“So you keep saying,” Brit said. “But you forget that I have to share an office space with you two and your pheromones. The sexual tension’s excruciating.”
Daisy nodded. “Lincoln said that Nick eye-humps you all day long whenever he’s in the office.”
“Really?” Taylor asked, biting her lip.
“Aha!” Brit pointed her finger. “So you’re not immune.”
“No, I’m not immune,” Taylor said, exasperated. “But it’s like I told you guys last week—he’s not interested.”
“Bullshit,” Brit said.
“Okay, fine, he’s not interested enough. He basically told me to check back in a month if I still wanted some.”
“How long’s it been?” Daisy asked.
“Two weeks.”
“And do you? Still want some?”
Taylor sipped her water again. “It’ll pass.”
They both gave her a skeptical look, and Taylor didn’t blame them.
The truth? Not only did she spend an unhealthy amount of time fantasizing about Nick these days, but there was an undercurrent of something even more dangerous.
She liked him.
Somehow the guy who’d gone from being the one person she couldn’t stand had become the one she most looked forward to seeing each day. He was funny, and gruffly sweet, and—perhaps most appealing of all—seemed to have very little tolerance for Taylor’s bullshit, which she found surprisingly refreshing.
And all that made the temporary sex ban not just inconvenient but scary. Taylor was terrified that when the moment came, it would be too important, and not at all the casual roll in the hay they’d been moving toward ever since he’d smacked her ass on move-in day.
Daisy gave her a sympathetic look. “Do you want to talk about it?”
Taylor almost said yes—almost unloaded all of this on her friends, hoping they’d explain to her why the situation was as dangerous as it felt.
Instead she shook her head. “You know what I’m thinking? I’m thinking that we’re three fabulous career women at the top of their game who can surely find something to discuss besides men.”
Daisy winced. “I’m an awful friend. I haven’t even asked about the new job! How’s it going?”
“Honestly? Pretty amazing,” Taylor said with a grin. “I mean, I know it’s been all of a day and a half, but it feels right.”
It had taken HR a while to work out all of the transitional paperwork, but as of yesterday, Taylor was officially a senior digital marketing manager on Hunter Cross’s team.
The whole thing might have started out of her need to get away from Bradley, but the more time she’d spent with Hunter’s team during the transition process, the more she’d realized just how right the move was.
It was a fresh challenge, and one that excited her. It didn’t hurt that she and Hunter got along fabulously. She’d known he was friendly, with a great sense of humor, but the man was also seriously smart.
“No wonder you adore him,” Taylor said to Brit as she brought her friends up to speed on all this.
Brit rolled her eyes as she always did. “I don’t adore him. We just…get along.”
“No, I get along with Hunter. You guys click.”
“Platonically,” Brit argued.
“Fine,” Taylor said with a mock sigh. “It’s just that he’s too good for you to let some lesser woman snatch him up.”
“He’s not even seeing anyone right now. Is he?” Brit asked, her head whipping up from her menu.
Out of the corner of her eye, Taylor saw Daisy hide a smile. Taylor wisely suppressed her own grin. Platonic, my ass.
Still, she let Brit change the subject to some drama she was having with her hideous stepmother. They paused long enough to order an assortment of sushi rolls before attention turned to Daisy, who filled them in on the wedding she was currently planning for a bridezilla who was insisting Daisy find a way to allow her precious cat to be the flower “girl.”
Now that they were all caught up on the essentials of each other’s lives, a slight silence came over the group as they all tried very hard not to talk about the one topic still on everybody’s mind.
Taylor relented with a sigh. “Fine. Let me have it.”
“Okay. I think you should seduce him,” Brit said, rubbing her hands together and leaning forward excitedly.
“Seduce him? Like what—trench coat, no clothes underneath?”
“I’ve always wanted to do that,” Daisy said.
“You should!” Brit said. “It’s very freeing. I mean, assuming of course that it’s not cold and windy outside and you don’t get drafts up your hoo-hah.”
The server chose that moment to bring them their lunch, and the way his hand faltered as he set a plate on the table said he’d clearly heard.
Brit beamed up at him. “Thank you. The tuna roll looks delicious.”
“Oh my God,” Daisy said with a laugh after the waiter had hurried away. “He’s going to think you were making some sort of reference to your tuna roll.”
“And that I want to use his chopstick,” Taylor said as she clicked her chopsticks together and gave a wicked grin.
Daisy shook her head as she poured soy sauce into her dish. “If we’re going to have this conversation, I want to get back to how Nick’s chopstick is going to find its way to Taylor’s tuna roll.”
“Nope,” Taylor said, popping a piece of salmon in her mouth. “No way. We’re dropping this whole disgusting metaphor immediately, never to be referenced again for fear of ruining my love of sushi. Everyone agreed?”
“Agreed,” the other two echoed.
“But for real, what do you think about the trench coat plan?” Brit asked. “As far as seduction goes, it’s pretty foolproof.”
“I think it would work a hell of a lot better if we weren’t roommates. What’s he going to think, that I forgot to put on my clothes, put on my coat, but then also forgot to go outside?”
“You’re being too practical,” Daisy said, waving her chopsticks. “He’s going to think, ‘Oh, Taylor Carr is naked, and I’d be an idiot not to hit that.’?”
“A romantic way to phrase it, dear,” Brit said, patting Daisy’s hand. “But yeah, Tay, she has the right idea. Somehow this guy’s still using his brain around you. We need him to use his other brain. Unless, of course, you’re fine waiting another half a month.”
“I think I can survive a couple of weeks without sex,” Taylor grumbled. “Why are you two pushing this so hard? Doesn’t standard gal-pal code dictate that you tell me I should embrace the single life for a while? That I shouldn’t get back on the horse so soon after a breakup?”
“Here’s the thing, Carr,” Brit said, dragging a piece of California roll through soy sauce. “I think you underestimate just how badly you and Nick Ballantine have been giving the rest of us who have to be in your orbit blue balls.”
“It’s been two weeks.”
“Nuh-uh,” Brit said around the sushi. “Way longer than that.”
“What’s your excuse?” Taylor asked, turning to Daisy. “You hardly ever see me and Nick together, and no way are you getting blue balls with Lincoln Mathis in your bed.”
“Too true.” Daisy smirked. “But as for why I’m sticking my nose into this business with you and Nick…curiosity, mostly.”
“Meaning?”
“Well…okay, but remember you asked.”