Page 82 of More Than Pen Pals

“Ooo, I do love a man who makes demands.” Her entire body shudders.

I raise my eyebrows at her.

Wendy taps her chin. “Too much information?”

“Totally … since you’re saying it in relation to my brother. Otherwise I don’t care what you’re into.”

“Sorry. Wasn’t thinking. But Iwasthinking I need to ask if Ash said anything to you about the family dinner with that Melissa woman.”

I’ve been wondering about that, too, and I don’t like the way I feel when I think about it. “No, he didn’t say, and I didn’t ask. I was a little preoccupied with … you know.”

“Oh, I know. Your mouth was engaged in more stimulating activities. You want me to ask Randall about it?”

I ignore the mouth comment. “No, please don’t ask him. Ash needed to know about Glenn, but I don’t need to know about Melissa. I’d rather not know.”

“All right. Back to Shannon. When do I get to see him?”

I was thinking about not mentioning dinner to her until the last second, or I’ll never hear the end of it, but I’m afraid she might make other plans. Plus, she won’t give me a moment’s peace if I don’t tell her when she can see him, so I say, “At dinner with Ash next Saturday.”

She squeals. “Yes! It’ll be a double date—you and Ash, and me and Shannon!”

“Not a date.”

“Totally a date. Nothing will convince me otherwise.” She points her chopsticks at me. “We need to go shopping. This Saturday. No excuses.”

“It’s still not a date, but I’m always up for shopping.”

“So why was Ash in your office this afternoon? Did you have a meeting?”

“Yes, about Diego Sanchez. And we still need to meet, but that will require a chaperone, as ridiculous as that sounds for a couple of twenty-five-year-olds.”

“You can’t keep your hands off him, can you?”

“Kind of the other way around.”

“I’m guessing it’s both.”

“Okay, fine. I want to touch that man at all times.”

She cackles. “I love it.”

“Will you help us? Do you have an hour to spare tomorrow for a meeting? You wouldn’t only be our mood killer, but I’m sure you’ll also have some excellent input. We’re going to talk about ways we might get Diego to use his money and position to help people. I think he’ll be open to it, but we need to go to him with a plan.”

“Girl, that’s right up my alley. I’m all in. And I resent being called a mood killer. Don’t you dare call me that in front of your brother.”

“There’s one way you can keep me from it.”

She nods gravely. “By me not calling him sssss … you know, that word.”

“Yup.”

“So where do things stand with Ash now? Are you all in now that Glenn is ancient history?”

“No. Today was a … I don’t want to call it a mistake, because I’m not sorry we kissed. But it wasn’t planned. We didn’t talk about it ahead of time. It simply happened. But we can’t do it again for a while, and I told him that.”

“And he was okay with it?”

“He said he was, but I could tell he was frustrated.”

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