Chapter Twenty-One
Rome
By almost eight o’clock, I had given up pretending I was getting anything done.
I was sitting at the desk in my office at Bad Habit staring at invoices that might as well have been written in another language. My laptop sat open. A stack of order forms waited beside me. I hadn’t read a single line in twenty minutes because I was thinking about Josie.
Specifically, I was thinking about the way she’d smiled this morning when she looked at the tattoo on her wrist.
The way she’d leaned into me when the guys from the club started giving me shit.
I rubbed my hand over my face. I was pathetic.
I was smiling at invoices because a curvy brunette woman who sold ice cream liked me.
I was gone. Skid was right.
My phone buzzed and I picked it up to see a text from Josie. Can I hitch a ride home with you?
I grinned immediately. See, pathetic. Maybe.
Three dots appeared. Pretty please?
What am I going to get out of it? I replied.
A milkshake? She offered.
I leaned back and smiled like a fool. Milkshake and a blowjob?
A few seconds passed. The three dots appeared, and I held my breath. Deal.
I pushed back from the desk and closed the laptop.
Work was officially over.