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He could laugh it off. He’d made a career of finessing himself out of prickly situations, of salvaging the unsalvageable. He could go through the motions of pretending it was only a bluff, a way to ruffle her feathers. He could.
But he wouldn’t.
“Yes,” Drew finally answered. “Does that scare you to think of us in those terms?”
She stared at him for a heartbeat before asking softly, “What terms, Drew? What exactly are we doing here?”
He rubbed his fingers over his lips, contemplating her question and a subsequent answer that wouldn’t send this suddenly consequential discussion careening into a guardrail.
The truth was, he wasn’t sure how to define them. In his opinion, they’d moved past the random hookup stage after that Sunday afternoon when she’d come back to his hotel room to retrieve her bag. He’d had a couple of friends-with-benefits relationships over the past fifteen years, but this felt different. Deeper. In the span of just a few weeks, he’d formed a more intense connection with London than with any former girlfriend.
Did that say something about her, or about how resistant he’d been over the years to put himself out there? Maybe it was both.
“I don’t know,” Drew answered honestly. “Maybe this weekend away will make exactly what this is a bit clearer.”
“Or maybe it will become clear when you finish this job at County and go back to New York,” she said.
“That won’t have the effect you think it will,” Drew said. “Trident owns a private jet. And if it’s in use, I can charter a flight to Austin every single week if I have to. Or you can fly to New York on your days off. It’s only a few hours.”
“It’s even closer from Chicago,” she murmured.
Drew frowned. “Chicago?”
She shook her head. “Forget I said that.”
“No, what did you mean?”
She looked past his shoulder, toward the door. “I’ll tell you about it later. On the drive to the winery.”
He couldn’t hold back his triumphant grin, even though he knew she’d probably give him shit about being cocky. Drew pushed himself up from the chair and flattened his palms on her desk.
Leaning forward, he whispered against her lips, “I’ll see you in the morning.”
“The morning?” She jerked her head back before his lips could connect with her mouth. “Not tonight?”
Drew grimaced. “Yeah, sorry. I forgot to mention this earlier, but I have what promises to be a long conference call with my two partners tonight.”
“So, no sexy shenanigans for the second night in a row? You’re killing me, Sullivan.”
“I will make it up to you this weekend,” Drew promised. He leaned closer, seeking permission.
She met him halfway, gracing his lips with a sweet, quick kiss. “You’d better.”
24
London studied the smorgasbord before her on Samiah’s glass-topped coffee table, unsure where to even begin. There were three types of Thai fried noodles, coconut curry chicken, some kind of spicy shrimp that was so fragrant London was certain the people down the hallway could smell it, and an array of vegetable side dishes. Not to mention the chicken satay and spring rolls, because appetizers were always necessary.
“Do you think you ordered enough, or should we just call and empty out what’s left of the restaurant?” London asked.
Samiah lifted a heaping forkful of pad see ew onto her plate. “Everything looked so good, I just ordered it all.” She shrugged. “I figured I can eat the leftovers all weekend while I tweak my Just Friends app.” She pointed her fork at Taylor. “Thanks for the feedback. I incorporated a drop-down menu on the suggestions page, along with a place for users to provide open-ended responses.”
“Do I get credit in the app for this?” Taylor asked as she added edamame to her plate. “Like the credits at the end of a movie?”
“No,” Samiah answered.
“I should have negotiated that before I gave you my feedback.” She returned to her favorite crossed-legged position on the floor next to the coffee table. “It kinda sucks that you have to spend the weekend working instead of in Philly, but knowing you, you would have probably carved out time to fiddle with that app no matter what.”
“When will Daniel be back?” London asked.
