Page 61 of Finding You
“I’m out,” Maggie said with her face in her phone. “I’m on call today.”
“Sadly, me too,” Nora said. “I’m meeting some private equity suits this afternoon to talk about my business.”
“Nora, that is so exciting. What kind of investment are we talking?” Maggie asked.
“Do you need help?” I asked tentatively. This was my area of expertise.
Nora smiled at me. “I may need to pick your brain after the meeting. They came to me. And I am desperate for some capital to ramp up my online business, so I figured I’d take a meeting.”
I nodded. “If you have questions, go to the ladies’ room and text me. I’ll keep my phone on. I can pretty much guarantee you’ll be the only woman in the room.”
She reached across the booth and squeezed my hand. “Thanks, hon.”
Jackie came over with coffee and took our drink order. I was starting to love this place. Aside from the food, the atmosphere was so homey and nice. Everyone waved to us when we came in, and several people came to the table to introduce themselves to me and say hello. The decor was vintage, but everything looked shiny and new. And the food was incredible.
“Astrid, you are famous. The brilliant beauty who tamed the beast,” Cece gushed.
“I would hardly call Declan a beast,” I replied, feeling a bit defensive.
“You have no idea what he was like before you entered the picture. Seriously. He was such a grumpy asshole. He used to pick on Liam all the time. Good-natured brother stuff, but still. His bad moods were relentless.”
I knew she meant well, but I was a bit annoyed. Declan wasn’t a bad guy, he was just an introvert who had a lot on his plate. I didn’t want to be rude, but I wanted her to shut up already. I’m sure Liam wasn’t perfect either.
Nora seemed to read me. “Astrid, you look a bit… tired?”
I couldn’t hide the smile from my face. It felt unnatural. I wasn’t a smiler. My resting bitch face was legendary. But I couldn’t help it. Every single time I thought about Declan, which was approximately 47,000 times per minute, I smiled. I still couldn’t believe I had jumped him. I was not usually one for initiating sex. But he did not seem to mind. In fact, he seemed to like my proactive approach.
Nora grabbed my mimosa. “I’m taking this away from you. You are sex drunk.”
“I’m not sex drunk,” I snapped, grabbing the glass and taking a big sip.
“It’s cute that you think you can hide this from us.” Emily patted my arm.
I took another swig of mimosa to keep from having to say anything.
“There is no judgment here,” Cece said kindly. “I used to show up sex drunk too.”
“She still does,” Maggie quipped, furiously typing on her phone.
I exhaled. “Fine. I’m sex drunk. Happy?”
“I knew it.”
Cece patted me on the shoulder. “Congrats. I am marrying a Quinn so I know what you’re dealing with.”
I laughed. I was smitten. I couldn’t hide it from my friends so there was no way I could hide it from myself. Declan was awesome, and I had never experienced this type of connection in my life. I missed him already and I wanted more of him. I couldn’t lie to myself and pretend this was a fake relationship anymore. My rules and plans and contractual provisions had gone out the window. I should be freaking out right now, but I felt great. Must be all the orgasms.
“What about you, Nora? You are the single gal here. What’s happening in your love life?” Emily asked.
Nora sighed and dramatically sipped her coffee.
“Nothing. Nada. Zilch. I briefly dated a guy from Boston for a few weeks before the holidays. It was fun. Since then nothing.”
“I find that hard to believe,” Cece added.
“Believe it, ladies. I am single and loving it. Plus I’ve already hooked up with all the decent looking guys in this town, and the ones I haven’t are either married to or dating you gals.”
Maggie looked up from her phone. “Nora, there are a lot of guys out there. But I think you’re just conveniently single right now because of one Lucas Kim.”
