Page 49 of Take It Offline

“Beer?” I offer.

She throws herself across my couch. “You need to ask?”

I grab two and fill Ziggy’s water bowl. “Are you sleeping any better?”

She shrugs instead of answering. I get it. It’s a good night if I get a solid six hours. I don’t press her.

As soon as I’ve sat down, a cold, wet nose is bumping my knee, and two big puppy dog eyes beg me for couch time. Ziggy’s drool will be impossible to get out of the sofa, but I pat the seat anyway. Fuck it. I’ll buy a new one.

He settles with his head on my knee, so I’m helpless to pull the remote away from Reese when she finds it and starts another terribleExorcistsequel.

“Promise me,” Reese says later, pausing at my front door. “If this turns into more than casual sex, don’t run from it. I know how terrible you think it is, dragging someone into our mess. I did too. Our childhood was chaos, and you can’t hurt anyone from the other side of the glass. But you deserve to find something real.”

For me, dreams have never been happy. When I fall asleep, I’m getting turned down, dumped, fired, or worse. I’ve watched Reese fall down a flight of stairs so many times I still have to stand in front of her on an escalator.

Where other people get their wildest wishes granted, I’m waiting in lines or trying to jump high enough to get off the ground.

The fact is, my subconscious knows the truth.

Good things don’t happen to me.

CHAPTER 18

TRUST IF THE GREATEST COMPLIMENT I COULD GIVE YOU

EMMA

It’s midnight the first time Charlie calls, and I’m so surprised, I answer out of pure curiosity.

“Charlie?”

All I get in return is rustling and a curse. Then a curious “Emma?”

“Am I interrupting?”

There’s a small groan. “My phone fell on my face and called you by accident.”

Laughter bubbles up through my chest like fresh fizz. The image alone is going to make me giggle for months.

“Yeah, yeah, laugh at my pain.”

It’s different like this. A little softer, his voice more like wool than steel. There’s a flicker of excitement in my chest, a side effect of the smile I can’t hold back and don’t bother trying to hide because he can’t see me.

“This is one hell of a list, sweetheart.”

Oh. Right.

Ivy gave me the idea while I was three margaritas deep into my grief over Logan ending things. Why not try some new things for myself? Like kinky user testing.

Spanking?Not interested.Blindfolds?Yes.Bondage?Yes (ties and cuffs).Pain?No.Humiliation?No.Toys?Yes, please, and thank you. Followed by a list of maybes I want to try.

Ididask him to read the list, but discussing it while I’m in bed, his voice deep and rumbling in my ear, never crossed my mind.

I kick the sheets off, suddenly too warm.

“I didn’t give you my number so you could call me in the middle of the night.”

“Would you rather I sent you a Teams message tomorrow?” He chuckles. “The guys in cyber security might have some questions.”

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