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“Nothing.”
“Bullshit. You look…” Devi looked at me sideways. “Horny.”
“I am not horny,” I lied. Who wouldn’t be after getting eye-fucked like that? My head was still dangerously deprived ofblood.
Devi sat down behind her desk. She looked gorgeous, as always, her dark hair smoothed out, flawless cappuccino skin set off with velvety red lipstick, sleeveless black top tricked out with a chunky necklace and leopard-print leggings, all of which she’d probably worn specifically for the meeting she’d just had. Fashion was just one of the many ways Devi built rapport withpeople.
I, on the other hand, considered myself coordinated if I managed to pull on matchingshoes.
“Spill.” She gathered up the slew of model photos that littered the surface of her desk, stuffing them into a file folder. “I’ve got like ten minutes before my next meeting. What’sup?”
“Nothing. We just miss you.” It was true; my best friend had been pulling a lot of overtime, which was great for her career but not so great forme.
“I miss you guys too.” She reached beneath the desk and pet Max. “But that’s not the reason you busted inhere.”
“Again, sorry. Just wanted to talk to you. I figured this may be my only chance to do it face-to-face.”
“Talkabout…?”
I took a breath and sighed. “I think… I may beready.”
Devi lit up, then caught herself and cooled her reaction. “Oh?” She was trying really hard not to jump for joy. It was kind ofcute.
“I know you’ve been telling me this for a long time. I just had to get theremyself.”
“Forsure.”
“For so long I just wasn’t ready, you know? And then maybe I was, sort of, but I was scared. And then it just got easy to keep avoiding it. Butnow…”
“Now?” Devi fluttered her dark eyelasheshopefully.
I sipped my latte. “Are you sure you have time forthis?”
“Hell,yes.”
“Okay. I think I need to go on adate.”
“Halle-fucking-lujah!”
“Alright. Ugh. I’m so bad at this.” Just saying it out loud to Devi made me nervous. Especially when she got all sparkly aboutit.
“What? Dating?” Devi sipped her coffee, waving a manicured hand in the air. “You always say that, but you never date. How do you get good at anything unless you practice?” She waggled her eyebrows, making megrin.
When it came to dating, Devi was a total pro. I, on the other hand, was pretty much a born-again virgin, more or less bydefault.
“You’re going to meet someone who blows your lid off, babe. You just have to put yourself out there.” Devi’s cell phone buzzed and she glanced at the screen. “Oh! I should take this.” She picked up. “Hey,Maggie!”
I wandered over to the stack of magazines on the coffee table. These days, I was getting used to sharing Devi with her other life. Just one more hint from the universe that I needed to get a life of myown.
I sank onto the couch and flipped through a French Vogue. Max came to lay at my feet and I toed his soft fur with my sneaker. Devi was such a natural with people. She’d forgotten more hot men than I’d ever dreamed of meeting. The concept ofnotputting herself out there wouldn’t even cross her mind. But for me, the whole idea of exposing myself to rejection and failure made my stomachchurn.
Still, she was right. I wasn’t about to meet guys sitting at home with mydog.
Not like I hadn’ttried.
“Okay? Oh.Okay…”
I glanced up at the odd tone in Devi’s voice. Bad news? Her eyes met mine, but I couldn’t quite read the look inthem.
