Casual Affair

“What are you on about?” he muttered, hoping his embarrassment didn’t show.

Mike nodded down at Zane’s phone. “You’ve been staring at that thing all night. And I know you wouldn’t be doing that if you were just expecting a call from a client or from Peter. So, who is she?”

“Who?” Jesus, was he that transparent?

Mike snorted into his mug. “Please. I’m not daft. If it’s not your job and it’s not your father in London ringing you, it’s clearly about a woman. So…who is she?”

Zane groaned, covering his face with his hands. “Fuck me. Not you, too.”

Why was everyone in his bloody life so concerned with whether or not he was having sex?

Mike laughed. “Ah, I take it my dear cousin has also inquired about her. Look, mate. I’m not going to tell you to sweep the woman off her feet and marry her like Peter would, so you can tell me.”

Probably true. Mike was a confirmed bachelor, far from a proponent for marriage.

Zane absently drew patterns on the table with his finger. “Her name is Bea, and we’ve been working together for over two months.”

“She works at Envision?”

He shook his head. “No. She and her sister own an interior design business, and we hired them to do the design work at the new store.”

Mike looked thoughtful. “Two months? Have you shagged her?”

“Not until two weeks ago.” He took a pull of his beer. “We kept things professional for two months. Then we ran into each other at a club one night, and things just sort of happened.”

Mike narrowed his eyes. “And now?”

Zane shrugged. “We’ve hardly spoken since. She hasn’t been at the store much in the past two weeks, and we definitely haven’t gone out. But Christ.” He groaned, shoving his hands through his hair. “She’s driving me mad. The woman is gorgeous and funny and smart. And she’s not fake or whiny, you know? I don’t look at her and think vapid like so many women I meet these days. She has way more depth than that. She actually has…character. She’s interesting. You just don’t meet women like that every day.”

Mike chuckled, and Zane wanted to punch him for thinking his misery was funny.

“All right. Obviously, you fancy her. So, what’s the problem?”

Zane pushed out a breath. “She wanted it to be a one-time deal. Sex, just once, and nothing more. With any other woman that would be fine by me, but she’s…different. I don’t want just that one time, but I don’t know how to broach the subject with her. I also have to think about how anything…more…between us could affect our working relationship.”

Mike was silent for a few seconds. “You should just call her,” he said, his voice nonchalant.

He stared at his friend in bewilderment. “And say what? That I’m obsessing over her and picture her naked every time I polish my knob?”

Mike grinned, looking amused. Bearded bastard. “I probably wouldn’t lead with that. Just invite her for a pint. Hang out casually and see what happens. Right now, for instance. I’m here, so it won’t seem like a date. Maybe if it’s more like a ‘come meet my mate and have a drink’ thing, it won’t wig her out.” He tipped his head. “She might even be waiting for you to make a move. You never know. Women are fickle.”

He made some good points.

The worst thing she could do was say no, and he’d be no worse off than he was right now.

Before thinking about it, he was finding her name in his phone and pressing call. He almost hung up, but after the fifth ring her sweet-as-honey voice came over the line.

“Hello?” There was confusion and a bit of intrigue in her voice. Not hate or disgust.

That had to be a good sign, right?

“Hello?” she repeated.

He snapped out of it, clearing his throat. Don’t cock this up. “Hi. It’s Zane.”

“Yes, I can see that,” she replied. “You know, caller ID? When you call, your name pops up on my screen. For a COO of a tech company, you seem to be a bit behind the times.” He could actually hear her smiling.

He rolled his eyes, relaxing at her snark. This was what they did. The back and forth banter between them was comfortable. “I hope I haven’t caught you in the middle of something.”