Relaxing slightly, he took her hand. “Let’s take a boat out.”
They did, and after much laughter and splashing on the lake, an incident with the oars that almost got them banned and several near misses with a family of ducks, they lay on their backs in Sheep’s Meadow, watching the clouds.
“We should have dinner this week. Tuesday? Damn, I can’t.” He frowned. “I have to fly to Chicago. How about Wednesday?”
“I have an event.”
“Thursday? No that doesn’t work for me.” He felt a rush of frustration. “How about Friday?”
“It’s the night you meet Matt. You’ve canceled the last three weeks. If you cancel again he’ll ask questions. And anyway, I have an evening event on Friday, too.”
“I’m starting to wish you weren’t so successful.” He realized that between his work schedule and hers, he wouldn’t be seeing her. “I’ll see Matt on Friday evening, and you and I can meet later on. You can come over after your event.”
“I don’t know what time I’ll finish. And you don’t know what time you’ll be home.”
“I’ll give you a key.”
What the hell was he saying?
When had he ever invited a woman home with him before, let alone given her a key?
But this wasn’t any woman.
This was Paige.
He’d known her forever.
She didn’t treat it as if it was a big deal.
And she wasn’t looking at him as if he’d shown her the end of the rainbow. She was nodding as if it was a practical solution.
“All right. I guess that would work. I’ll probably get there before you.”
He relaxed. It was just a key for goodness’ sake. He could get it back anytime. All he had to do was ask. No big deal.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Life going right is what happens just before it goes wrong.
—Frankie
“SO IT IS SERIOUS?” Eva asked, putting the finishing touches to a tower of cupcakes that formed the centerpiece for a girls-only thirtieth birthday party they were arranging. They’d booked the terrace of an exclusive boutique hotel in Chelsea. “You’ve spent every spare moment with him the last month and when the two of you are together the chemistry is powerful enough to provide energy for the whole of New York City.”
“I— No, it’s not serious. And let’s face it, there haven’t been that many spare moments since we started this company.” Paige kept her head down, checking off everything on her list. This was their fifth event, and so far each one had gone smoothly. She didn’t want this one to be any different. “Jake and I are having fun, that’s all.”
“Jake doesn’t make a habit of ‘having fun’ with the same woman more than a few times. You two have been sneaking off and setting off smoke alarms all around the city.”
“Not all around the city. And we were friends before we were lovers, so it’s different.” And she’d discovered that the edges were blurred. They laughed in bed and conversations frequently ended in sex. How did you separate the two things? She didn’t know.
It was because they were friends that he’d given her his key.
He’d wanted her to let herself in to his apartment.
Eva added a delicate dusting of sugar to the cupcakes. “Being in love is different. How does it feel, Paige?”
“I have no idea. Why are you asking me? It’s not as if he— He’s not—I mean, we’re not— I’m—” Paige stared at her friend, her stomach churning. “Oh.”
“Oh?’’ Frankie raised an eyebrow. “What does that mean?”