Page 35 of The Roommates

I stuck around the house long enough to let the cleaners in. Steve, the guy who ran the company and who was overseeing this cleaning personally, was a long-time friend. I didn’t have a problem handing him the keys to the house, telling him to lock up when he was done, and being on my way to meet Carly.

She was already waiting outside the restaurant when I got there. We asked for a table outside, placed our orders, and sent the waitress on her way.

As soon as we were alone, Carly leaned in. “Spill. Now. I go on a boring, normal trip to Milan, and you manage to live a romance novel meet cute while I’m gone, plus turn it filthy.”

“It’s not a romance novel and it’s not cute.” I was being intentionally vague, and enjoying drawing this out just a little.

“Fine.” Carly huffed. “A porn script then. Are they still hot when you spend more than a few hours at a time with them?”

I smiled. “They’re fine.”

She laughed. “You kill me, babe. Sexy swimmers. Younger men. Temporary roommates in awkward situations with implausible tangents. And dirty sex. I’ll deny ever saying this, but I’m positively green right now.Envy.”

“I never said it was dirty.” I paused. “I mean, it totally was, but you can’t just assume.”

“Touché,” Carly said. “So it was good?”

I sipped my drink slowly, letting her question hang in the air as I pretended to consider my answer.

Carly pursed her lips and drummed perfectly manicured nails on the table. She checked her watch. She let out a sigh. “Daria.”

I laughed. “I think my earlier statement ofoh my Godsums up the situation well. No other words. Except maybebow-chica-bow-wow.”

“I’m pretty sure you’re glowing.”

“I’m having so much fun. And I know it’s only for a few days, but they’re so…” I really was having a hard time describing this without gushing like a schoolgirl. “It’s everything you’d want a setup like this to be, but wouldn’t dare hope for. They put the dishes in the dishwasher the other night, Carly. One of them helped me vacuum.”

Carly snorted. “But there’s sex too, right? I mean, if you want gorgeous hunks of man meat to do the housework, there are services for that.”

“But they did it because theywantedto. And yes, I already told you, there’s sex too.”

“Boom.” Carly leaned back in her seat with a grin. “I’m such a proud friend right now. Jealous as fuck, but good for you.”

I loved that she was for this rather than judging me. Not that judgmental had ever been an issue with Carly, but not everyone could have the best best friend in the world. “Don’t let me steal the entire morning. I want to know about this property in Italy.”

“It’s gorgeous. We literally don’t have anything like it here because it’s five hundred years old. The stonework, the stained glass, the wooden beams…” She grabbed her phone, made a few swipes, then passed it across the table.

I scrolled through a few dozen images. Carly could tell me what every bit of architecture was called, and what time periods this was from or mimicked. To me, it was simply gorgeous. Originally it was a cathedral that had become many other things over the centuries. Kandace was mentoring a pair of men who wanted to turn it into a high-end restaurant, then spin out similar concepts from there, across Europe.

One of the reasons I loved working for The Raphael Group was they weren’t just angel investors. Some of the partners mentored people who had what could be a fantastic success, but didn’t necessarily have the know-how to build a proposal and pitch it to an investment group.

I handed her phone back. “You’re giving it a thumbs up?”

“Absolutely. You know what you should do, since you canceled your trip—head out there with me in a few months, and check on things.”

That sounded like a lot of fun. “That would mean bringing the girls.” Which sounded like fun to me, but Carly was childless by choice, and not always the biggest fan of kids.

“Your kids are well-behaved, so it’s all good. So much good food. The art. The buildings… Now’s the time to do this.”

It was a trip I’d wanted to take for a while. “We’ll see.”

“I just put youryesin my calendar.” Carly grinned.

“Oh, speaking of buildings and sexy swimmers, I need a favor.”

She stared at me, brow furrowed, then shook her head. “I want a comeback for that, but I’ve got nothing. What’s up?”

“Tanner is looking at a building, and he’s getting conflicting information about whether it’s good or not. Give it a look for him? For me?”

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