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“Not like you can tell the difference, Markman.”
“Guilty. I have no idea what good wine versus bad wine is and today won’t be the day I learn.” I wasn’t a big drinker, since I preferred to work out at odd hours and spent most of the rest of my time deep in legal documents.
She grinned at me and got up to grab our mugs. She bent over the desk and I got a perfect view of her ass: round, high. I wanted to sink my teeth into it.
“You know I don’t hate leggings, right?”
She turned, mugs in hand, surprise written on her face. “Why add it to the rules then? I assumed you thought it was unprofessional.”
“You really think I’m that uptight?” Her face said she had and I shook my head. “I couldn’t care less what people wear. But when you wear them and I can see every curve.” I closed my eyes. “It’s hell.”
I opened them to see her sitting a little closer to me, blushing. She sipped her wine and looked at me under her lashes.
“That bad?”
“You seem mighty pleased about torturing me,” I grumbled.
“Oh I am.” She laughed and I watched her face light up. She was fucking gorgeous all the time, but especially when she smiled.
She made happy sounds as she chewed her slice. “I do love a floor picnic,” she said contentedly. “Even though we have to be here, this makes it better.”
I dipped my head in agreement, throat tight. I missed those days. We’d been so carefree, with no baggage, no damnable awkwardness between us.
“You really saved my ass that year, you know.”
“What do you mean?” I was surprised at her admission but tried not to let it show.
“I mean, starting here was a really hard landing for me. Moving to a big city where I knew no one, being thrust into this world.” She shook her head ruefully. “Did you know I started I only had three work outfits? And I thought client lunches meant they tookusto lunch.” She gave a short laugh. “I just had no frame of reference for this life. And then there you were, swimming through it all, confident, at ease. I so badly wanted to be you.” Her lips curved up. “But instead of competing with me, you reached out your hand. I’ll never forget that.”
Despite what happened after. The words were left unsaid, but they hung between us.
“You helped me a lot too,” I admitted.
“I did?” She cocked her head. “I’m surprised to hear that. It never looked like you struggled.”
“Oh I did. I might have been good at the work and comfortable with wealth, but I was so unsure of myself. It was really nice having a friend who didn’t want to use me for my money.” She made a face in response. “You made a lot of late nights easier for me.”
“I miss those days,” she murmured.
“Well, then I guess it’s good we have a second chance.”
She sucked in a breath. “Yeah, it is.” Her smile set my heart pounding.
We ate in comfortable silence for a few more minutes.
“So, no plans tonight Andrew?”
“Nah.” I took another bite and chewed. “I knew I wanted to get this draft out the door. Maybe tomorrow. Are you going out after this?”
“Out?” She laughed and sipped her wine. “I don’t remember the last time I wentout. I guess whenever the last time was the Cynthia forced me to.”
“You’re lucky to have her.” I’d always been a little bit jealous of their friendship. They supported each other unconditionally. I’d seen them in their late night gossip sessions, or drinking wine out of their coffee mugs on particularly cold days. At one point, that had been Margo and me. I didn’t have that, except with my brother.
“So let’s go out.” Margo’s voice startled me out of my morose thoughts.
“Sorry, come again? Did you just ask me to go out with you?”
“I mean, if you want to.” Her cheeks were delightfully pink. “It’s just kinda lame that we were both planning to spend the night here. We should get out and enjoy the city.”
