Page 35 of Fish out of Water
“I was going to cancel that date anyway.” I set my bag on the four-seater table in the dining area. “I wasn’t feeling it.”
Her eyes went to my bag as I unzipped it and pulled out my laptop. “What are you doing?”
“I have work to do.”
She took a couple steps closer. “What sort of work do you do?”
“I own a consulting business.”
“That sounds made up.” She peeked at my computer screen as it flashed to life. “Who do you consult?”
“Other businesses.” I sat down and opened my email.
“About what?” She edged in a little more.
I scooted out the chair next to me, pushing it her way. “I’m a financial consultant. I help them find areas where they can cut costs and develop plans to implement those changes.”
“So you’re their favorite person.” Julia’s hand rested on the back of the chair.
“Not always.” I opened the first email and scanned the contents. “They usually don’t like hearing what I have to say.”
“That’s stupid.”
“Why’s that?”
“They hire you for your opinion, right? Why wouldn’t they like hearing it?”
I typed out a quick response to someone doing exactly what Julia was confused about. “Because usually they expect my advice to back up what they think is wrong.”
“Oh.” She slowly eased into the chair. “So they actually hire you for validation and then get mad when you don’t give it to them.” Her nose wrinkled again. “Your job sucks.”
“Sometimes.” I shot her a grin. “But it pays the bills.”
My business was one of the things I was most proud of. I’d done it out of desperation after losing the job that brought me here, and it was paying off already.
Julia set her bottle of water on the table. “Does anyone work for you?”
“I have an assistant who schedules appointments and handles billing and bookkeeping, but so far it’s just me.” I leaned back in my chair, losing interest in the emails waiting for me. “What about you? What do you do, Banana Pants?”
She lifted one shoulder like what she was about to tell me wouldn’t interest me in the slightest. “I work at the botanical gardens. I’m their arborist.”
It was exactly the kind of job I would have expected from her. “Do you take care of any banana trees?”
“Shut up.” She shoved at me, her hand staying on my shoulder instead of moving away. She squeezed the muscle I worked like it was my job, trying to bulk away the skinny frame that plagued me most of my life. “You’ve got pretty big muscles for a math nerd.”
Her stunningly accurate assessment left me speechless.
She shoved at my shoulder again. “Come on, Nerd. You’re taking me to dinner.” Julia pushed up from her chair and went to snag a set of keys from the counter.
“And where am I taking you?” It wasn’t the dinner I’d planned two days ago, back when I had no idea Julia Murray existed.
But I couldn’t deny how much more interested I was in this version of my evening.
“Someplace nice.” She laced the strap of a striped bag over her head before situating it across her body. “First I had to see your wiener, and now I have to listen to you snore. You owe me.”
“If I remember correctly, you were trying to make a deal that would earn you a daylight viewing of my dick.” I waited, anticipation crawling over my skin. I never knew what was going to come out of her mouth next and it left me waiting for every word.
“I was just trying to balance out the gigantic boobs I had to look at last night.” She adjusted the bag so it rested on one hip. “Like a penis palate cleanser.”
