Page 48 of The Exception

“It’s late there. Go to bed. I’ve got this.” I wasn’t going to keep Carly up all night with my inability to make a decision.

“Okay. But remember, regardless of what Joystick said, he’s there to see you.”

“He’s not. ‘Night, Carly.”

I hung up, but that didn’t erase the conversation from my thoughts. Joystick came here looking for me. I wasn’t the only one that night had an impact on. He’d been asking about me. Acting differently because ofme.

Why? I was just me. He was a sexy, outgoing, famous guy who could have anyone he wanted.

Almost.

My phone chimed with a new text from Carly. It was a phone number and saidcall him.

I couldn’t help but smile at the less than subtle nudge. If what she said was true—and she tended to be bluntly honest—that made me feel less awkward about reaching out to Joystick.

I summoned the courage of whatever wicked spirit prompted me to send Eli dirty pictures the other night, and dialed Joystick’s number. When he answered, we made the most basic of small talk. How was my work? How was his foot?

This wasn’t what I wanted. “I saw your restaurant plans,” I said.

“Yeah? What did you think?”

“I love what you’re doing.” Geek themed dining. Store with merch in one half of the building, and a restaurant in the other. Not completely unique, but the way he had it set up stood out.

“Because it’s epic, right?” Joystick asked.

Without question. “You’ve got an incredible plan.”

“But you have notes.” He zeroed in on my reasons for bringing it up.

I did, but I hoped he’d see them as the kind of good that I did. “Tweaks. Suggestions. There’s nothing wrong with your idea, but there are alternatives to consider. Like when you’re painting a room and white or off white could both be the right answer, but you want to make sure you consider each equally.”

Joystick let out a short laugh. “I don’t know if I’ve ever willingly painted a room any shade of white.”

Of course he hadn’t. Horrible example.

“I want to hear all your thoughts, though,” he said. “To be honest, I was trying to keep this a secret until it was in the right shape to show you, but now that you’ve seen it…”

“I can come up and visit. We could talk it out.” The offer came easily, before I could consider how he might interpret it. This was work talk. This was what I did. It was simple to slide into owning it.

“Friday afternoon? Carly tells me the office frequently takes half of tomorrow off.”

He really had been asking about me. Would it be weird for me to see Joystick right before Eli?

Of course not, because this was business.

Yeah, I didn’t believe that for a second. Still, I wasn’t hiding what was going on from either of them…

This really was complicated. “Friday sounds good, but I can’t stay too late, I have a date.”

Silence greeted me.

I was grasping for a follow-up comment, when Joystick said, “Stunning woman like you? Of course you do. Don’t suppose he lives in the same house as me?”

“He does right now, yes.”

“Then I can keep you until he picks you up, and maybe pick your brain again the next morning.”

I swore there was a hint of something less-than-cheerful in Joystick’s reply. Was this about to be a bad idea or a really good one?

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