Ten Days of Perfect (November Blue #1)(21)

“Sure, Mon. See you soon.” I hung up as Monica grumbled something unintelligible and I looked at Bo. He seemed frozen in the same position he was when I answered the phone.

“Does she know I stayed last night?” There was no inflection in his tone.

“She’s a smart girl. She’s also my best friend and won’t say anything. I know we’ve only known each other a couple of days but you have to trust me on that.”

Bo’s sigh of relief took his shoulders down with it, “I just don’t want to ruin anything for anyone.” It was hard for me to determine if he was speaking about our jobs or us.

“It’ll be fine. I do, however, have to get to work early. Crap, we’re supposed to set up a meeting. What are your other commitments this week?” Discussing business in the bedroom only served to highlight the issues present.

“Today is the local high school, tomorrow I’m free after ten.” He rested his head against my headboard.

“So how about we do a lunch meeting tomorrow, in our office? Just text me later to confirm that’s OK.”

“Sure thing. David Bryson will be there too.”

A devious smile erased all concern from his face. He took our coffee mugs and placed them on the bedside stand.

“Hey, I need that!” I joked.

The scorching heat from his lips melted me into my bed. He pulled away as quickly as he came in, and swiftly dressed.

“And I needed that,” he teased. “Talk to you later.”

He kissed me on the head before moving out of my bedroom.

“Hey!” I called out. “Don’t go trying to stalk me on Facebook or anything, I don’t have an account!”

“Hey!” He called back, out of sight, “Neither do I. Looks like we’re both out of luck!”

I hurried to my bedroom window when I heard the door shut. Bo reached the sidewalk, paused in front of my car a moment, and glanced up to my window. I waved and he grinned before getting in his car and driving away.

***

Monica and I got to work at the same time. She was already shaking her head at me as she put her car in to park.

“Morning, Mon,” I said coolly as possible.

“Don’t ‘morning Mon’ me, smartass, get inside so we can talk!” The grin didn’t leave her face; even when we got into my office and shut the door.

“What do you want me to tell you? That just because we happened to have a meeting with Bo yesterday I would break whatever plans we had this week? Yesterday’s meeting was informational, set up before we met him, and he wasn’t even supposed to be here.” Why am I speaking so fast?

“Ember, relax. I just want to know how he is in bed.” She arched her eyebrow as she sipped coffee.

“Monica!”

“A hot man like that does not find himself at your apartment in the morning without having been there the night before. And, to the best of my knowledge, you don’t make a habit of platonic sleep overs with the opposite sex.” She could have been on CNN with the seriousness she used to deliver that line.

I caved. “It was intense. We had this rhythm - it wasn’t awkward. I felt him on a different level I’ve ever felt anything, or anyone. He took his time, touched and kissed what seemed like every single part of my body, didn’t rush. His eyes were on me the whole time, Mon . . . like he was at a museum, looking at art - or something. He was slow and sweet - holy shit. And this morning he brought me coffee in bed for Christ’s sake!”

“Miss November, I do believe you’re blushing,” She exaggerated a southern drawl as she fanned herself.

“Seriously, seeing him in here yesterday only made me more attracted to him. Do we have everything in common? Jesus, I don’t know what to do. By the way we’re doing a lunch meeting tomorrow to further discuss the collaboration.” I flopped down in my chair and sighed.

“Em . . .” Monica sat down across from me.

“I know. This could be a real nightmare.”

Monica and I majored in Public Relations; sex “scandals” are both the easiest thing to avoid and the most damaging for an agency.

“We’ll figure it out Ember. Just be cautious until all the cards are on the table and we know what we’re dealing with.” She seemed relaxed, which helped.

During the rest of the morning I researched what I could on DROP. I already knew their major benefactor, but it was clear that they needed internet assistance. I emailed their grant writer, William Holder, to get a read on him. William offered that he and “Spencer” had known each other since high school and he had a lot of emotional stake in the success of DROP. I seriously hoped Bo didn’t share personal things with Will, at least about us.

Monica was able to connect with Tristan MacMillian, DROP’s community educator, and start a rapport with him as well. The four of us agreed that we would need to meet sometime soon to see if we felt comfortable on a personnel level. Our boss was pleased.

“Ladies, you continue to amaze me,” Carrie congratulated us in her office Tuesday afternoon. “Your professionalism is stupendous, especially considering that you two are friends; it doesn’t always work out this well. I’ve spoken with David Bryson, and he said he would coordinate a time for the DROP team to come down and meet us. I suggested that we’d like a trip to New Hampshire, as well. We could see their community center, and you two could meet with William and Tristan. I’ll be out of town for the rest of the week for that conference in D.C., but we can talk about this more when I get back.”