shower since then?” she gasps again. “Oh, my God. Did he really not? Are you just now getting out of bed?”
“We would have died of dehydration by now,” I quipped. “No, we’re not just getting out of bed. A lot’s been happening over the last couple of days. I wanted a chance to be able to talk to you.”
“A lot’s been happening?” she asked.
“Yeah, things with the bar burning down and the private investigator coming to look into it.”
“Oh,” she said, sounding somewhat disappointed. “Well, tell me about him. How was it? Was it incredible? He looks like it would be incredible.”
“It definitely was incredible,” I admitted.
She squealed. “Have you done it again? Are you official?”
“We haven’t done it again,” I said. “It was just that one night. And the next morning. And we haven’t even really talked about it. We haven’t talked about what it means or what we are to each other now.”
I tilted my head toward the bathroom a little bit more so I could listen to the sound of the showerhead. The second the water turned off, I wanted to be done with the conversation so there was no chance he would be able to overhear me talking about him.
“Amanda, you’ve got to have that conversation with him. You have to make him have that conversation with you. This isn’t something you can just pretend isn’t going on or just ride with,” she said.
“Why not?” I asked. “Can’t we just keep going the way we are right now?”
“Are you serious?” Emily asked.
“Yes,” I said. “What would be so wrong with us not having that conversation? Things are going well between us. We’re comfortable with each other, and we’re enjoying being around each other. He kissed me again last night. Maybe we can just slide into the rhythm of having a relationship without all that drama.”
“Do you really think that?” she asked.
“No,” I said, disappointed to even have to admit it.
“Exactly. There’s too much at stake here. This isn’t just some random guy you met at the bar. It’s not somebody you’ve only known for a couple of weeks. This is Tom Anderson. Gorgeous, dignified, fabulously wealthy owner of the company you work for. You have to figure out what’s going to happen moving forward. You’re not going to be there in Astoria forever. Eventually, you’re going to come back to San Francisco. And when that happens, you’re going to have to have some sort of idea of where you stand.”
“I know,” I said. “I’ve been thinking the same thing. They’re the company policies against us dating, but things are so good between us. I just don’t know what to think or do.”
“I know exactly what you need to do,” she said. “You need to sit down with Tom and talk about it. And then you need to have sex with him again. Just because he’s there and it would be a tremendous waste if you didn’t.”
I laughed. “Always the pragmatist.” The shower turned off. “Oh, Emily, I’ve got to go. He’s getting out of the shower, and I don’t want him to hear this conversation. I’ll call you later.”
“I want to know everything,” she said.
“You will,” I said. “Bye.”
I ended the call and slid my phone onto the table just as Tom walked out with a towel wrapped around his waist. Looking at him like that made me want to take Emily’s last piece of advice immediately.
“Were you just talking to somebody?” he asked.
“Oh, I was on the phone,” I said. “I was talking to Emily.”
He gave a short laugh. “Emily. Isn’t that your wildly loud friend?”
I laughed. “That would be the one. I’ve been meaning to call her the last couple of days. She’s been checking in on me to make sure I was doing okay, but I haven’t been able to talk to her much.”
“How’s she doing?” he asked, dropping his towel and starting to get dressed.
For a brief second, I couldn’t respond. I was far too focused on his exquisite body, still damp and warm from the shower. I shook my head to get myself back into reality when I noticed him staring at me.
“Oh, yeah, she’s fine. Same old same old, pretty much,” I said.
“That’s good,” he said. “Okay, go ahead and get ready.”
“Get ready?” I asked. “For what?”
“We’re going to go out and scout the new place for the bar. I’ve already talked to the real estate agent.”
I was surprised by the revelation. “Already?”
“It sounds like it might be perfect. I