Page 28 of Written By a Woman

I felt the heat of embarrassment coat my body upon hearing her question, even though I was a grown man, and it was normal for grown men to be interested in grown women. For some reason, the way my sister asked the question made me feel more self-conscious about it than I wanted to.

I didn’t back down though.

I met her gaze and nodded my head once, confirming her theory.

“I see,” Salma inhaled a deep breath, before blowing it out dramatically through flappy lips once. She studied something over my shoulder again, letting us sit in silence for a few moments before she nodded to herself and pulled out her phone.

“What are you doing?” I asked, narrowing my eyes on the sudden change of demeanor. She immediately went from relaxed and thoughtful, to sitting up straight and determined.

“I’m texting Raina,” Salma explained, ignoring the groan of protest I made in my throat, “First, to let her know that there is more to this situation than she and I realized,” Salma continued to thumb away on her phone, her eyes never leaving her screen as she spoke to me, “Second, to see if we can help you out.”

“Help me out?” I asked, sitting back in my chair, and folding my arms, “I don’t need your help.”

“Yes, you do,” Salma gave me a look of bored disbelief before returning to her message to our sister, “You have no game. Signe’s probably used to men hitting on her left and right,” those words made my stomach churn because she was probably right, “So you need to work very carefully here.”

“I know that.” In theory, though I was still fleshing out the plan regarding how this would all work. Before Salma had shown up in my office to give me the leftovers that were currently sitting forgotten on my desk, I was simply working myself up to approach Signe more. To just chat and get to know her better.

…Perhaps I didn’t have “game” after all.

“First, she needs to see you as a friend.” Salma glanced up at the ceiling as she quirked her lips to the side and pocketed her phone, “Actually, that part probably won’t be hard. She just became best friends with my three-year-old in less than a minute. But you’re also her superior here. So that’s where we need to be careful.”

“Salma, I’m serious,” I used a tone I had used with my employees in the past, when I needed them to stop slacking, “I don’t need your help. If anything happens with Signe and me, I want it to be because she and I made it happen, not because my sisters were bored and pried.”

Salma quirked her lips to the side again in thought before replying, “Fine…but you do realize that eventually, you’ll need to tell her that you know about her book, right?”

I gulped, anxiety started to fill my chest at the realization, “Why?”

“Are you kidding?” Salma asked, “You like her, right?”

“Yeah.”

“And you want to date her? Not just casually, but like…dateher?”

I frowned, “Yes.” It was no secret to my sisters that I never got into the casual dating scene. I either wanted a connection with someone, or I didn’t.

“Then eventually you need to tell her you know. One, because at some point it’ll be her career, and this is a very foundational piece of her career. Two, because she will probably feel weird about it and want to tell you herself to clear the air, and if you wait for her to do that before you admit that you already knew about her romance novel, I don’t know if she will appreciate that.”

I blinked, because shit, Salma had a point.

But for some reason the thought of telling Signe that I knew about the book was distressing. It was something I would need to work myself up to.

“I’m just saying,” Salma shrugged, “You don’t need to tell her right away. In fact, I’d wait a little, in case for some reason, you pursue this and find out that you two aren’t as compatible as you’d hoped. But don’t wait until her dad is walking her down the aisle towards you to tell her, either.”

I nodded and rubbed my chin in thought because that seemed reasonable. I didn’t have to tell her right away, but if things started to get serious between us, that’s when I would need to find the confidence to tell her that I knew about her side gig. Before we go on a first date, probably.

Just then, a knock sounded on my office door again, followed by Signe’s muffled voice saying, “Quick! Now we gotta hide!” over the sound of my nephew’s energetic cackle.

Salma smiled, chuckling to herself as we both stood from our desks to go answer the door. My heart was already speeding with the knowledge that I was interacting with Signe so much today. That perhaps stepping out of my comfort zone wouldn’t be as big of a step as I thought it would be.

My sister opened the door and stepped to the side, putting a hand up to her brow as if searching far and wide for her son. We could both hear Zeki’s giggles behind one of the large potted plants by my office. I also noticed how Jacqueline was peeking around her desktop to see what was going on out here with a small grin on her face.

“Come find us!” Zeki cried, followed by Signe shushing him through her own giggles.

“Where is Zeki?” Salma played along, hands on her hips as she stomped a little bit harder so her son could hear her approaching.

“Not here!” He called out, making Signe cackle at the hilarity of the toddler’s logic.

“Not…here?” Salma jumped around the potted plant, making Zeki’s laughter reach a shrill pitch as he ran out and threw himself into his mother’s waiting arms. Signe stood to her full height, smiling wide at my sister and nephew as they embraced.

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