call him every J name I can think of other than his real one.”
“No, we—”
I quickly pressed my mouth to Josh’s in a kiss to shut him up. When we were done and I pulled away, Josh was wearing a naughty smile. “Mmm. That was yummy.”
Instead of rolling my eyes, I purred, “Yes, it was. There will be more of that once we get upstairs.”
Josh tugged on my polo shirt and grinned at Tate, exclaiming, “He’s such a tease!”
When Tate didn’t smile back or even say a word, not even a greeting, Josh took offense and bugged his green eyes out at me.
It spoke volumes but I ignored that, too.
The elevator car jerked to a stop on the sixth floor and the doors slid open.
“You two have a good night,” Tate muttered as he rushed out.
I winced as my date yelled out “Don’t worry, we will,” much too enthusiastically as the doors slid shut again. “Well, wasn’t he pleasant?”
My first instinct was to make an excuse for Tate. I reminded myself that I didn’t need to do that.
Josh’s eyes narrowed on me and he tilted his head as he asked, “Do you two know each other?”
“Just neighbors,” I mumbled, stabbing the button for the top floor, which didn’t go unnoticed by the man leaning into me.
Josh gave a little squeak. “That button says PH. The penthouse? You must have a great view of the city.”
“That I do.”
“I can’t wait to see it,” he purred, sliding his hand between my skin and shirt again and pinching one of my nipples harder than I expected.
I fought the urge to push him off me. My whole plan of showing Tate how I’ve moved on had backfired. I no longer wanted to take Josh up to my place. Or fuck him.
Or even have him suck me off.
I could fuck him with my eyes closed and pretend it was Tate I was railing. But once I finished and opened my eyes…
Reality would club me over the head.
Before I could suggest cutting the date short and sending Josh on his way, we arrived on the twelfth floor and the elevator opened and we stepped out into the small vestibule right outside my penthouse door.
Josh rushed out, spun in a circle, squealing, “Nobody else lives on this floor?”
“No.”
“Wait. Your penthouse is the only penthouse? It takes up an entire floor? Holy shit, you must be riiiiiiiiiiiich.” He stopped in front of my door and bounced on his toes with impatience. “Hurry. Open the door. I need to check this out.”
My door had a smart lock on it, so as soon as I got closer, it automatically unlocked because of an app on my phone. I also had a couple of fobs with RFID chips I could use in case I lost my phone.
Or if I was careless and it was stolen by a Grindr hookup.
“Whoa, did that door just unlock without a key or a card?”
Josh seemed easily impressed. But then, if he hadn’t lied on his profile, he was only twenty. No matter what, he was younger than who I normally “dated.”
I nodded and reached past him to open the door and usher him inside. As soon as he stepped over the threshold, he immediately jogged over to the wall of windows that stretched across the south side of my place.
When I had my penthouse designed, I wanted it as open as possible. The less walls to restrict my views, the better.
I wanted plenty of open space and not to feel confined. I got exactly what I wanted and luckily only had to deal with a few support beams instead. The only area of the top floor that was sectioned off was where the bathrooms and bedrooms were. And, of course, at the end of the hallway, where I had built my extensive home office. But even the views from the large windows in those rooms were spectacular.
