Page 48 of Something Cheeky

She’d texted him early this morning when she realized she couldn’t leave her cat alone until her neighbor came over. At least that gave her time to put together a confidence-boosting outfit. The puffy sleeves on her deep purple fit-and-flare dress channeled Boss Babe energy. She’d added pockets to the A-line skirt that were deep enough to hold her phone.

“Thanks, TJ,” she said quietly as she squeezed in between the table with sewing machines and the big ironing board. It was hard to see everything through her sunglasses.

“Zoe, TJ told me about Mr. Bobbins. You should’ve called me. I would’ve come home to help,” Trixie piped up next to TJ. She handed him a glue stick as he mounted the new non-vomit-covered copies.

“Trixie, what are you doing here?” she asked in surprise. Zoe could hide her turmoil from TJ, but her roommate could always tell when she was in a mood.

“I’m here to support you. I also offered my services as the show’s intimacy consultant and they said yes.”

“I’m glad you’re finding new ways to share your sex-ed experiences,” Zoe replied, thrilled to have one of the Boss Babes working with her on the musical.

“How’s your cat?” asked TJ.

“I think he’s better. The vet said to give Mr. Bobbins time to work the olive oil out of his system.” Zoe hoped her cat wouldn’t have anymore “incidents” for both the cat and her neighbor’s sakes.

“Why are you wearing your sunglasses inside?” TJ put his hand on his hip and side-eyed her.

“What’s wrong?” Trixie asked. “Don’t you dare lie to me.”

Zoe glanced over to the shop manager’s office to make sure his door was closed before pushing her sunglasses onto her head.

TJ gasped and covered his mouth with his hands.

“Have you been crying?” Trixie rushed to Zoe’s side. “What happened?”

“No, I wasn’t crying but—” Zoe quickly filled them in about kissing Derek the previous night. “I don’t know what came over me, but that moment. The way he looked at me like I was the most beautiful person in the world—I kissed him.”

“It’s about damn time,” TJ said as he snapped his fingers. “I saw fireworks between you two that very first day I met him.”

“No, it is not,” Zoe shot back. “Kissing my best friend wasn’t on my bucket list.”

“What are you going to do now?” asked Trixie.

“Pretend like it never happened.” Zoe shook her head, but a weird feeling in her stomach returned as she replayed their kiss. “Because we have to work closely together for at least four more weeks.”

“What if he doesn’t want to forget it?” pressed Trixie. “Did he say anything after the kiss?”

“I didn’t give him the chance.” Zoe felt a little guilty about the way she’d pushed him away. “He also texted a bunch last night after I shoved him out the door but I didn’t know what to say.”

“What if you just get him out of your system?” TJ asked as he thrust his hips out suggestively. He and Reina would get along very well.

“No!” Zoe cried out. Then she said softly, “People already think I’m only here because we’re friends. That would make it worse.”

“Since when did you care what people think about you, Zoe? If you had, Something Cheeky wouldn’t even exist,” Trixie pointed out.

“That’s different. No one depended on me when I opened it. I didn’t have any employees at the beginning.” Zoe pulled out the fabric swatches from her bag so TJ could attach them to the mounted sketches. “As the person with the least theater experience, I’m the weakest link on Derek’s team. If the show fails because of me, I’d ruin his chances of taking it to Broadway.”

“Your work is fire.” TJ snapped his fingers in appreciation. “I say that as a gay Vietnamese man, so it’s definitive.”

Trixie nodded in agreement. Zoe laughed. They both made her feel a tiny bit less stressed.

“Real talk, Zoe.” TJ set down his fabric shears and grabbed her shoulders. “There is something between you and that tasty morsel of a man. Would you regret it if you didn’t at least see what that’s all about?”

Zoe sat down across from TJ. She double-checked his work even though she knew he’d done everything the way she asked.

“You’ve already kissed him,” Trixie added, “and you can’t take it back. Whatever you decide, you should talk about what happened.”

Zoe rubbed a strip of silk charmeuse between her fingers as she debated her options. Derek had made an effort to find her even though she’d been such a terrible friend after he moved to New York. Not only that, but he stopped by her boutique or the costume shop every day to check on her and cheer her on. She owed it to him to at least talk about last night.

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