AllFreeNovel
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“You know what it means,” she says. “How long is this going to last?”
“Are you asking me to put a time limit on my relationship?”
“No, I’m asking you if you’re serious about her.”
“Why?”
She sighs. “Because we’ve been friends since we were nineteen, Ronan. Sometimes friends talk about things. In sentences. Without deflecting by asking more questions. So I’ll ask you again. Are you serious about Selene?”
“Extremely.”
She raises her eyebrows again. “Extremely? Now you need to tell me what that means.”
I look away. I’m usually pretty open with Sarah. She’s known me long enough. “She’s different. It’s been a long time since I saw myself having a future with someone.”
“Since Chelsea?” she asks, her voice quiet.
“Yes, since Chelsea,” I say. For the first time, saying her name doesn’t hurt. “Fuck, Sarah, I’m not going to lie to you. I’m crazy about her.”
“Wow,” she says. “I’m really happy for you.”
“What are people in the office saying about her?” I ask.
“In regards to the two of you?” she asks. “People are just speculating. You don’t exactly hide the way you look like you want to eat her for dinner. The problem is, people fill in the blanks. Your reputation followed you back to Seattle, so people make assumptions.”
“My reputation?”
Sarah tilts her head and raises her eyebrows. “Come on, don’t tell me you’ve never heard what people call you.”
I’m not sure I want to hear this. “I don’t believe I have.”
“CEPD?”
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
“Chief Executive Panty Dropper,” Sarah says.
In another context, that might be funny, but I don’t find it amusing. “That’s idiotic.”
“Yes, it is,” she says. “It’s immature and silly. But you asked what people are saying. Office buzz is that you’re having a sort-of-secret fling with Selene. Mostly people wonder if she’ll quit when—or, I guess, if it ends between you.”
I shift in my chair. That’s about enough sharing for today. “All right, get out of here. Have a good date.”
She shakes her head. “Okay, you too. And congrats on the meeting.”
“Thanks.”
Sarah leaves, and I close my laptop and grab my phone. The meeting is in the large conference room. I brought up some of the key people from the dev team in San Francisco, and they’ll be reporting their progress on the work they’re doing with the developers here.
As I suspected, Selene is already here, standing at the front of the room chatting with one of the dev guys. I hesitate just inside the door, looking at her. She’s wearing a fitted cream blouse with the top two buttons undone, a dark gray pencil skirt, and a pair of sexy black heels with straps across the tops of her feet. The strappy shoes put some interesting thoughts into my head.
I step to the side and people file in, taking their places around the table. Selene glances over and meets my eyes with a little smile, just the slightest curve to her lips.
The things I want to do to that mouth.
I take a seat at the back and rest my elbow on the armrest, my fingers on my chin. This project is becoming Selene’s baby as much as mine, so I’m content to let her take the lead.
She starts the meeting with her usual relaxed efficiency, revisiting the goals we’ve laid out for the company, and summarizing the progress we’ve made. Her eyes sweep over the entire room, but I catch her gaze at every opportunity. I’m mesmerized, watching her lips as she speaks, her hands gesture, her legs move, pressing against that skirt as she takes slow steps across the front of the room. And those shoes. Fuck, she looks hot in those heels.
