Page 9 of S.O.S. Perk

“Because you’re my friend, and that’s what’s expected of you,” Sloane countered with a grin Melissa couldn’t see.

“Friend, shmiend. You’re hot, and I’m going to keep reminding you of that, so suck it up.”

Damn.Melissa was so good for her ego. But that’s not why Sloane had called. “Listen. I’ve been so conflicted—”

“Uh, uh. Before we get into the huge pile of doubts you harbor regarding why you shouldn’t even be entertaining thoughts about this guy, I need deets on him. What does he look like? Does he play well with others?”

“Uh, maybe we shouldn’t get into that yet, either.” Now that it was share-sies time, Sloane’s tongue was having a hard time getting things out. “I, um, don’t want to make you late for work. I know you have to leave soon” Sloane demurred.Yeah, she’d opened this can of worms, but she wasn’t sure she wanted to dig around in and share the slimy contents.

“As if I could drive off to my own shit now, when you’re obviously and loudly crying out for help.”

Sloane snorted. Which she knew was exactly what Melissa wanted. Her bestie had a way of digging through Sloane’s uptightness to get her to loosen up.

“Okay. Fine. I’ll spill. He’s about six-footish or so. Dark hair. Fucking adorable dimples. And his body is…pretty sweet.”

Melissa jumped on that one. “Pretty sweet as in squishy and comforting like a soft pillow, or pretty sweet as in ripped and buff like you can bounce Oreos off his abs.”

“Uh, the second,” Sloane admitted.

“Eeee! Nice. We will def be talking more about that later. But right now, unfortunately for me, I need you to speed things up. Tell me how long you’ve known him?”

“About three months.”

“Three…? And you haven’t jumped on that yet?” Melissa practically screamed through the phone. “What’s wrong with you?”

Sloane groaned. “That’s what I thought you’d say, and it’s also what I’m calling you for,” she said. “I’m not sure what I should do next. If I should even be thinking about…moving things along. Remember the wedding I told you I was going to on Sunday?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, he was there. And he made no bones about wanting to go out with me.”

“And…?” Melissa prompted.

“And I kind of shot him down. I told him I don’t date, and to stop wasting both our times.”

NowMelissagroaned. “Oh, Sloane. You scared him away with your whole Agent Vessers act.”

“Hey. Agent Vessers isn’t an act,” Sloane sniffed. “I’ll have you know I kick ass as a—”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. A big bad Federal agent. I get it. ButIknow the soft, gooey center inside you.”

Without letting up, Melissa continued probing. “So, did you frighten him off?”

Sloane let out a bark of laughter. “You would have thought so, but Perk is tenacious, I’ll give him that. He switched gears as easily as the Hydramatic in my ’65 Pontiac.”

Yup.Thatwas something not too many people other than Melissa knew about her. She was a consummate gear-head, and her old Tempest was her most prized possession.

“Explain,” Melissa prodded, ignoring the metaphor.

“As soon as I told him I don’t date, he suggested we try being friends first. He asked if he could meet me for lunch, where, he said, he was more than happy to have a person of my choice join us to run interference.”

“Well, hell, Slo. What are you waiting for?I’mthat person, and I’ll grill the hell out of him to make sure he’s the real deal.”

“I, uh, kind of told him I wasn’t up for even a friendly lunch.”

Melissa—if Sloane wasn’t mistaking the familiar sound—was slapping her forehead.

Sloane hoped her next revelation would mitigate her friend’s clear disappointment. “So, he suggested I join his team for a sparring session sometime soon.”

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