Chapter 10
CHAPTER TEN
The moment the bottom of Honesty’s purse touched the surface of her desk, Gabby appeared like a genie from a bottle.
“How did it go?” she asked, her eyes wide with excitement. “I’ve been dying to know. This was the longest luncheon of my life, and I wasn’t even there. I could have gone incognito. I could have sat adjacent to the table and sipped an iced tea. I would have been as quiet as a mouse.”
The enthusiasm would have been contagious if Honesty wasn’t so exhausted. She gave her friend a tired smile. “Are you capable of being that quiet?”
“I don’t think so.” Gabby grinned, owning it.
Not only had Honesty spent the majority of last night awake and sans clothing with Dante, but also, Beatrice Banks had pushed their appointment forward.
“Beatrice decided that 9:30 would work better, so I was awake earlier than I wanted to be.”
“Two hours early!” Gabby exclaimed.
“Yep.” Instead of sleeping in this morning—which Honesty had desperately needed—she’d forced herself out of bed and had practiced her pitch while applying her makeup. She’d barely made it to the restaurant on time. “I arrived at 9:31 and Beatrice was seated and waiting for me.”
“Eep!” Gabby angled for the coffee maker. “Let me make a fresh pot. You’re going to need it.”
By the time a hot cup of coffee was delivered to her desk, Honesty was sorting through her email.
“Why are there approximately two million emails in my inbox?” Her shoulders slumped even as she lifted the steaming mug to her lips. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. I should have started with the coffee.”
“No, I appreciate your excitement.” Honesty squeezed her friend’s arm gently.
“So, the emails. You are the talk of the town, toots. It’s time to accept it. Those photos of you and Hottie Crane have drawn a lot of attention to our little company.”
Honesty groaned at the edge of her mug. Her company used to be little, and right about now she was nostalgic for those days. She loved that Gabby was so Three Musketeers about Honest Nutrition. It was nice to have an employee and a friend who cared as much as she did. “Please never leave me.”
“Oh, honey. I would never. This is exciting! You’re just over-stimulated at the moment.”
That was the truth. With her head full of nonprofit factoids, and a new physical relationship with an old boyfriend, Honesty was definitely over-stimulated. The idea for the nonprofit was a good one before she had realized exactly what went into it.
“Okay, let’s hear it.” Gabby lowered into a chair across from Honesty’s desk. “How badly did it go with Beatrice, and can we salvage it?”
Honesty fished an envelope out of her purse and handed it to Gabby.
Gabby’s mouth dropped open as she held the envelope. “Oh my God! She gave us money. She gave you money. This is the best news ever!”
“Open it.”
Gabby opened the envelope and extracted a folded sheet of paper. She read quietly, her lips moving while she did. “She didn’t give you money.”
“Not yet.”
Basically, the letter read that once Honesty had an operating pilot, with backers and clients in place, and her nonprofit had a name, Beatrice would write her a check for fifty thousand dollars.
“It’s a promise of fifty K. That’s good.”
“It is. When we have funding, we’ll also get hers.” Honesty couldn’t blame Beatrice. She was a businesswoman, and she wasn’t willing to put her hard-earned revenue on the line for an unproven idea.
“It’s like needing a work record when you apply for your first real job. You haven’t had a job but you need one to get one.”
“Exactly.” Honesty sipped her coffee. Ambrosia. She was going to need at least four more of these. At brunch, she had been so keyed up, she’d worried that caffeine would only make her memory less accessible. So, she’d ordered orange juice.
Mistake.
Ironically, she was also hungry. In addition to not drinking caffeine, she also hadn’t eaten anything except for a few bites of toast. “I’m starving.
I was too nervous to eat. And Beatrice was asking a bunch of questions that required me to look at my notes.
And she brought a small Pomeranian with her and fed it bites of her eggs. ”
“Cute!”
“It was cute. I don’t know why I shared that. Did I mention I was hungry and running on orange juice?”
“Say the word, and I will place a carry-out order for crab soufflés.”
“How about salad? I don’t want to spoil my dinner. Dante is taking me out.”
“Really.” Gabby leaned close. “Why?”
Because she’d been so sexually pleasured last night that the only word she had been capable of was yes. But instead she said, “He wants a recap of today.”
“Oh. Well, that’s nice. At least he’s hands-on.”
“You have no idea,” Honesty couldn’t help saying.
She had been sexed out and flying high when he had asked her to dinner. They’d ended up sipping on champagne in between mind-blowing orgasms. She probably would’ve agreed to anything. At least he’d only asked for two weeks instead of an arranged marriage.
“Clearly, I am not in the know.” Gabby dropped the envelope on the desk. “He must have said something helpful if Beatrice was receptive.”
Oh, Dante had said lots of helpful things. It was just that Honesty was too shy to repeat any of them to Gabby.
“The bar I chose was packed to the walls, so we ended up at Crane Hotel to discuss over a bottle of wine. He was staying there, so it made sense.”
“That sounds romantic.” Gabby gave her a look that could only be described as skeptical. A rarely seen expression on her. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? Since you two used to date? I know from experience that reuniting with an ex isn’t always the best idea.”
“Time will tell, I guess.”
“You’re holding out on me!” Gabby’s eyes widened. “Oh my God, please tell me everything. I am dying.”
“I don’t know why I went upstairs with him, Gabs.” Honesty leaned back in her chair. “I mean, I do. But I don’t know if it was a good idea.”
“Oh my God!”
Honesty shared the PG-13 version of what happened after they went to the penthouse, mildly amused to watch as shock, joy, and awe took turns on her friend’s face. “That’s it, I guess.”
Gabby let out a loud, appreciative laugh. “That’s it? That’s it?! Are you freaking kidding me right now? He took you to his penthouse in the Crane Hotel, he ordered room service and champagne. Then he sexed you up, down, and sideways on his ginormous bed.”
“And in the shower. And on the bathroom counter. We started on the L-shaped couch in the living room. The skyline is beautiful from up there.”
Gabby leaned back in her chair and literally kicked her legs in the air.
Honesty laughed and then realized she hadn’t been laughing enough lately. Her life had been so serious the Joker himself might question her about it. She wasn’t sure when she’d stopped having fun, but after last night, she knew she needed to start.
“There’s one more thing,” she told Gabby.
“Did he throw you onto the bar top? The dining room table? Oh! Did you make out in the elevator?”
“Maybe next time. Because there’s going to be a next time. We sort of…kind of…agreed to continue this while he’s in town.”
“How long is he in town?” Gabby cocked her head to one side.
“Two weeks, give or take a few days.” When Gabby didn’t respond, Honesty offered, “I couldn’t think of a single reason to say no.”
“I’ll bet he didn’t give you one.”
“I was just thinking about how serious I’ve been lately. Or maybe not just lately. I don’t remember being the life of the party in school, either. I wanted to succeed so badly, I rarely made time for fun. Dating Dante was the wildest thing I’d ever done.”
“He left you, though. And that would make anyone check themselves. Especially if you two were in love.”
“We were.” Honesty had walled up after he’d left, but it’d been a slow build. She’d poured herself into her schoolwork. She’d graduated with honors. By the time she surfaced and had started dating again, she noticed that she was the first to bail.
“I was so careful when I dated after him,” she told Gabby. “And then last night I threw my scruples out the window.”
“And your panties.” Gabby laughed at her own joke. “Who could blame you for saying yes to Dante Crane? He’s absolutely gorgeous, familiar, and safe. And he’s helping you in your time of need.”
“You’d better be talking about the nonprofit.”
“Does it matter if it’s both?”
“No, I guess it doesn’t.” She dropped her head into her folded arms and spoke to her desk. “What am I doing?”
“Hey. Look at me.” Gabby patted one of Honesty’s hands.
Honesty lifted her head.
“You are doing whatever you damn well please. And it sounds like Dante is what you damn well please. Plus, this is great for Honest Nutrition and the charity! It’s perfectly acceptable to have your cake and eat it too. I do it all the time.”
“Yes, but you are you, and I am…me.”
“Meaning?”
“You are optimistic and fun-loving, and I’m fairly certain I left my curling iron on and am going to burn my apartment building to embers.”
“I ordered you one with an auto-off switch, remember? But you are proving your own point. You’re not as optimistic as you could be.”
“Tell me about it.” No matter how much she’d justified having sex with Dante, the minx that had crawled out of hiding seemed to have tucked herself away once again. This morning she’d woken up with the sobering realization that last night should have been the only night she spent with him.
“Okay, so listen.” Gabby wiggled in her chair.
“You said you’re worried you’ve been taking life too seriously.
But you know for a fact you aren’t going to fall in love with Dante again.
” She nodded until Honesty nodded with her.
“Good. And I’m guessing he also knows that he’s not going to fall in love with you again.
Assuming he is as risk-averse as you are? ”
“Maybe more.”
“Good!”
Honesty couldn’t imagine anything more preposterous than cool, collected Dante Crane succumbing to love. In bed, he’d come unglued, but he hadn’t once lost his sense of self-control. At least, not as far as she could tell.
“All right, so fuck each other’s brains out, take the advice he offers on the nonprofit, and then we can grab the money and run.”
Honesty allowed herself another laugh. She looked down at her coffee mug, unsure if the dose of caffeine or Gabby—who was a lot like a dose of caffeine—was responsible for her lighter mood.
“What would I do without you?”
“You are never going to have to find out.” Gabby blew her a kiss. As she walked out of Honesty’s office, she called over her shoulder, “You will continue to give me details, though!”
Honesty redirected her attention to the dozens of emails staring back at her from her computer screen and decided that she deserved to have more fun. It was time to stop taking herself so seriously.
So, that’s what she would do.
Right after she refilled her coffee mug.