A Time for Hope (Lexi, #3)(46)
“No catch and by all account his penis… oh hell, I can’t talk about his penis, even in abstract. It’s Dan. Dan needs a date.” I figured honesty was the best policy, she was going to find sooner or later.
“Dan? Dan Evans, Power Station Dan?” Sydney scrunched her brow as she sought clarification. Yep, unfortunately it was Dan freaking Evans.
“Yes, the very same. I’m sorry Syd, I wouldn’t even be asking but he was having a nervous breakdown in my office.”
“Did he suddenly become agoraphobic? Isn’t he out every other night with a different bird? How does Dan Evans not have a date?” Sydney had worked with Dan, therefore she knew of his reputation. What he lacked in style he made up for in charisma and could charm the pants off (literally) most girls he encountered.
“It’s some family thing, I don’t really understand it but he can’t go by himself or his family will try and marry him off.” I regurgitated Dan’s rationalization for the date for hire. “And he doesn’t want to bring a random cause meeting the family would lead her to believe…”
“That they are going to be picking out china patterns.” Sydney completed my sentence.
“Exactly! He was so desperate he asked me to go with him.” I was still reeling in disbelief that he would even consider that an option.
“Still trying to get into your knickers, some things never change with Dan.” Sydney’s giggle peppered the air. Not that I needed a reminder of Dan’s less than subtle past attempts to bed me.
“So will you consider it? I know it’s a big ask but he promised me he’d be on his best behaviour and you guys already know each other.” Who was I kidding? Sydney was my first and last choice. There is no way I could ask anyone else. She said no and I probably would be hiring a hooker.
“Sure, why the hell not. At least he’s not bad to look at, granted he’s a bit lacking when it comes to the upstairs department but as long as he doesn’t talk too much we should be fine.” Sydney shrugged, agreeing with no need for further convincing or argument. I could have kissed her, but given the last time I’d kissed someone in public it had been all over the Internet, I thought I’d better keep my enamored expressions under wraps. Fairly sure that me involved in some girl-on-girl action would not so easily be quelled by the “I was just having a private moment and it was caught out of context” line I was giving them for the other photos.
“Thanks Syd, I owe you.” I grabbed her hand and gave it a little squeeze.
“Yeah you do, and the first thing you owe me is a decent cup of coffee.” Sydney moved her half emptied cup to the side. I guess even bad coffee had its limits.
“Next time I’ll let you pick the place.” I offered, happily willing to buy her coffee for a year for agreeing to do this and knowing I was pushing the boundaries of our friendship for asking.
“Brilliant. Now get Power Station Dan to give me a call like a proper date and we’ll work on the particulars.”
“I’ll call him when I get back to the office.” I wanted to put off that call for as long as possible.
“So onto important things, how’s the Viking doing?” Viking had been her nickname for Alex, a throw back to his Nordic heritage. “I saw your lovely happy snaps, nice wig but the Versace was a dead giveaway.” Sydney flicked her hair out of her eyes, a knowing smile playing on her lips.
“You guessed it was me?” My face was barely visible in those photos. I’m not sure how anyone who didn’t have an intimate knowledge of my body (sadly there had been a lot on display) would have known it was me.
“Of course I knew it was you. You were going at it like a dog in heat. Who else could it have been? Besides if the designer threads weren’t enough to tip me off, the way he was looking at you sealed it. No man looks at a one night stand like that, not even one as talented as you.” Despite Sydney’s colourful summation, she was right. It still gave me goosebumps when Alex looked at me as if I was his world. The fact that no one else had seen that is what should have been surprising.
“Awww look at you with your back handed compliments. It’s just like old times. I’ve got to say, I miss you around the office.” I really did miss her and I was going to make a conscious effort to spend more time with her. We had worked well together but most of all she had made me laugh. Her British humour, while not as easily digested by Americans, was a welcome distraction to my day.
“Don’t you have the Cowboy and your Aussie girl working for you?” I don’t think Sydney called anyone by their actual names. It was one of her adorable quirks.
“Yeah but things have gotten strange. I guess the honeymoon is over and working and living together might not be all it’s cracked up to be.” I tried to cast my mind back to when things started getting weird between them. My return to the work place seemed to be the catalyst.
“It happens, still it’s working out for you.”
“It’s different for us. While we work together, we aren’t together every single minute of every day.” I loved Alex but I was glad to still have my own space. Things worked between us because I was still able to be me and he supported that.
“True, good thing too or you’d never get any work done! Have you got any plans for his birthday?” Sydney forgot she had disregarded her latte and took another sip. “Oh please take this thing away from me before I drink anymore.”