Page 83 of The Layover

By Friday night, I was going out of my mind. Why did they have to call me? Why did Raul have to say that? It was hard enough forgetting them before the We love you, but now…

So when Kandace told me her brother and his wife had taken her son camping for the weekend, and she wasn’t sure how to spend her time, I was quick to jump on the chance for some company. “Come to the bar with me,” I said.

Kandace’s eyes grew wide. “Me?”

“Of course you. Girls’ night. We’ll ogle guys and get so drunk we can’t think.”

Her shock faded to a frown. ‘That sounds… fun?”

“I promise, it’s more fun than you think.” I was already calling an Uber to take us to a nearby bar. Our cars were safer parked at the offices overnight.

Two hours later, I was still nursing my first drink, while Kandace was on number four, and had started whistling at every man who walked by. It wasn’t the kind of distraction I’d been looking for, but it was entertaining in its own way.

Still, I’d probably have to cut her off soon.

“Come here.” Kandace crooked her finger and beckoned, while leaning in.

Definitely have to stop ordering drinks. “What’s up?”

“I want to tell you a secret.” Her words weren’t slurred, but this wasn’t the woman I worked for. She was more casual. More relaxed. “I. Am jealous. Of you.”

Because I had an awesome single-woman’s life with no attachments or real obligation.

Except I wasn’t satisfied with that anymore. Because something was wrong with me.

“Why?” I asked, instead of dumping my thoughts on Kandace.

“Because you and Daria have such an amazing friendship.”

Oh. Yeah, I was pretty lucky for that. “You can be our friend too.”

“It’s not the same. You’re both so close.” Kandace pouted. Fucking pouted.

It was too bad blackmail wasn’t my thing. “It won’t be the same at first, but all relationships take time. You start off liking each other. Spending time with each other. And then you learn more about each other, and want to spend even more time together, and then one day you realize your life isn’t the same without them.”

Fuck.

Kandace squinted at me and frowned. “That does sound pretty good. But I’m your boss.”

“And you’re an amazing boss. I have mad respect for you. We can still be friends.”

Kandace twirled the stick in her nearly empty glass. “If we’re friends, will you tell me a secret?”

She’d told me one, so that seemed fair. “Depends.” I tried to keep my reply light and airy.

“Is there more than just a fake-wedding-for-headlines and the job between you and our handsome Italian restara… restronte… businessmen?”

Yes. Except no. I should deny that instantly. “You’re asking as my friend, not my boss?”

“I already said that.” The huff Kandace let out was full of offense.

“There was sex, too.” I had to be honest, right? Build trust. And also, in case it came out later, I hadn’t lied. The there was so much more than that between us. There still is made my brain stall in ways I didn’t like.

Kandace grinned. “Nice. Another thing I envy you for. Relationships are so easy for you.”

“They’re really not.” The words slipped out without my permission. “If they were, I wouldn’t run away from them all the time.” Okay, me, I could stop anytime now.

“But you don’t. Run away, I mean. You’ve been with us almost since the start. You’ve known Daria forever. You have friends everywhere. Those are relationships. Why haven’t you ever moved to Milan?”

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