Not Safe For Work: A Steamy Fake Dating Romance

Chapter 37

6 Months Later

“Cheers!”

We all clink glasses, toasting to the official sale of Sizzl. Olivia planned a special getaway for the four of us at a resort in Healdsburg.

“To our first—official—double date!” she shouts. I guess I only thought we were celebrating the sale.

“This is so exciting!” Andie cheers. “Wanna jump in the pool?”

Daanesh reaches across the lounger to kiss her cheek. “You both go ahead. I need to talk to Gavin for a minute.”

“Ominous,” Liv whispers, squeezing my hand. She downs the rest of her flute and pops up. “I call the floating unicorn!”

We both watch our girls jump in the water, our faces covered in stupid grins. Daanesh catches it at the same time as I do. “Damn, we’ve gone soft.”

Now that both of our secrets are out, we’ve gotten a lot closer. This may be the first official double date, but he and Andie join game night every week.

“All right,” I say. “What’s this big thing you’ve been wanting to ask me?”

“I’m not gonna ask you when you have that attitude. This is serious.”

Shit. He does look serious. “Okay,” I say, sitting up straight. “I’m listening.”

“As soon as the lockout period’s over, I’m going to announce that I’m leaving Sizzl.” This isn’t a huge surprise. With the company now owned by Mojave, Daanesh is more of a figurehead than a true CEO. “I’ve been working on an idea lately. An AI platform that businesses can use to predict data outages. I already have some sample code to start pitching to investors.”

“Wow, Daan. That’s awesome. I’d say I’ll miss you, but you know I’m gonna be looking for something else as soon as I can collect on my options anyway.”

“That’s the thing. I don’t want you to miss me.” I give him a quizzical look. Are we about to get all mushy about this? “I mean, I want you to work with me. I know you’re done with sales. And I know you had your heart set on going to the investment side. But how would you like to be my partner? I need someone like you to help me get investors, and to help me hire the right kind of people to run the business side of things. After Sizzl, I just want to stick with the engineering part of the company.”

I’m silent for a long moment, just watching Liv and Andie float together on their blow-up unicorn. A partner? It’s a lot more responsibility, but that’s what I’ve been wanting, right? And being the one pitching investors does sound fun. It sounds like a challenge. I haven’t had one of those since I met Olivia.

“Well?” he asks.

“This is for real? You really want me to be running half of a company?”

“I really do. I think you’d be great at it. And I like knowing that you and I have the same vision for a culture. Some of the people Vaughn hired just ruined things for me at Sizzl. The sale couldn’t have come at a better time. I know that won’t happen with you. Also,” he clears his throat. “You know I hate talking about money, but it will be public knowledge soon enough. I’ll make around a hundred million from the sale, give or take, and I plan to invest most of it back into the new business. We’ll be able to hire top talent right from the start.”

“I was already sold, Daan. You didn’t have to woo me with your newfound millionaire status.”

“I figured. Just laying all my cards out.”

“Do you have a name yet? For the company?”

“We’ve got two marketing gurus over there.” He nods to the girls sharing the unicorn. “I wanted to ask you first, but I thought they might be able to help us with that part.”

“Good call,” I say, standing up and pulling off my shirt. “I’m in. But it’s the weekend. Let’s figure it out on Monday.”

I jump in the pool and tip the raft, watching the girls squeal as they go under. Daanesh jumps in after me. “They might kill you for that.”

“Nah, I’ll be fine,” I say just before Olivia pounces and takes me under.

“Ahem,” Andie shouts. “This is a classy place. Let’s try to act like we belong here.”

“You’re right,” I say, pulling Liv against me. “Let’s come back in three months when we’re all rich.”

“When you’re all rich,” Liv says. “My options are worth like ten grand.”

“Good thing I plan to spend all my money on you,” I whisper in her ear.

She knows I’m joking, mostly. Gabby and I have already started planning where the money will go. We’ve created accounts to pay for school and to pay off every loan or line of credit we’ve ever accumulated. The rest will mostly go into savings and investments.

But I might have a small fund set aside for Liv. For the ring I plan to get, for the house I’ll buy us one day that has a huge yard for all our dogs, for the vacation to Mexico I’ve already planned where we’ll celebrate the anniversary of our first kiss. Another trip that I still need to tell her about.

“Should we head inside and take showers? We have to be at the restaurant in two hours for dinner,” Liv says to the group.

“How long does it take you to shower?” Andie asks.

Liv’s eyes find mine, her cheeks turning pink. I save her from answering. “My fault. I take forever to get ready.”

An hour later,we’re done showering and I tell Liv about Daanesh’s offer.

“You have to do it, right? I mean you don’t have to do anything, and my opinion doesn’t matter, but just in case you want it, I totally think you should do it.”

“I love you.”

“What kind of response is that? Are you going to do it?”

“Sparkles.”

“Scottie.”

“First of all, I always want your opinion. It matters to me more than anything.” She bites her lip, trying to hide her smile. “And yeah, I’m gonna do it. But I think you should know, it means I’ll probably be working crazy hours, at least at first. We might not see each other as much as we do now.”

“Well,” she says grinning. “That is actually perfect timing then.”

“You’re saying you want to spend less time with me?”

She grabs her phone. “I’m saying I think we should call Gabby and tell her the good news.”

Still confused, I dial my sister and tell her everything about the job with Daanesh. I keep her on speaker, the phone far away from my face, so that she doesn’t blow out an eardrum.

Liv bends toward the phone. “Gabby, I think now is a good time.”

“A good time for what?” I ask.

“You’re sure?”

“I’m sure,” Liv says to her. What the hell is going on?

“So,” Gabby starts. “Exciting news on my end too. “Kadesha asked me to move in with her. We’re getting a place together closer to Stanford.”

“You…wow…that’s…”

“It’s great! Right?” Liv offers, jabbing me in the chest.

“Yeah, it’s great, Gabs. I’m really happy for you.” And I am. Of course, I am. But damn, the thought of not seeing Gabby every day does something to me. For so long, it was just the two of us. Me and Gabby against the world. At least I know Kadesha will take care of her. There’s no one I’d trust more to be there for my sister.

“Aww, don’t think I forgot about you, big brother. I found you a new place too.”

“You what?” I ask. Is she saying I need to downsize now that I’ll be living alone?

“For you and Liv.”

Liv grins at me, a twinkle in her eye. “I know you haven’t technically asked me to live with you, but you also haven’t wanted to spend a single night apart in the last six months, so?—”

“Of course I want to live with you. I just…”

“Didn’t know what to do about your sister?” Gabby chimes in. “Well, now your problem is solved. And Liv and I found the best apartment for you in North Beach, still walkable to downtown but so many better restaurants.”

“This is real?” I ask Liv.

“Yep. Already signed a lease. You know how fast things go in the city. So please be happy.” She bares her teeth, like there’s actually a chance I wouldn’t want this.

“I am incredibly happy.”

“Yay!” Gabby cheers through the phone. “I will miss you so much, but you’re coming over at least once a week for dinner, non-negotiable.”

We easily agree, knowing there will be zero home-cooked meals in our place, though I’m looking forward to more wine and cheese nights with Liv. We chat a little longer, and make plans to see the new place when we get back to the city before hanging up.

I grin at Liv, imagining life waking up to her every single day. “How big is the closet? Will there be any room for my clothes?” I reach my arms around her and pull her toward me.

“Yeah…about that. I’ll just be commandeering the whole second bedroom. You can have the closet. Well, I might need part of it for shoes?—”

“We’ll make it work.” I silence her with a kiss, unhooking the towel still wrapped around her.

“Scottie,” she whines. “I have to get ready.”

“Good thing we still have time. We need to celebrate.”

“I thought we already celebrated…twice.”

“Not this.”

“Not what?”

I lay her down on the bed, hovering over her. “Our future. And for no longer being co-workers.”

“I thought you liked working together.” She pouts.

“I do. I did. I never would have gotten to know you so well if I didn’t sit across from you all that time.” I kiss her nose. “But now I can text you whatever I want. I’ll never have to see that annoying ‘NSFW!’ ever again.”