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At least she acknowledges it herself. But I rejoice too soon…
“And what if I promise you that I’ll try really, really hard? Really, really, really hard? That I’ll clean up my apartment like clockwork and that I’ll—”
“Bella…” I interrupt her, and she looks up. “How many times have we tried this?” At least once a quarter, I answer my own question.
“But this time—!”
Raising my right hand, I stop Bella’s affirmation. “No. It’s not working.” I force a smile to take the harshness out of the breakup. “I value you far too much, Bella. As a buddy, as a partner on the job…” With a wave of my hand, I direct her attention to the parlor. “…and as a friend. I couldn’t forgive myself if you pretended because of me.”
“But I—” She doesn’t complete the sentence, dropping her shoulders. “Do you think I enjoy being such a mess?”
I shrug.How am I supposed to know?
“You know what? Ooh, yeah!” Eyes lighting up and cheeks slightly flushed, she looks up at me. “What do you think about me taking an organization class? Doesn’t the Chamber of Business offer something like this? Or the community college. You’d just have to have a teeny bit of patience until I’ve learned…”
“No,” I say a little too harshly. “No, Bella,” I continue more gently.
“But why not?”
I sigh. “Because I don’t like pretending for you any more than you should pretend for me. Please. I like you too much as a person. Please, don’t ruin this thing between us. We’re perfect together as buddies and colleagues. But not as a couple.”
“No?” Now she does sniffle.
Ah, shit.I pick up the Kleenex pack off the table and toss it over to her. “No,” I repeat, pleading with whomever that she just let it be.
“Okay,” she mumbles after blowing her nose, and I breathe a sigh of relief. “So just friends?”
I nod. “And colleagues.”
She grins crookedly. “Buddies?”
Yes.Again, I nod.I did just say that.
“And…” She blindly removes the traces of her smeared eye makeup with a fresh Kleenex, then turns her challenging gaze on me. “…friendship with benefits, if applicable?”
Oh my fucking God!With a groan, I let myself flop back into the chair. It was as clear as a bell she was aiming for that. “No, Bella.” I feel like a desperate new dog owner on the puppy training ground. “You know how friendship with benefits has ended the last three times we’ve tried it.”
She pulls a pout, fluttering her mascaraed eyelashes. “You’re way too sexy, Philly…”
A short time later, Bella wipes clean the surfaces and door handles while I process the appointment requests I receive by e-mail, on Instagram, and via Facebook Messenger.
WhatsApp also shows me lots of messages. I quickly scroll over the senders and can’t help smiling. Awesome! “Guess who has confirmed,” I say to Bella.
She pauses in spraying disinfectant solution on the cleaned areas and looks at me questioningly. “No idea. Who did you have written up?” Balancing the spray bottle in her right hand, she ponders with her eyes closed. “Jay Coffin from The Hague, The Netherlands, Coloursoul from Salzburg, Austria,” she enumerates. “Jeannette Dubois from Biarritz, France, and Akos Fazekas—” Her stream of words stops abruptly. She opens her eyes wide and stares at me. “Are you implying that Akos Fazekas is coming to us?TheAkos Fazekas?” She squeals as I nod. “He’s gorgeous! How amazing! So, he’s really coming here to tattoo?”
I check his acceptance message again. “Depends. Since he doesn’t have any open slots until August, we might as well welcome him to the new parlor instead.”
“You really think it’ll happen this fast?” Bella has stripped off her gloves and put down her spray bottle and rag. She comes toward me, arms outstretched. “Doesn’t matter, either. The main thing is getting the opportunity to convince him to add us to his list of permanent parlors.”
A cloud of her favorite deodorant envelops me as she hugs me tight. I can’t help but notice that she’s gotten around to restocking her bathroom shelf by now.
“Woo-hoo!” she giggles when she finally lets me go. “And what’s that?” She lifts her right knee, rubbing her thigh against my crotch. “Did someone wake up in your pants?”
Unfortunately, in face of tangible facts, I can’t deny that Jolly Jumper is reacting to Bella’s feminine curves out of old habit. I clear my throat and gently push her off me.
“Come on…” Bella contorts her mouth into a frog’s mouth.
I’ve got no idea who told her doing this would look sexy.
