Page 4 of Stuck On Them

My stomach turned in disgust, and I grabbed a pair of underwear and a nightshirt from my bag. Staring down at them, I thought about what Nora had said about an orgasm relaxing and clearing my mind.

Shutting my eyes, I tried to relax my shoulders that were bunched up by my ears. Could I go on the prowl and find a man? I’d never been hit on in a bar or club before, but I also had never gone out alone or intending to find a one-night stand. I’d always gone with a group. If I was safe, it would be fine. Nora did it all the time.

The odds of me finding someone to hook up with were slim, but I dug to the bottom of my suitcase and pulled out a blush pink cap-sleeved dress with a purple and green floral design. It had a deep V neckline, an A-line skirt that went to just above the knee, and a fitted waist. It was the flirtiest thing I owned, and there was a small sliver of satisfaction knowing Daniel hated it.

With butterflies swirling in my stomach, I went into the bathroom to get ready. It might be a complete waste of time, but the alternative was moping in my hotel room and thinking every noise was a rat.

What trouble could come from a little fun?

Chapter2

Lime Violation

Ryker

“The way you fingered that lime was not sexy.” Luca leaned back in his chair, folding his hands behind his head as the final version of a social media marketing video ended.

A video that involved Garrett showcasing a new state-of-the-art air fryer by sexualizing the food he was cooking with. It took a lot of finesse to pull off, but with Garrett’s acting skills and his camera-ready hands and forearms, it was a masterpiece. I expected the series of short videos to go viral.

Garrett smacked a hand on the table with a smirk. “I wasn’t fingering it, asshole. I was teasing its little pucker, asking it to let me in.” He demonstrated on the glossy wood of the tabletop. “See? A caress, not a finger. It was absolutely necessary before reaming it. You should know the importance of preparation.”

I pulled off my glasses and pinched the bridge of my nose. The back and forth between Garrett and Luca was nothing new, but lately, it had done nothing but grate on my nerves. We were entering a whole new realm of clientele, and their expectations for success and professionalism were sky-high.

I cleared my throat, interrupting the banter between Garrett and Luca. “Let’s talk standards. We’re setting ourselves up to work with some big companies and we need to be sure we keep things professional. That includes in meetings, even if it is just us three.”

Garrett crossed his arms over his chest, his playful smile disappearing, but said nothing.

Luca nodded slowly, finally understanding the seriousness of the situation. Or so I thought. “In my professional opinion, that lime didn’t look like it was a consenting citrus. If we don’t reshoot that, they’re going to drop us for violating it. Do you really want that on your conscience? Hm?”

Was I the only one that could take things seriously anymore? We were one of the most successful marketing companies in New York, but that could all go away in an instant. Companies had collapsed for much less.

“For fuck’s sake, Luca. Can you be professional for one minute so we can leave for the day?” I pushed my chair back and stood, leaning forward with my hands on the conference room table. “This is a business in case you’ve forgotten.”

He held up his hands in mock surrender. “Woah, woah, woah! Calm down, old man. It’s Friday and we’re finally finished with this project. You should be smiling, not looking like someone used an unlubed citrus reamer on your ass.”

“Old man?” I knew where this was going, and I straightened, smoothing a hand down the front buttons of my cardigan. Unlike him with his tailored three-piece suit, I preferred to dress down on Fridays. But he was right about calming down, and sometimes I needed the reminder. “You only wish you could pull this off.”

“Atta boy!” Luca jumped to his feet and clapped his hands together. “Let’s send all of this over for final approval and go celebrate.”

“Celebrate by doing what exactly?” Garrett didn’t look up from his laptop screen where he was sending our client an email with a link to all of the material we’d created.

This had been our biggest marketing project to date, but the easy part was over. Now we had to wait for the go-ahead to run the campaigns we’d spent every waking hour planning for the past few weeks.

Luca pushed in his chair and ran a hand across the back of it before picking at something invisible. “Well… I was thinking… it’s been a while.”

Garrett paused for a beat in the middle of typing, leaving the room silent besides the soft whir of the air conditioner. He was the reason we hadn’t been out, and Luca and I both stared at him, waiting for his response.

He finally shrugged but didn’t look up from his screen. “If it feels right, then sure. If not, I’m just going to head home.”

“I think this is what both of you need. I’ll have my driver pick us up in ten unless you want to go home and change.” Luca raised an eyebrow in my direction. “Might improve our chances.”

Garrett shut his laptop and looked at me. “I think the Mr. Rogers look will actually improve our chances. It somewhat cancels out the semi-permanent scowl on his face.”

I kept my expression neutral, even though I wanted to scowl. “Let’s go before I change my mind.”

* * *

Friday nights were both the best and worst nights to go out. On one hand, there were a lot of opportunities to find a woman, but that also increased our chances of being recognized.

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