He stared at me for a few seconds then squinted. “Anything good?”

“Long Beach Island.”

I was pretty sure he really wanted to know whether my plans were with Bryant, but I intentionally kept being vague. And he intentionally kept prodding. It was almost like a game.

“Got a house there?”

“No. Friend-of-a-friend sort of thing.”

He squinted again, staring at me, but I still didn’t give in. “Girls’ weekend?”

I shook my head.

He nodded. “See you in the morning. Don’t stay too late.”

“Okay. Goodnight.”

Chase turned like he was going to leave, then turned back. “On second thought, you know what? I think we do need to work this weekend.”

I smiled brightly—although I wasn’t sure why the hell I was smiling when he’d just put the kibosh on my weekend at the beach.

Maybe because I didn’t really want to go with Bryant. Or maybe because the thought of working with Chase all weekend was more exciting than a romantic beach weekend with the guy I was dating. Either way, I was looking forward to working a little too much.

***

After I left the office that night, I stopped at the restaurant a few doors down and picked up a meatball parm hero, knowing I’d be too lazy to cook when I got home. Between the long hours at the office, late-night meals, and skipping the gym, I was definitely going to gain weight if I didn’t do something about it.

Maybe I should join a new gym? Iron Horse was nice. And Bryant would probably like it if I joined. But who would I be kidding? Myself. I already spent half the day glancing up to spot a certain someone around the office. I sure as hell didn’t need any more distractions from that man.

My phone buzzed as I crossed the street on the way to my subway station. Bryant’s name flashed on the screen. Knowing I only had a minute before I lost service, I hit ignore, figuring I would call him back when I got home.

Outside of my train station, a man with longish gray hair sat on the concrete. He had a long beard to match. His skin was dark and leathery, likely from long hours baking in the sun. But it was the light blue of his eyes that caught my attention when he looked up. I have no idea why, even though I knew he was obviously homeless, he didn’t look like someone who was supposed to be homeless. He seemed soft and sad, rather than drunk or scary like a lot of the people I’d learned to speed past growing up in New York City. He had a guitar case sitting next to him with the lid open, but it was filled with piles of neatly organized clothing. I offered a smile and kept going. He returned the smile, but quickly looked away—like he wasn’t supposed to be looking at me.

Halfway down the subway stairs, I remembered my giant meatball hero. Walking back up, I split it in two and gave half to the man with the sad blue eyes. He smiled gratefully and nodded.

It felt good, and my ass certainly didn’t need an entire hero.

Chapter 11

Reese

I’d forgotten how much I loved happy hour. Jules and I used to do it every Thursday night when we first started at Fresh Look, but as time went by, one of us was always working late. We’d apologize and promise to do it the following week, but then the other person would be on deadline and not be able to go. Eventually, we just stopped even trying to make plans.

But the employees at Parker Industries made time for happy hour, and I’d managed to leave the office at a reasonable hour, too. Lindsey was another brand manager in the marketing department, and we’d hit it off on my first day. We were sitting at a bar, drinking Godiva chocolate martinis and enjoying the free appetizers as she filled me in on all the office gossip.

“And Karen in payroll is engaged to a guy who used to be in porn.”

“Porn?”

“It was soft stuff. But if you want to see his dick, just Google John Summers.”

“It would be really weird to Google someone in the office’s fiancé to look at him naked.”

Lindsey crinkled up her nose. “It’s not circumcised. It’s really ugly. But it’s huge.” She held out her hands nearly twelve inches apart. “Like a baseball bat. Now every time I look at her, I can’t stop wondering how that thing fits. I mean, she’s so tiny.”

“You need to meet my friend Jules. It’s uncanny how much you remind me of her.”

Lindsey tossed back the rest of her martini and held the empty glass up for the bartender. “So tell me about you. Boyfriend¸ husband, sister-wife? What’s going on in your life?”

Answering should have been easier. “I’ve been on four dates with a guy who’s really sweet. We talk almost every day.”

“Really sweet, huh? Are you exclusive?”

Huh? Are we? “We haven’t really talked about it. But I haven’t been dating anyone else.”

The bartender came by with a shaker and refilled both our glasses. Lindsey eyed me over the top of hers as she sipped. “You’re not that into him.”

“What makes you say that?”

“You didn’t perk up when you talked about him, you described him as ‘sweet’, you aren’t sure if you’re exclusive, and it seems like thirty seconds ago was the first time you’d even considered the question. That means you don’t care if he isn’t.” She shrugged and said pointedly, “You’re not that into him.”

I exhaled a deep breath. “I think you’re right. He’s great—he really is. But there’s just something missing.”

“Can’t force it.”

She was right. Although the thought of breaking things off with a guy like Bryant—one who didn’t come along that often in New York City—was pretty depressing. I needed to think about something else.

“Tell me more gossip? What about Samantha?”

“She’s pretty much what you see. Been with the company about four years now, I think. Married, no kids that I’m aware of. She and Chase go way back. I heard a rumor that she was best friends with his girlfriend who died.”

“His girlfriend died?”

“Yep. Years ago. I think she was only twenty-one at the time.” Lindsey shook her head. “Tragic.”

“How did she die? Was she sick or something?”

“Some sort of an accident, I think. It was before I started. But I heard Chase was screwed up for a long time. It’s why he licensed all his products originally instead of distributing them himself. A lot of those licenses are expiring, and that’s why we’re marketing some of the products for the first time.”