Page 72 of Keep Your Friends Close and Your… Work Enemy Closer?

"Wait," Jared said.

I turned to him in the dim light and asked, "What?"

His features deadly serious, he leaned closer. "Meet me at the hot tub in ten minutes."

Not waiting for my response, he turned and walked away, leaving me stunned.

What the fuck? The hot tub? Alone with Jared?

My first instinct was to run after him and tell him no, but he was gone before I could act, and I didn't want to knock on his door when he had a roommate.

Maybe I could just text him instead.

Going back to my room, I expected Mona to be asleep, but she was wide awake, lights on, reading something on her phone.

She jumped when I opened the door.

"Oh, sorry. What are you doing up?" I asked.

With wide eyes, she set her phone down. "I couldn't sleep, so I thought I'd read. But I'm reading a thriller and things are getting good. So..."

"Oh, no. What book?"

She told me, but I only half-listened as she gave me the basic plot, while I sat there distracted by thoughts of Jared and what the hell I should do. Part of me longed to go out there. Who said anything had to happen?

We could just talk and hang out. The hot tub would feel amazing on my sore muscles and warm me up completely, undoing the remnants of the ice bath earlier.

Picking up my phone, I glanced at the time. Two in the morning. Damn, it was late.

Nothing good ever happened after midnight, right?

If I went down there, Jared for sure wouldn't have a shirt on, and I'd be drooling over him, and then we'd maybe kiss again, and then...

"So then he kills the two roommates as they stay overnight in the Catskills during a team-building retreat, and the murderer turns out to be Ranger Jim."

"Huh? What?" I turned to Mona, almost forgetting that she was there and she'd been speaking. "What'd you say?"

She laughed. "Never mind. What on earth are you thinking about? What'd I miss?"

I only debated whether or not to tell her for a split second. Because of course I'd tell her. I needed her advice. "Jared said to meet him at the hot tub in ten minutes. Well, probably more like five now."

She sat up straight in bed. "Excuse me?"

"Yeah. We, um, kind of kissed earlier today, during the blindfold thing."

"Are you fucking kidding me?"

I tried to read her face for her reaction, expecting to see judgment, but all I could get was excitement. "No?"

Her eyes suddenly narrowed. "You're going downstairs, right?"

"I don't know. Should I? What do you think?"

"What do I think? Yes! One-hundred percent yes. Absolutely. No doubt about it. Yes. Why wouldn't you?"

"Because he's my co-worker. And it's unethical. I don't want people to look down on me."

"Oh, please. Everyone's rooting for you two. It's been pretty damn obvious from day one, well, maybe karaoke night, that you two have the hots for each other."

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