Big Dick Energy - Cindi Madsen Page 0,16
was my story, and I was sticking to it.
“Mmm, sexy name,” Cat said, and I raised my eyebrows to convey my exasperation. “Right. That was my bad. The point is, if Archer’s a respectful guy and was telling the truth about not crossing lines, it’ll be easier to work together. He’ll also share more information if he thinks you’re friends. Then, if he crosses a single line and tries to screw you over, you show him you’re not messing around and you could take him down with the snap of your fingers.”
The heaviness that flooded my body was definitely guilt. “This is getting way too close to Ron territory.”
“You’ve got too many territories, Pen. Do you think Archer is having a conversation like this with his buddies? I bet he doesn’t even consider you a threat. We women have to work twice as hard to earn the positions freely given to men who don’t deserve it. We have to prove we care more about our careers than our personal lives, even as other women will snub us for it. We dissent. We make our own rules, remaining within the confines of the law, of course. But we take their underestimation of us to not only break the glass ceiling, but to help pull our sisters up with us.”
That made me feel better, thinking about it that way.
“If he takes the bait and finds a hook, that’s on him.”
I wasn’t sure I agreed, but I had gotten talked over, walked over, and Ron was promoted after pitching an idea he’d told me was impractical. Trying to play fair, when the men in my career field definitely didn’t, was getting beyond old. And didn’t I come to Catalina because I needed some tough love?
When I needed a friend to hug me, insist I look pretty even with mascara tracking down my face, and to down ice cream and wine while proclaiming the world unfair, I turned to Ellie. She was my favorite beloved enabler, just like I enabled her when it came to making excuses for why every dude she met on her dating app ended up ghosting her or being totally different IRL. It was always them, never her, and while I would stand by that to the day I died, Ellie had also ignored red flags and fallen for players while discarding nice guys because of their “funny walk” or “he closed his eyes too much when he talked.”
We all had our issues and our roles, and the ones I’d been adhering to tripped me up and left me falling on my face again and again. It was like that boring movie Groundhog Day, but without the cute rodent to make me hate it slightly less.
It wasn’t like I was going to seduce the guy—that went beyond my capabilities, even when I was in my early twenties with the metabolism of a hummingbird and the flexibility that allowed me to put my ankles behind my neck.
Had I shown off that skill in any other capacity than how Ellie could pretend to pack me away in a suitcase? No.
Had we demonstrated our party trick at an actual party only for the zipper to get stuck and leave me on the verge of passing out? Yes, yes, we had. Special skills. We had them.
Meanwhile, Archer York was likely sitting in his big, beautiful condo, his long fingers wrapped around a thick crystal glass filled with amber-colored liquid. I’d bet he was swirling it as he assured himself that when the time came, he’d dazzle the client I worked for months to snag.
What took you so long? The longest it’s ever taken me to win over clients is two weeks.
Well, yay, hooray for him. I scooted to the edge of Catalina’s desk and hiked my purse strap higher on my shoulder. “You keep on kicking names and taking ass, girl. I’m going to go home and keep on putting hours in polishing up my presentation.”
I pecked her on the cheek and then stepped into my heels, sighing at the pinch of them on my tired toes, but letting that twinge fuel me. “And when our meeting with the Pythons comes around, Archer York is going to learn what it’s like to lose to a woman.”
7
Archer
As soon as I stepped off the elevator and into the seventh-floor hallway, the scent of burned food hit me, and I really hoped that wasn’t coming from Mom and Kyle’s condo. But the closer I got to #703,