The Summer Proposal

I smiled. “I don’t know about the plane part, but I guess the other stuff is good advice.”

“You are great at making decisions, but sometimes circumstances change. You need to loosen up and be able to roll with the unexpected punches. It’s okay to just go out there and have fun without knowing what tomorrow will bring.”

Reluctantly, I nodded.

Maggie leaned back in her chair and stretched her arms out on the armrests. “Look at me. I’m the normal one now.”

I snorted. “Let’s not go that far. Are you still sleeping with Aaron’s lawyer?”

“We did it in a conference room in his office, right before Aaron was coming for another settlement meeting. He sat down in the exact spot where my bare ass had been not ten minutes earlier. I’m pretty sure if he had paid attention, he could have recognized my ass-cheek print on the glass tabletop.”

“I rest my case.”

Maggie took a deep breath. “Alright. Well, are you ready to get started? We’re on a tight deadline with the printer.”

“Yeah, sure.”

Two hours later, we’d finalized the new ad campaign, and Maggie stood to head back to her office.

When she reached the door, I called after her, “Mags?”

She turned back. “Yeah?”

“Thank you for talking me down.”

“My pleasure.” She winked. “Now I only owe you a million more for all the times you’ve helped me. I’ll be back this afternoon to hear your decision.”

• • •

My supplier meeting ran late, so by the time I got back to the office, people were already leaving for the day. Ellie, my assistant, was putting her jacket on as I walked by her desk.

“Hey, Georgia. I left a delivery that came for you in your office.”

“Oh, okay. Thank you.”

“And I summarized all of your messages in an email. Nothing sounded urgent, but I’m sure you’ll check.”

“Thanks, Ellie. Have a good night.”

I expected to see a brown cardboard box on my desk, the usual delivery of samples or something from Amazon. I was surprised to find a white gift bag, decorated with ribbons. Curious, I didn’t even take off my jacket or sit down before I tore into it.

Inside was a plastic gift box with a pad and pencil set. Upon closer inspection, I noticed both had suction cups attached to them. I wasn’t quite sure what I was looking at. A sample of some sort sent in a pretty bag by a supplier? There was an envelope, so I sliced open the back and slipped out the card.

Georgia,

It’s waterproof. No more slips and falls.

Looking forward to Friday night.

X

Max

Damn it, that Max. Did he have to go and be so great? While a gift like this seemed like it should go in the pros column, there was also a reason to put it in with the cons. Any man who took time out of his day to find me a water-resistant pad and pencil was someone I could grow attached to. Now, if the bag had contained a black-lace teddy, that would actually have seemed safer—that type of gift screamed summer fling only.

So I sat at my desk, staring into space for the next half hour, doing what I did best—analyzing and overanalyzing. Eventually a knock at my door interrupted my thoughts.

Maggie held up two of those tiny bottles of wine you get on an airplane.

“Decision time. I’m going to assume you haven’t come to one—or rather, you haven’t settled into the one you told Max you already made. So I’m here to rip the Band-Aid off. The wine will help take away the sting.”

She plopped down in one of my guest chairs, twisted the cap off one bottle, and passed it to me. Maggie held her bottle out to me to clink. “To being lucky enough to sit in a beautiful office with my best friend whose biggest stress right now is whether to fuck a hot hockey player.”

I laughed. “Thanks. When you put it like that, it seems a tad bit ridiculous how much anxiety this is causing me. Especially after this…” I pushed the gift bag to the other side of the desk and explained the gift as she looked it over.

Maggie put her hand on her lower belly. “I’m pretty sure my ovaries just fluttered. Do you still have that picture of him with no shirt on that I sent you from his phone? That might help lower the sensation to right where I need it.”

I snorted. Even if I was stressing, sharing it all with Maggie at least made it fun.

“So what’s it going to be, girl?” She looked at her watch. “It’s six thirty. I’d say we’re past the end of the business day. Are you going to have a summer to remember or up your battery subscription on Amazon?”

I closed my eyes. My brain still told me to keep my distance from Max Yearwood. Though my body said my head needed to be examined. But for the most part, I’d done really well for myself by using my brain and making logical decisions, hadn’t I? Though not with Gabriel. So maybe it was time to do like Maggie said and have some fun without knowing what tomorrow would bring…