Page 34 of One Touch

“Aww, I was looking forward to seeing her. How come you don’t need me?”

“I found someone else.”

I typed out the subtitle “Relationship Management,” then realized how weird it was and deleted it.

“That’s great! Are they from an agency?”

“Not exactly.”

“Okay, Mister Mysterious.”

“It’s Lily.”

“Yay! I’m so glad! Great choice, Ethan.”

“That remains to be seen.”

I stared at my screen. “Interpersonal Rules” also seemed like a weird thing to write.

“She’ll do a great job,” said Elara. “So, she’ll be staying with you?”

“Yep.”

“In the spare room?”

“Where else?”

“Dunno. Nowhere else. Why, where else could she stay?”

I could hear the mirth in her voice. Jesus, did everyone in this damn town seem to know I had a crush on Lily Lane?

“I have no idea.”

“I hope Lily’s okay,” Elara mused. “You know, with the whole rebound situation. I’m worried that she might just throw herself at a random guy. Still, it would probably do her some good to have a no-strings fling—”

“Is there anything else?” I asked, knowing exactly where Elara was going with this.

“Nope! Say hi to her for me when you see her.” A beat. “And tell her that I think she should try to find someone to have a sexy fling with to forget about Vlad.”

“Absolutely not.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m her employer, and that kind of talk is inappropriate.”

“Boring.”

“I like boring. Boring is safe. Boring is manageable. Boring is very, very grown-up.”

“Boring is . . .boring!” she drawled the last word then hung up.

I checked the time. Five minutes to go. Honestly, I was so sweaty after lugging that dresser up to the spare room that I probably needed to take a shower, but never mind about that. This was way more important. It was . . . boring. I cracked my knuckles.

“Rules for Ethan and Lily,” I wrote.

“Maintain a professional distance and keep personal lives separate,” I typed, cringing at the words. Lily would no doubt find this all hilarious. She probably already thought I was a buzzkill. Now she’d think I was even more of a loser.

“No unnecessary physical contact,” I continued, my jaw tightening with each keystroke.

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