He nodded. “You wanted to believe there was romance and an exotic setting—that it was more than it was. It was just sex between two consenting adults. There doesn’t always have to be more to it.”
I finished my Chinese food and leaned back, folding my hands on top of my full stomach. “While it’s tempting…” I grinned. “…mostly because of that bathtub. I don’t think it’s a good idea. We spend too much time together for it to just be sex.”
Drew’s thumb rose to his mouth, and he rubbed his full bottom lip. “I could evict you.”
“Then I’d definitely want to have sex with you. Because nothing puts me in the mood like being tossed out on the street,” I teased.
Drew came around to my side of the desk and took my empty box and his to the garbage. I felt him come up behind me when he returned. Leaning down, his head over my shoulder, his breath tickled my neck when he spoke. “You change your mind, you know where to find me.”
Even though I didn’t really feel like being alone, a little while after we finished eating, I told Drew I needed to get home to do some work. His text earlier had said he had hours of work to do when he got back to the office, and I didn’t want to keep him from it. Plus, I needed some time to let the discussion we’d had tonight sink in. While the entire proposal was bizarre, I couldn’t honestly deny that the thought of having a sexual relationship with Drew was appealing.
***
While things returned to normal between Drew and me in the office over the next few days—and by normal I mean he ridiculed the advice he overheard me giving my patients, and I suggested he check up his ass for his missing ethics after the advice I heard him offer his clients—things between Baldwin and me remained strained. I’d heard him open and shut his door yesterday morning, and then there was a knock on my door, so I’d acted very mature and pretended I wasn’t home.
I had no idea why I was avoiding him when he really hadn’t done anything wrong. So the following day, when he knocked again, I took a deep breath and adulted.
“I’ve been worried about you,” he said.
“Have you? I didn’t mean to make you worry. I’ve just been busy with work.”
“That’s good, I guess. I’m glad everything is working out the way you planned with your move.”
Not everything. But whatever.
“Yes. I’m happy with the way my practice is developing.”
“Are you free for breakfast? I was hoping we could talk a bit. Catch up on everything else going on.”
I was, but I lied. Looking at my watch, I saw it was seven-thirty. “I actually have an eight-thirty counseling session, and I’m not finished getting ready.”
“Dinner?”
“My entire day is pretty packed.” I smiled weakly. “I’ll be working late to transfer my notes into the case files.”
Baldwin frowned. “Lunch. We can eat in your office, if you’d like.”
He wasn’t going to take no for an answer. “Umm…sure.”
After he left, I thought better of having Baldwin at the office for lunch and texted him I’d meet him at a nearby restaurant. Not that I was concerned Drew would be upset or anything, but there was no telling what might come out of Drew’s mouth.
***
It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it.
Today, I’d like to say ___________________ to you, and show you I mean it.
After adding the daily quote to my whiteboard, I added it to my website and then began reviewing my case files. I had back-to-back therapy sessions this afternoon, and I wanted to be prepared in case I was late returning from lunch. Baldwin texted earlier that he’d made reservations at Seventh Street Café, a cloth-napkin-type lunch restaurant that could take a while to prepare their elaborate dishes. They didn’t make burgers. They made Kobe beef burgers with fennel seeds cooked in free-range duck fat—something exotic-sounding to justify the twenty-five-dollar price tag.
Half an hour before lunch, I was surprised when Baldwin showed up at the office instead of meeting me at the restaurant as we’d planned.
“I thought we were meeting at Seventh Street Café?”
“I was in the neighborhood, so I thought I’d pick you up on the way.”
I told him to come into my office so I could grab my coat and power down my laptop. Drew had been on an all-morning conference call, and of course he finished up right at that moment. He walked into my office without knowing anyone was there.
“What are you in the mood for? I was thinking dirty-water dogs. Feel like taking a walk up to—” He stopped in place when he saw Baldwin. “Didn’t realize you had company.”
I caught the slight tick in his jaw. He definitely wasn’t fond of Baldwin.