Page 93 of I'm Looking for a Man in Finance
“Done,” I announced as I closed my laptop. “What’s my reward?” I was trying my best not to focus too hard on the panic starting to settle in.
What if she didn’t like it?
What if she changed her mind?
What if all of this was for nothing?
James offered me the chip bag.
“I was thinking,” I drew out as I rolled over on top of him, one thigh on either side of his, looking for the perfect distraction. “Something else?”
James’s arms wrapped around my waist, pulling me down on his erection. Heat pooled in my core as I ground my hips down on him. He dropped his head back against the couch. His fingers dug into my hips.
“Round two?” I leaned in to whisper in his ear.
His hand wound its way into my hair and yanked it back, exposing my neck. Those baby blues were an endless ocean for me to get lost in. “This is a pretty big house. With a lot of rooms for us to try out. I think we have our work cut out for us.”
This time when I kissed him, I sunk my teeth into his bottom lip. “Then we better get started.”
33
Hallie
At work on Monday, my head was still in the clouds. I’d spent all of Friday and Saturday with James, and then woken up Sunday to an email from Anthea saying shelovedmy article on The Social Eatery, which had officially gone live onSophisticate’s website.
Her praise put some wind back in my sails and gave me some hope that our original agreement was back on track. There was still a chance I could end up asSophisticate’s food critic.
I’d squealed when I saw my name on the article—myactualname, printed on a review published by a magazine people actually recognized. Sure, it wasn’t the first time my name had been attached to a food review, but this was the first time it wasn’t buried on my personal blog. So many more people would read it than those my little blog reached.
Roxie had come charging into my room, wielding a frying pan, certain our mouse friend was back. When she realized that I was celebrating The Social Eatery article, she’d immediately discarded the pan in exchange for a bottle of champagne and some orange juice. For a moment, it felt like I was truly going to make my dreams become reality.
Then, earlier this morning, James messaged me to ask if I could swap our fifth Friday date for a full-day Saturday one instead. We’d fallen into an easy rhythm. Every morning I’d wake up to a text from James, wishing me a good morning and asking what my day entailed.
But I hadn’t slept over at his place since Friday night, and he hadn’t stayed at mine—probably for the best, considering Roxie could hear everything through our paper-thin walls.
Still, a tiny part of me was panicking over how I wanted to be around him. All the time. It had only been a month. And half of that had technically been … unintentional dating.
I didn’t know what we were, not exactly. But my life was so busy that I didn’t have time to spiral out about it. People slept with each other all the time without it being athing. Right?
But could you still claim the relationship to be casual if there were feelings involved? Because this was definitely not a “no strings attached” situation. For me, or for James. I could justtellhe was in as deep as me just from the way he looked at me.
“Hallie, that article you wrote on The Social Eatery was incredible,” Janelle said as she leaned over our shared cubicle wall. “I can’t believe you got to cover their opening night. Is Anthea considering you for the food critic position? I heard they were considering an outside food blogger, some big influencer, for the role.”
Janelle’s insight into my competition didn’t even bother me. Not when I had the encouragement from Anthea over the weekend that my piece was good and the clicks on the article itself to back up its legitimacy.
For the first time in months, everything felt like it was falling into place.
“I’ve put my name in for it,” I replied casually. “We’ll see what shakes out.”
My computer went off with a notification for my email.
RE: “Love on Wall Street” Article ETA Wednesday
Hallie,
We will be moving the “Love on Wall Street” article to this Wednesday. The magazine has a big feature story coming out on a celebrity wedding today. We want to make space for the exclusive and give it time to breathe.
X
