“He didn’t drag you away or anything strange like that when you were talking to his mom in Tokyo, did he?”
“Well…he kind of did. He was dying to end the conversation. But then, he’d been talking to his mom for over an hour by that point. And we’d been up since six.”
Ellie smirks. “And he wanted to take you away and have his way with you.”
“That too.” I flush, recalling the hot sex that ensued.
“Maybe you’re overthinking it. Some men just don’t want to talk about their families. My last boyfriend was so secretive about his that I thought they worked for the CIA.”
“Didn’t Brian hate his parents?”
“Yeah.”
“I don’t think Griffin hates his,” I venture cautiously. “Not based on what Rachel told me.”
Ellie taps her chin and is about to say something, but then my phone pings.
–Heather: Are you in yet?
Crap.It’s five past my regular time.
–Me: Yes. Just catching up with Ellie. I’ll be right over.
“Gotta go. That was Heather.”
“She sure keeps you on your toes.” Ellie makes a whip-cracking noise.
I laugh, then reach into my bag and pull out a small wrapped box. “For you.”
“Hey, thanks!”
Feeling good about putting a smile on Ellie’s face, I walk toward my office. Heather falls in next to me, her trusty tablet in hand.
“Morning!” She smiles. “Must have been an amazing concert.”
“Thanks. It was.”
“We have cake and we’re going to sing for you, but it’s not going to be as good as Killian Axelrod.”
I grin. “It’s the thought that counts, Heather. Killian Axelrod I admire from afar, but you and people at the company are my family. People I can hug and share my life with.”
“You’re the sweetest.” She taps her tablet. “Anyway, here’s your schedule for today. There’s a production team meeting in the morning at nine thirty. And you have an appointment with Dr. White at eleven sharp.”
Oh, that’s right.I asked Heather to schedule an annual pap smear after my birthday. It’s not something I look forward to, and if it were left up to me, I’d probably forget. But Ellie’s mom had cervical cancer that was discovered during a routine pap smear ten years ago. Since then, Ellie made it her mission to make sure that every woman in her life goes in for their checkup. She didn’t have to try that hard to convince me. I was there when her mom had surgery to remove the cancerous cells. Thankfully, it was a success and the cancer hasn’t come back. But I’ll never forget the doctor saying that if it had been discovered later, the prognosis wouldn’t have been so positive.
Then it hits me: I had sex with Griffin on our last night in Tokyo. I count the hours. With flight time and everything, I will just make the twenty-four-hour abstinence requirement before the pap.
“Got it,” I say. “So nothing scheduled after ten thirty, right?”
“Nope.”
“Excellent. How about this afternoon?”
“You have a quarterly financial review so you can be ready for the meeting with the bankers tomorrow morning.”
When we reach my office, I put my purse down and take out the gift I bought for Heather. “Here you go. Something for you from Tokyo.”
“Thank you.” She studies the package. “It’s wrapped so beautifully. I feel guilty about opening it.”