Page 62 of Bayside Heat
“You bitched about your days at the resort?” He was only joking. He knew damn well they all did, including him, but he wanted to lift her spirits. “I have an idea.” He headed downstairs and out the front door, then jogged toward the dunes.
“Are you going to the beach?” Her eyes lit up. He already missed seeing that in person. “You’re so sweet.”
“I’m not that sweet. I’m trying to keep from driving to Boston, hauling your pretty little ass over my shoulder, and dragging you back home. Be careful when you tell me what you wish for, because I damn well might make it come true.”
She smiled, and it warmed him all over. He walked to the edge of the dune and sat in the sand, turning the phone so she could see the water.
“See, Supergirl? We’re under the same stars, separated only by a few airwaves.” Turning the phone back toward himself, he said, “Talk to me. What’s going on?”
“I don’t want to drag you down. It’s just a momentary blip on my radar, that’s all.” She looked away.
“Look at me, Serena. When you aren’t telling the truth, you don’t look me in the eyes.”
“I don’t do that.” She brought her eyes back to him.
“I know you, Serena. Say what you need to say. I’m all ears, and I want to be here for you.”
“It’s just that when I took this job, I thought I’d actually be designing not just managing budgets and coordinating the efforts of others. I mean, I love the budgets and coordinating and working with architects, even though they usually get annoyed with me for making changes. But what I enjoy most is the actual hands-on sourcing of materials and goods. It’s the whole creative wheel, start to finish, that makes it exciting.”
The thrill in her voice was inescapable when she talked about the aspects of the job she loved. “I don’t understand. You’re not doing those things?”
“It’s probably an anomaly, but I met with one of their biggest clients today, and she didn’t want any design input at all. I could have been anyone standing in her office. She shut me down at every turn, then handed me off to her assistant. The whole thing feels impersonal. I know she cares, or she wouldn’t be so adamant about how things are done, but her unwillingness to take even a hint of a suggestion makes it feel like she doesn’t. She just wants what’s easiest and quickest. I’m meeting with her architect tomorrow, which will be another total waste of time. It’s not like I can make any changes to his plans. I’m sure she gave him the same directive to make a carbon copy of her other offices. And you know how architects get irritated with designers, so he’ll have an ax to grind before I even open my mouth.”
“Then he’ll be eating crow,” Drake said vehemently, “because a gorgeous, smart woman will come into his office and not make the changes he anticipates. Maybe you’ll have gained a friend in the industry, which doesn’t equate to wasted time.”
“That’s true. There is a silver lining. Anyway, I have a plan to fix this annoying thing of being the yes woman.”
“Does it include Chocolate Orgasms?”
“Yes. I had one on the way home, in fact. But I needed more reinforcements.” She aimed the phone down at a half-empty pizza box, and then tipped it up toward her again. “My plan is to gain at least a hundred pounds, stop washing my face so I get acne, and I might stop showering every day. Maybe that will make it so I’m not the face of KHB they shove in front of annoying clients. It should be easy to gain the weight without Emery’s yoga classes or evening activities with you guys. But you might want to start thinking about looking for a different girlfriend if you want one that looks good in a string bikini and doesn’t smell bad.”
He laughed. “God, I miss you. I love your sense of humor. But, uh, what’s up with the attitude? You think I’m not manly enough to handle a hundred more pounds of hot woman? I’ve got news for you. I’d still want you just as much as I want you right now no matter what you looked like. If you smelled, I’d haul your hot sexy ass into the shower, but you know I’d be all over you in there, too.”
