Page 32 of Weathering the Storm of the Century

“Cotter saw me having lunch with Kent yesterday, then showed up at my office today like a lunatic when I informed him that I agreed to go to dinner with Kent tonight,” I answered dryly.

“Whoa…wait…what?”

Going through it a second time, I gave him more details, including my conversation with Kent and how well he’d taken it. After I was done, I asked, “So, what do you think?”

“I’m not surprised,” he replied. “Cotter Moore doesn’t seem like the type to share.”

“I was never his to not share,” I reminded him. “That wasn’t the agreement.”

“Forget all that,” he said. “How do you feel about him?”

“About Cotter?”

“No, about the Easter Bunny,” he deadpanned.

“I don’t know,” I answered honestly. “I mean…yeah, I’m attracted to him, and things are good in that department, but I don’t know, Dex…it’s like I’ve…like I’ve conditioned my mind never to think of him as anything more than a…a business arrangement.” I started rubbing my forehead. “I’m attracted to him and respect him, but I don’t know how I feel about anything else.”

“Okay, I can see that,” he replied. “So, how about this? If he had asked you out on a date, instead of proposing that ridiculous arrangement, what would you have said?”

“No,” I chuckled seriously. “I’d just found out that Thomas had been screwing his damn secretary. I was in man-hating mode when Cotter had approached me, and that was the only reason why I had agreed to his proposal.”

“Fair enough,” he laughed. “Still, let’s take away the arrangement, Thomas being a douchebag, and everything else that makes this complicated. What would you say if Cotter Moore ran into you next week at a charity event and asked you out to dinner?”

Knowing what I knew about Cotter, the answer was easy. “I’d say yes.”

“Well, there you go,” he said. “I say it’s worth giving it a try, and like last time, make sure that the expectations are lined out.”

“What do you mean?”

“If you’re not allowed to have dinner with other men, then make sure that he knows that he’s not allowed to have dinner with other women,” he explained. “I’d also make sure if that extended to business dinners since you have a lot of those.”

“I’m not sure if you’re helping or making things more complicated,” I snorted.

“I’m helping,” he semi-lied. “I’m always helpful.”

That had me smiling. “Always.”

“Look, he’s not asking you to find the cure for cancer, Aelix,” he went on. “He’s just asking for a chance to make something more of what you’d been doing so far.”

Well…when he put it like that…

“Yeah, you’re right,” I sighed. “I’m just…I think I’m still in shock over him showing up here like a goddamn psychopath.”

“Babe, if a man is capable of acting calm when another man is after his woman, then that man doesn’t really love that woman,” he retorted. “Honestly, I would have lost all kinds of respect for him had he not stormed your office.”

“You really are no help, Dex,” I informed him.

“I’m just giving you the man’s perspective, and I can guarantee you that Cotter Moore is going to be in the mood for a fight when he knocks on your door later on.”

“How do you know that?”

“Did he hunt Kent down and kick his ass?” he asked.

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

“Then he’s still going to be mad,” he explained. “Unless he’s managed to take that anger out on someone else, then he’s going to be spitting mad and ready for a confrontation later.”

“Still not helping, Dex.”

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