Chapter 36
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
Maren
“I wish Mr. Calvetti was more like your boss.” Arietta places a plate of scrambled eggs and toast in my lap.
“If I twisted my ankle, he’d tell me to suck it up, and then he’d want me to book him a table at Nova.
His grandmother owns the best restaurant in the city.
Why the hell does he eat dinner at Nova when he could be eating spaghetti with his grandma? ”
I can’t hold back a laugh.
My boss is a lot different than Arietta’s.
Keats sent me a text message early this morning asking how my ankle was feeling. I responded quickly, telling him that it was much better and that I’d be at work on time tomorrow with flats on my feet.
He replied that he was heading home. He’d spent the night with another client. This time it’s a hockey player who was arrested for being drunk in public. Keats went to see about bailing him out and then took the player home to his wife and kids.
I secretly hoped he’d bring up what happened in the lobby.
Maybe the almost kiss meant almost nothing to him.
It kept me awake.
I was close, but yet so far, to tasting my boss’s lips last night.
“Are you daydreaming?” Arietta takes off her glasses, looks at the lenses, and then puts them back on.
“About how great this breakfast looks?” I quip. “Who wouldn’t daydream about it?”
She sits down on the corner of the coffee table next to me. She adjusts the waistband of her red sweatpants. “I didn’t get a chance to ask how dinner went. Did you have fun?”
I abbreviate the evening for her. “It was good. Keats thinks he’ll sign Fletcher Newman to a contract soon.”
She silently skims her fingertip over the logo on the front of the white T-shirt she’s wearing. “Did I interrupt something in the lobby, Maren? I thought you two were talking, but I think you might have been leaning in to kiss him.”
Innocence has always been wrapped around Arietta like a blanket. I know she has some experience with men. She admitted one night that she’d lost her virginity to her high school boyfriend before graduation.
There wasn’t any fondness in her tone when she spoke of him, and when I asked how many men she’d slept with in college, she shut me down with the middle finger.
It was all in jest, but there was something about how she avoided the question that made me wonder if her past lovers are few.
“I think we were about to.”
She jumps to her feet. “I fucked that up, didn’t I?”
I can’t help but laugh. “You didn’t.”
I don’t want to blame her for my missed opportunity. Maybe it was fate’s way of stepping in to wave a bright red warning flag. I kissed a co-worker once, and I not only lost my heart but my job too.
I’m not a proponent of believing that history always repeats itself. My last roommate couldn’t pick up after herself, and she constantly left the apartment door unlocked whenever she left.
Maybe my luck is changing.
I couldn’t ask for a better roommate than Arietta, and I doubt that I could find a boss I want to kiss as much as Keats.
“You should try and kiss him again tomorrow,” she states with a grin.
I slide some eggs onto my fork. “As soon as I get to the office?”
“The early bird gets the first kiss.”
“No.” I shake my head. “The early bird gets the worm.”
“Mr. Morgan is not a worm, Maren.” She winks. “You’ll know when the time is right.”
I hope I will. My track record of reading the subtle nuances of men isn’t that great. I thought my ex was about to propose the day he broke up with me.
“I’m taking Dudley for a walk. Text me if you want me to pick up anything.”
I shake my head. “Thank you, but I’m good.”
“And I can help you get into work tomorrow if you need me to.” She tugs on her ponytail. “I can be a few minutes late.”
“You’re not worried that Mr. Calvetti will find out and get mad?”
Her hands fall to her hips. “What’s the worst thing he can do?”
I swat my hand against my hip. “Spank you.”
Her eyes widen before she lets out a giggle. “I’ll be back in thirty minutes.”
“I’ll eat my breakfast.” I tug on her hand. “You’re the best, Arietta.”
Her cheeks blush. “You stay on the couch and relax.”
I raise my hand in the air as if I’m taking a solemn oath. “I promise I will.”
She leans down to plant a kiss on my forehead. “See you in a bit. Have fun daydreaming about kissing Keats.”