Page 93 of Playboy For Hire

“Did you ruin Quinn’s date?” She gave me a penetrating look.

“I might have. In retrospect, I never should have gone to see him that night. I was kidding myself, thinking I was just doing it as a friend.”

“Don’t you think maybe you should tell him all this?”

I shook my head. “No. It’s better this way. Trust me.”

“I don’t. But I guess I can’t change your mind.” She sighed. “On a selfish note, if you were going to have it out tonight, I kind of wish one of you had kissed the other, or thrown a drink or something.”

“What?” I looked up in surprise.

“You remember when you asked me why Martin kept staring at me?”

That felt like a lifetime ago. “Yeah. Why?

“I think he likes me.”

“Oh.” I blinked. “Shit. Want me to go play the protective boyfriend? Kiss you in front of everyone, then beat him up and steal his lunch money?”

Tessa laughed. “Oh my God, please don’t.”

“Okay. What do you want me to do about it then?”

“Nothing, actually. The thing is…I think I might like him too?”

My eyes went wide. “Oh, wow. That’s, um. Okay.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“Didn’t you swear you would never date someone else in politics?”

“Yeah. I did.” She smiled sheepishly.

“So what is it about Martin that makes you change your mind?”

Tessa leaned back against the railing of the steps that led down to the bar. “It’s hard to explain. I mean, I’ve known him for ages. I always thought of him as a friend, because he was one of the few guys who never hit on me. To be honest, I thought he might be gay or ace or something. But it turns out he was married a while back, and got divorced a couple of years ago. And one day he asked me about how the dating scene had changed in the last few years, and we started talking and…” She broke off and grinned.

“I just kind of feel a vibe, you know? He wasn’t feeling up to dating for a while, but he said he’s always admired our relationship—you and me, I mean. And we started talking about what made a good relationship, what we wanted in a partner, and I feel like things clicked.”

She bit her lip. “There was this moment where I swear he almost kissed me. We were in the elevator and he reached over to press a button and I swear, we were this close.” She held her forefinger and thumb a hair’s breadth apart. “He texted me later that night to apologize and say that he really valued our friendship and would never want to jeopardize that. But it’s like, why apologize if he didn’t think he’d done something wrong, you know? I think he wants something more. And maybe I do too?”

She screwed up her face, clearly feeling awkward at having confessed this. I smiled. I was genuinely happy for her.

“Alright,” I said. “So I guess this means the end of things with you and me.”

I was a bit sad about that. I’d miss the steady income, but more importantly, I’d miss Tessa. I did like her, though not the way Quinn seemed to think I did.

She stared at me. “Oh, no, I didn’t mean it like that!”

“I think Martin might find it strange if you wanted to have two boyfriends,” I said with a laugh. “I mean, maybe he’s more open-minded than I think, but still, for a new relationship…”

“Not like that, silly.” She swatted at me. “Yes, you and I would need to ‘break up,’ and I guess I wouldn’t need your services anymore. But I’d still like to be friends. We can be that, can’t we? I would miss you too much, otherwise.”

“Of course. I would miss you too.”

“Good.” She nodded. “I don’t even know if Martin really is interested. But I thought I might kind of give him some hints that things with you and me were maybe on the rocks, and see how he reacted?”

“Ah. Hence you wanting it to look like I have a secret male lover.”

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