Page 93 of Think Outside the Boss

“I can,” he says. “I’m not saying it’ll be easy, but for you, of course I can. The question is, can you?”

My heart speeds up. “Yes. If you can, why couldn’t I?”

“Because you’re the one with a career to build, a social life to establish. I wouldn’t be giving anything up, Freddie, but you… you might be. Only seeing me in the evenings every now and then. Not dating anyone else. Because that would have to be part of it.”

“Of course,” I murmur, voice dry. His words sink in, but there’s no hesitation in me. No fears. “But I’d be gaining you, Tristan. Even if it’s only behind closed doors.”

He’s quiet for a beat, the silence heavy on the line between us. “You’re sure, Freddie?”

“Yes.”

“All right,” he says, and now there’s a smile in his voice. “I can’t offer you champagne and candlelit dinners in restaurants around New York yet, but I can offer you home-cooked meals and companionship. Not cooked by me, really, and companionship includes my son. You’re welcome to dinner tomorrow evening if you want to.”

I have to swallow before I can answer. “Are you sure?”

“Yes,” he says. “He had more fun with you at the snowball fight than with me. Besides, I think he’s more observant than I give him credit for. The other day he offered to be my wingman, and I have no idea where he learned that term. He’s nine, for Christ’s sake.”

I laugh, turning on my side in the bed. “That’s sweet.”

“Or creepy. Haven’t decided yet.”

“I’ll be there, Tristan. Tomorrow.”

“I can’t wait,” he says. “You’ve turned me into a teenager, Freddie, and a few days without you are suddenly far too many.”

“Tell me about it. I work every day in a building with you in it and I can’t see you.”

“I’ve thought about bending the rules.”

I bite my lip. “More than we already have?”

“Oh yes. The past week, I conjured up ten different reasons I had to go down to Strategy.”

“I didn’t see you.”

“I didn’t go through with any of them,” he admits. “I understand how important it is for you that no one finds out. Truly, I do. So I keep myself to the thirty-fourth floor.”

“Your ivory tower,” I murmur. “Thank you for that.” We might be crossing all kinds of lines, but he has never been anything but respectful every step of the way.

He clears his throat. “Tell me more about your grandfather.”

“Really?”

“Yes, or your parents, or where you grew up in Philadelphia. Anything to keep me from having to answer these damn emails.”

Laughing, I turn onto my back. “I think I can save you from that fate, handsome.”

22

Freddie

“We could go to the salad place,” I tell Quentin. “Or the sushi one next door.”

He frowns. “No, they’re always packed for lunch. Toby, do you remember when we had to stand in line for thirty minutes?”

Toby gives a noncommittal grunt from his desk.

Quentin doesn’t comment. No snide aren’t you done soon? Or what’s keeping you? Nothing at all. I glance at him, but his face gives nothing away. Still, I’m convinced something has happened. The tension between them has changed flavor.

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