Chapter 24 - Samir
“Now you must have had sex,” Zainab said and looked to Alina for support.
She also nodded.
“Nope.” I shook my head.
Zay sighed.
“I don’t get it. How on earth does he make you glow like that if you’re not doing the deed!”
Alina laughed.
I shrugged.
“I must be sucking the youth right out of him.” I chuckled.
“So you did kiss!”
“We did, but not in the way you think,” I said.
Zay turned to her girlfriend and huffed.
“He’s lying, isn’t he?”
Alina pursed her lips.
“I don’t know. I don’t think he is.”
“Weird,” Zainab mumbled, making Alina put her hand around her and plant a kiss on her cheek.
“Are you jealous, babe? Want to try going celibate and see if we can get a silly face like him?”
I put my fingers in my ears halfway through, and Zainab grimaced.
“Um. No thanks.”
“Girls, come on! I don’t need to know what you do in the bedroom.”
“Who says we do it in the bedroom? We prefer the couch,” Alina said, wiggling her eyebrows.
I winced.
“Ew. The couch I sit on when I visit.”
“Oh yeah!”
I let out a long sigh, and I stuck my tongue out in fake disgust for good measure. I loved teasing them about this kind of stuff.
“I don’t know why you’re acting all grossed out. It’s not like we haven’t done it in that seat.” Zainab pointed to the stool I was sitting on, and I jumped off on instinct alone.
“Here? On that? What are you? Animals?” Okay, I may tease them, but this was actually gross. Or fucking weird at the very least.
Both of them burst out laughing, and I stood there watching them, judging them.
“Oh, sit back down, idiot. Of course we haven’t,” Alina said.
“You should have seen your face though,” Zainab added.
I frowned and sat back on the stool—with caution. Thankfully, a customer approached the desk, and I helped them with their purchase, hoping they hadn’t heard our lewd conversation. After they’d paid and left, Zainab turned to me again.
“So you still haven’t done, you know, it?” I shook my head. “Do you want to?”
Images of my alone time from last night flashed before my eyes, but I cleared my throat and swallowed them down before I gave anything away.
“I do,” I said.
“Does he?” Alina asked.
I raised my shoulders and pushed my lips to one side.
“I have no idea. Maybe? Sometimes when he kisses me… properly, I feel like, yeah, he does, but then he’s really not made a move or suggestion. Or maybe he has, and I totally missed it.”
“So maybe him taking you to his bed was a suggestion,” Alina said.
“Um, no. His daughter was sleeping three feet from the bed so that’s a big no.”
Zainab tapped her chin with her index finger, and Alina bit her lip. Both of them looked deep in thought.
“So…” Zainab said after a few moments, “even if he does want to do it, it’s not really feasible with his daughter around. Have you thought about inviting him here?”
“Of course.”
“Maybe do that.”
I nodded and looked down at the counter. Maybe I should bite the bullet and do it. But what if he wasn’t ready? What if that kind of thing scared him away?
“Yeah,” I said. “Maybe.”
With a sigh, I turned to the computer and clicked on my mailbox to check if any requests or invoices had come through.
The email on the top of the page, though, was a newsletter. A Hudson Bell newsletter.
See you there? it read, and I opened it right away.
“Oh my God!” I said.
“What? What?” Zainab gasped, looking around her, slightly alarmed.
“Hudson Bell is coming to Boston this week!”
Zay’s shoulders sagged and she exhaled.
“For crying out loud. I thought something happened. Is that it?”
I glared at her.
“Um… yeah! You know how much I love his books. That’s a big deal. Any chance you can do without me on Friday and Saturday? I could be back by lunchtime on Saturday or really late on Friday, I suppose.”
I stared at her, then stared harder, giving her my best impression of a pleading kitten begging to be rescued.
“You need a whole night away for a signing? What? Are you spending the night with him?” Zay said.
“Well, if Cole won’t put out…” Alina mumbled, and Zainab chuckled but suddenly stopped and goggled at me.
“Wait. That’s it,” Zainab said.
“What’s what?” I asked.
“You and Cole. Maybe that’s what you need to get into his pants.”
I rolled my eyes at her.
“I’m not trying to get into his pants,” I said, which wasn’t entirely true, meaning, I wouldn’t mind getting into them, but I wasn’t desperate. Yet.
“Yeah, whatever. Maybe you just need a couple of days away from everything and everyone, just the two of you to get things moving,” she said.
“Oh my God, Zay! That’s brilliant,” Alina said, shoving her girlfriend’s shoulder.
“Are you serious?” I asked. “The man has a job and a child. He can’t ditch them last minute to go on a sexcapade.”
Zainab smirked.
“Huh. So you admit it. It would be a sexcapade.”
I ignored her.
“You won’t know unless you ask. He might be into it. Didn’t you say he’s been a workaholic since he lost his girlfriend?” Alina asked. I nodded. “Then maybe he needs an excuse to escape for a day or two.”
Perhaps…
I hated to admit it, but they did have a point.
Should I be worried that these two made sense?
It wasn’t a common phenomenon. Then again, they were the ones who had pushed me to go to the bachelor auction and given me the excuse to spend time with a gorgeous human being and his equally gorgeous daughter.
I pressed my lips together and moved them from side to side, then before I second-guessed myself, I grabbed my phone and texted Cole.
Samir: Hey. I know this might sound random, but my favorite author is coming for a signing to Boston Friday evening, so I was wondering, and feel free to say no as I know this is so last minute, but… would you like to come with me?
I pressed send and put the phone down as if it were on fire and I was afraid of getting burned.
“There. I asked. Now I wait,” I said.
“Now we wait.” Zainab nodded.