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Authors: Lili Valente
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not with a capital G, but she’s nowhere to be found.
I’m about to text her and ask if she needs directions when my phone hums against my thigh. I glance down at the screen, expecting a message from Penny, saying she’s on her way, but see Sheila’s name instead.
Just met your assistant!
My brows snap together. What the fuck?
Oh my God, Bash, she’s divine! So sweet and funny, with the most darling figure. And those eyes!
Gah! I swear they could melt panties at fifty paces. Right?
An emoji of a smiley face with hearts where its eyes should be pops up, making me frown harder even before the rest of Sheila’s message filters through.
We got her all set up with four AMAZING outfits and I gave her your usual discount so no worries. She’s going to knock everyone’s socks off at that wedding.
And just in case I totally misread her and she is actually into other women and not in a serious relationship could you please, please, please give her my number? I would never ask if she were one of your clients, but since she’s just a friend and employee you’re helping out as a favor…
Tell me if I’m crossing a line because your business is always my number one priority but damn, Bash, that girl is something else.
An emoji of another smiley face, this time with its tongue hanging out, pops up, inspiring a confusing mixture of irritation and…jealousy.
Surprised, I take a closer look at the greenish tinged, sulfurous-smelling emotion swirling through my chest.
Yep. It’s jealousy, an emotion that has no place in my relationship with Penny or Sheila, especially since I have no idea if Penny swings in that particular direction.
Sure, she seemed pretty into kissing me last night, but that was just practice for deceiving her smarmy ex-boyfriend and she admitted in her message that her reaction was a result of being deprived of human contact, not meaningful attraction. And even if she does enjoy men in the bedroom, that doesn’t automatically mean she might not enjoy women, too. For a lot of women, sexuality can be a fluid thing and Penny might very well be among them, especially when a woman like Sheila is the potential partner in question.
Sheila is five feet nine inches of elegant redhead, with alabaster skin, sky blue eyes and an infectious smile, who always smells like she’s been walking through an herb garden instead of shuffling around a filthy city. She also happens to be as lovely on the inside as she is on the outside, and until this very moment, I would have insisted it was impossible for her to inspire a negative emotion in anyone, especially me.
But it takes a surprising amount of will power for me to thumb in a civil—
No worries, no lines have been crossed. Thanks for helping her out.
I’m not sure where she stands on other women, but if she asks for your number, I’ll make sure she gets it.
I hit send with gritted teeth. My jaw is still clenched when my phone begins to ring. This time, it’s Penny.
“So I hear you went shopping without me,” I say by way of greeting, not surprised that I sound grouchy.
I feel grouchy. Sure, I was a little anxious about how a shopping trip with Penny would play out after the awkwardness of last night, but I still don’t enjoy being cut out of the loop.
More than that, I just wanted to see her, damn it.
“Don’t be mad,” she says. “I knew if you went with me you would try to pay the way you did for the last pro bono case and I didn’t want to get into an argument. I promised I was going to be the easiest client ever, remember?”
I step into an alcove beneath a brick archway, staying out of the way as the traffic through the market increases. “I don’t consider it easy to be heading into this having no idea what you’re going to be wearing. I understand that you find the concept of armor silly, but it’s an important part of what I do.”
“I don’t find it silly. I know it’s important. But I know you trust Sheila, so I made sure she
I’m about to text her and ask if she needs directions when my phone hums against my thigh. I glance down at the screen, expecting a message from Penny, saying she’s on her way, but see Sheila’s name instead.
Just met your assistant!
My brows snap together. What the fuck?
Oh my God, Bash, she’s divine! So sweet and funny, with the most darling figure. And those eyes!
Gah! I swear they could melt panties at fifty paces. Right?
An emoji of a smiley face with hearts where its eyes should be pops up, making me frown harder even before the rest of Sheila’s message filters through.
We got her all set up with four AMAZING outfits and I gave her your usual discount so no worries. She’s going to knock everyone’s socks off at that wedding.
And just in case I totally misread her and she is actually into other women and not in a serious relationship could you please, please, please give her my number? I would never ask if she were one of your clients, but since she’s just a friend and employee you’re helping out as a favor…
Tell me if I’m crossing a line because your business is always my number one priority but damn, Bash, that girl is something else.
An emoji of another smiley face, this time with its tongue hanging out, pops up, inspiring a confusing mixture of irritation and…jealousy.
Surprised, I take a closer look at the greenish tinged, sulfurous-smelling emotion swirling through my chest.
Yep. It’s jealousy, an emotion that has no place in my relationship with Penny or Sheila, especially since I have no idea if Penny swings in that particular direction.
Sure, she seemed pretty into kissing me last night, but that was just practice for deceiving her smarmy ex-boyfriend and she admitted in her message that her reaction was a result of being deprived of human contact, not meaningful attraction. And even if she does enjoy men in the bedroom, that doesn’t automatically mean she might not enjoy women, too. For a lot of women, sexuality can be a fluid thing and Penny might very well be among them, especially when a woman like Sheila is the potential partner in question.
Sheila is five feet nine inches of elegant redhead, with alabaster skin, sky blue eyes and an infectious smile, who always smells like she’s been walking through an herb garden instead of shuffling around a filthy city. She also happens to be as lovely on the inside as she is on the outside, and until this very moment, I would have insisted it was impossible for her to inspire a negative emotion in anyone, especially me.
But it takes a surprising amount of will power for me to thumb in a civil—
No worries, no lines have been crossed. Thanks for helping her out.
I’m not sure where she stands on other women, but if she asks for your number, I’ll make sure she gets it.
I hit send with gritted teeth. My jaw is still clenched when my phone begins to ring. This time, it’s Penny.
“So I hear you went shopping without me,” I say by way of greeting, not surprised that I sound grouchy.
I feel grouchy. Sure, I was a little anxious about how a shopping trip with Penny would play out after the awkwardness of last night, but I still don’t enjoy being cut out of the loop.
More than that, I just wanted to see her, damn it.
“Don’t be mad,” she says. “I knew if you went with me you would try to pay the way you did for the last pro bono case and I didn’t want to get into an argument. I promised I was going to be the easiest client ever, remember?”
I step into an alcove beneath a brick archway, staying out of the way as the traffic through the market increases. “I don’t consider it easy to be heading into this having no idea what you’re going to be wearing. I understand that you find the concept of armor silly, but it’s an important part of what I do.”
“I don’t find it silly. I know it’s important. But I know you trust Sheila, so I made sure she
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