“Um, Inari, aren’t you married?” She gave me a “duh” look.
“Exactly. I’m married. We’ve used up all our passionate kisses.”
“That sucks. Already?” She’d only been married for two years.
She shrugged. “Yeah, but it’s still nice, and I still love him. It’s just not all fireworks and intensity anymore. It’s familiar and safe. But I still miss the early days. Man, there were times we didn’t even leave the house or put clothes on.” She gazed off into the distance and smiled.
“Just wait,” she said, patting me on the arm with an air of superiority, even though she was younger than me.
“Wait for what?”
“You’ll see,” she said, and took her tea back to her work station.
~*~*~
I checked my phone obsessively throughout the day. No call from Ryder. Either he was being a little shit and was going to wait until the last minute, he’d already decided and his silence spoke for itself, or something had happened.
Rory called during her lunch break to see if I’d heard from him.
“No, and I left him a message after you left, basically giving him an ultimatum. If he doesn’t call me within twenty-four hours of the voicemail, then that means we’re going to be acquaintances. I don’t know what that’s going to mean for dinners, but it means there will be no more kissing, no more spending time together, nothing. The end.”
“Wow, Sloane. That’s intense.”
“Well, drastic times call for drastic measures. I can’t do this anymore. He fucks with my emotions worse than PMS.”
She laughed. “Yeah, I know all about that. Well, let me know if he calls and what the verdict is,” she said, and then covered the phone to say something to her assistant.
“Okay, I’ll let you know. Bye.”
~*~*~
Five o’clock arrived with no word. I packed up for the day and let everyone go early again. I know I said that it wasn’t going to be a common occurrence, but this was twice in two weeks I’d done it. I was getting soft. Had to kick my game back up or else they were all going to slack off again. Besides, I had a new round of intern interviews next week, and I wanted everyone else on their best behavior.
I stopped and bought some groceries on the way home and started making dinner right away. To keep my mind busy, I was making stuffed chicken, dressing, gravy, mashed potatoes, rolls, and cranberry tarts for dessert. Guess I was in a holiday mood.
The food prep consumed me until my phone went off. I nearly sliced off my finger in my rush to get to it.
It wasn’t Ryder. Just a random 800 number that was probably trying to scam me. I ignored it and set the phone down. If I hadn’t heard from Ryder by eight, I was going to ask Lucah if he’d heard from him. Just to make absolutely sure.
It just seemed so unlikely that he’d kiss me like that and then overnight decide we were done. Maybe I was a bad kisser? But he had smiled at the end.
Someone knocked on the door, and I wondered if it was him. I turned the stove down so the gravy wouldn’t boil over and went to look through the peephole.
Rory.
I opened the door and let her in.
“Anything?” she said as she walked in.
“Nope.” I went to pour her a glass of wine.
“Huh, that’s weird.”
“Has Lucah heard from him today? I mean, there is a small chance that his phone died, or was stolen, or something happened to him, God forbid.”
She nodded. “No. I asked him and he said he hadn’t. Of course, then he was suspicious and I had to make something up. I seriously don’t know how he lied to me about his identity for as long as he did. But I think it’s harder to lie to someone when you’re in love with them. I mean, unless it’s about a present, or something like that.” She leaned on the counter and took the pins out of her hair, shaking it out.
“Rough day?”