He spins on his heel and disappears back into his office.
Nathanial
“What are you doing?” Gabrielle says into the echoing abyss that is my home gym.
I’ve been in here for the last two hours, running, letting all of my pent-up… everything… seep away from my body with every breath and every drop of sweat.
“How did you get here?” I ask, but I don’t stop what I’m doing, in fact, I push even harder.
“I knocked. Gina answered. She let me in and told me you were down here.”
“Remind me to fire her for not listening when I said the words, ‘I do not want to be disturbed.’”
“Stop being an ass, dude. I came to get some signatures from you then I’ll leave you be, but maybe get out of the house? Running yourself to death isn’t going to help anyone.”
As much as I’d like to tell her I’m running to keep myself from furiously jacking off to the vision of my fucking assistant, and to keep from marching my ass straight to NoMad and inserting myself right into the middle of her date, that’s not exactly something one would tell their oldest friend and business partner.
Eavesdropping isn’t something I’d ever admit to, but when I happen to be within earshot of a certain conversation, I would be called a dirty liar if I said I didn’t pause to take a listen.
I’ve developed an air of possessiveness over Piper that isn’t mine to claim. It doesn’t even make sense, but there has been a small, black inky spot in my body that craves her since the day we first met, and it’s been growing more and more every single day.
I press the button to shut off the treadmill and yank the towel from the rack, wiping the sweat from my face and bare chest.
I take notice of her long-sleeved, bodycon dress and red pumps.
“Nice dress. Sugar daddy coming through?”
“Ha ha. Funny. What makes you think I’m not a sugar mommy? Huh?”
“Touché.”
“You need to get out of the house, N,” Gabrielle sighs as she pulls a pen from behind her ear.
“I go out all the time.”
“Inviting women over to your house, then kicking them out a few hours later doesn’t count as going out. I know life is stressful right now, but this won’t help you cope.”
She has always been able to call me on my shit, even as kids. She stands at five foot four inches, on a good day, and wouldn’t hesitate to put someone twice her size in their place. She reminds me of a blonde pixie with the attitude of a dragon. That’s how I knew there was no one I’d rather be in business with.
“I have a therapist I pay for these conversations. I don’t need it from you. What am I looking at here?” I motion to the manila folder she is holding.
“We are closing the deal on the 1600 block of Maple in the upstate area. It’s a prime piece of real estate, and I have it in good faith that we should be able to flip it for a nice profit, once we handle the demolition.”
“Any word on who wants it?”
“Possibly the city. I’m still putting feelers out. If I hear anything, I’ll cut a deal for using us in the design portion of the rebuild.”
“That’s my girl.”
“Eww. No thanks, and honestly, at this point, you’re my boy. I’m kicking ass over here.”
“I wouldn’t trust anyone with this except you.” I nudge her with my elbow then scribble my signature. “Is that it?”
“Yep. That’s all I needed.” She closes everything and slides the pen back behind her ear. “Think about what I said. Go out tonight. Put your thoughts away for a while. Interact with someone on a personal level. Not just professional or sexual.”
“Like I said… I pay a therapist to spout the psychobabble bullshit.”
“I’ve been around your family for years. I’ll always show my concern, as a friend and as your partner.”
“I appreciate that, Gabs, I do, but I’ll handle all of this in the way I can. That’s all I can do. Once I’m able to get some movement on selling Lennox Publishing and get back to my own life, you’ll see a marked improvement from me.”
“Are you sure you still want to do that? Doesn’t it seem… fucked up… to do?”
“What are my alternatives? I can’t manage it full time, not if I want to keep my fifty-fifty partnership with you. I want to wash my hands of it, give my mom a nice chunk of money to live on from the sale, and say goodbye to it.”
“I don’t even know why I bother. You’re one stubborn motherfucker.” She tucks the manila folder back under her arm. “I need to get going. I’ve got a date.” She gives me a wide smile.
“God help whoever it is.” Gabrielle has always seen the person, not a gender. It’s one of the many things I love about her.
“She is a writer for Cosmo, actually. We met online on Bumble.” She tousles her hair a bit. “How do I look?”
“Perfect, as always. I’m a phone call away if it goes south.”
Gabrielle has been like a sister to me, and I’d do anything for her, even it means rescuing her from the big, bad writer.
I follow her back into the main living area, seeing her out the door and as soon as I’m alone, my mind wanders to what she said.
Maybe I do need to get out.
A good meal couldn’t hurt.
Neither could some company who is very pleasant to look at, even if her conversation is subpar.
In fact… I know just the person… and the place.
Chapter 4
Piper
Dear Ida,
I’m going on a date with someone tonight.
I feel like I should be more excited than I am, but all I can think about is him.
The ever-looming, way too attractive for his own good HIM.
How can I put him aside and get him out of my head?
P.
***
True to his gentlemanly ways, Ryan is waiting for me outside of NoMad when I arrive. He’s dressed in an ill-fitted suit that could use a bit of a tailor, but nevertheless he looks nice.
I’d even go as far as to say that he’s even pretty cute.
“Piper?” he asks, as I approach and a smile spreads over his face.
“That’s me.”
“Wow. You look lovely.”
I opted for a cocktail dress tonight. The top is a deep plum that sits off my shoulders, exposing my entire décolletage and the pink oleander, watercolor tattoo that decorates my left shoulder blade. The skirt portion is black, with layers of tulle underneath to give it some volume, and suede, plum pumps to tie it all together. My hair is down, curled softly and pulled completely over my right shoulder. I feel classy. Hell, I must feel classy to be comfortable eating somewhere as bougee as this.
“Thank you. You haven’t been waiting long have you? I ran a little behind.”
“No. I haven’t been here long, but our table should be ready, so let’s head in.”
He places his hand on the small of my back and leads me into the restaurant.
NoMad is broken up into multiple different types of rooms, with different feelings and purposes, but the room we are taken to is very dark and very intimate.