Catch - Deborah Bladon Page 0,32
she was finally settled into a calm place.
Bianca Marks is the person I look to for help now.
We met seven years ago at a yoga class. Bianca was cursing out a creep who was eyeing up the instructor. She chased the guy out of our class.
After that, we hung out a few times and built a friendship that has stood up to job changes, relationship disasters, and a few vacations together.
Arietta and I are close, but if something weighs heavy on my mind, I know Bianca will cut through the bullshit and give it to me straight.
I press the video call button on my phone, hoping I won’t wake Bianca up. I crawled out of bed when I heard the apartment door shut as Arietta raced out of here before daybreak. Her boss must still be in Italy, barking out orders across the ocean.
I sit patiently waiting for the call to connect.
Bianca’s messy brown hair comes into view. I can tell her head is resting on a pillow. One of her blue eyes cracks open.
“Hey, Bianca,” I say quietly. “How are you?”
She shifts the phone to show the pristine state of the pillow and bedding next to her. “Alone.”
I laugh aloud. “I’m glad I didn’t interrupt anything.”
Both of her eyes spring open. “I’m not. I wish there were something to interrupt.”
She sits up far enough that the white silk bra she’s wearing pops into view. “What’s happening, Maren? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” I reassure her with a nod of my head. “I started a new job a few days ago.”
She rakes a hand through her long hair as she shifts her position again. “What happened at Knott?”
“Christian fired me.” I sigh.
“He’s a joke.” She laughs as she places the phone down. “I’m going to grab a robe. Don’t hang up.”
“I won’t,” I call out as I watch her arm move across the screen.
“There,” she says as she comes back into view with a light blue robe wrapped around her body. “Where are you working now?”
“Morgan Sports Management?”
“Keats Morgan is your boss?”
That surprises me enough that I suck in a breath. “You know him?”
She shakes her head. “I know of him. He’s a pretty big deal.”
He seems to think so .
“It’s only been a couple of weeks since we talked.” She tilts her head. “You landed on your feet quickly. I’m happy for you.”
I know Bianca has to get to work, so I spit out what I called to say, “He’s trying to land a new client. He’s a big deal college baseball player.”
“What’s his name?” She rubs her hand over her eye.
“Fletcher Newman.”
“He’s going to kill it when he hits the majors.”
My mouth falls open. “You know who he is?”
Nodding, she laughs. “I read an article online about him a few months back. If I remember correctly it was all about up and comers in sports.”
I inch toward why I really called. “His parents are celebrating their twenty-fifth anniversary and they invited Keats and I to the party.”
She moves to the left slightly. “That’s a good sign for your boss.”
“It is, but there’s a catch.”
She tilts her chin up. “What’s the catch?”
“They think we’re dating.” I sigh. “It started as a misunderstanding, but now we’re caught up in it, so they think I’m attending as his girlfriend.”
“Go.”
I slump my shoulders. “I don’t know if it’s a good idea.”
She leans closer to the screen. “Go, Maren. You like him, so go.”
“I don’t like him,” I protest. “That’s not it. I just don’t feel right pretending we are dating.”
She blinks twice. “You wouldn’t have called me if you didn’t like him. It’s a party, Maren. Go and have fun. Don’t overthink it.”
“Is that what I’m doing?” I ask honestly. “Am I overthinking this?”
She skims a fingertip over her bottom lip. “Think of it as a work commitment. You go and do your job. If Keats makes a move on you that night, you find a bathroom and call me.”
I let out a laugh. “I’m not calling you from a bathroom, Bianca.”
“You might.” She stands. “I need coffee. Do you want to meet for a cup before work?”
I glance at the time display on the corner of my screen. “I can’t. I need to get to the office.”
“We’ll do it soon.” She raises her hand to her mouth to blow me a kiss. “I love you, Mare. Call anytime.”
“Love you,” I whisper back before the screen goes dark.
Chapter 23
Keats
I spent the last hour listening to my niece tell me why dinosaurs are extinct.