He shrugged and blushed. It was cute. “I don’t think I made a very good impression on you yesterday what with the coffee spilling and everything.” She waved his comment away as they moved forward towards the cashier. “Accidents happen,” she said, breezily. Yesterday was a disaster of epic proportions, but today she was chill. It was amazing what a good couple of orgasms could do. She was in a good mood, a great mood even, and she was determined that nothing would ruin it. It had been far too long since she had such a feeling of well-being. Her life had been a complete shit-show of late but maybe things were starting to turn around. “So what do you do, Peyton-no-last-name?” Daniel asked. “I work for Sabre Management Systems,” she replied. His eyebrows rose in appreciation. “Impressive,” he said. She shrugged and smiled. “Not really. I’m just a PA. My boss is the one with the brains.” “Don’t negate what you do,” he said, his eyes earnest. “I’m sure you
The Second DateIn some ways, a second date can be harder than the first. With a first date, it’s all about testing the waters and seeing if the initial attraction has any possibility of going somewhere. But a second date…that’s when things start to get real.Taking my own advice, our first date was a group date. We went to Luna Park and had a ball. I walked her to her door at the end of the night and gave her a kiss on the cheek and we made plans for our second date.For our second date, I took her to Federation Square and the new art installation they have there. It was just the two of us. I kept it casual still - no fancy restaurant or flashing cash around. We ate tacos from one of the food vans and then sat on the wharf and watched the fireworks light up the sky. It was still casual, but more intimate than our first date.The second date is a chance to get to know her. It needs to be somewhere that is easy to talk. A movie, a concert, or a play are all great ideas, but you can’t e
Finn pushed back from his desk as he finished reading through the next post for his blog. Reliving the date with Peyton for his blog was both amazing and frustrating. He really did have a good time with her and she seemed to enjoy it just as much. He had seen her in several different moods now and last night was probably his favourite so far. For the first time since he had met her, she seemed less stressed and more what he imagined was her true self. And he liked her. He huffed out a sigh and ran his hands through his hair. That was a problem. He wasn’t supposed to like her. He was supposed to stay unattached and unemotional. She was a story, a means to an end. Already his readership had swelled. It wasn’t back to the safe zone yet, but it was getting there. He was getting new subscribers daily as the news spread about his experiment. And that made the way he was beginning to feel about Peyton all the more dangerous. He couldn’t let himself fall for her. That would be a disaste
Frankie was an architect and he worked from home. He was successful enough not to have to go into the office every day. He now had a stable of architects who looked after the day-to-day business and he just worked with the clients he wanted to. Frankie had been the one to design their warehouse conversion. He was a talented bastard. “What are you doing here? You’re not due for a check-up visit for at least another week.” Finn smiled as he sat on the leather Chesterfield. He loved this room. It was all dark, heavy furniture and smelled like leather and whiskey. “Can’t I just drop in to say hello to my favorite uncle?” “Girl trouble?” Frankie said as he took his own seat. Finn dropped his head back against the couch, closed his eyes, and sighed. “Yeah.” “Is it the girl that you’re writing about?” Finn’s eyes popped open and he looked at his uncle. “What?” his uncle said with a shrug. “You think I don’t read your blog?” The side of Finn’s mouth tipped up in a crooked sm
Finn had thought that coming to talk to his uncle would give him the perspective he needed to continue with his story. Instead, he found himself looking at his uncle in a new light. The man was getting old. Why hadn’t he noticed that before? It wouldn’t be too long before the women would stop chasing Frankie and he would end up alone. Was that what he wanted? He had modeled his adult life on his uncle’s. It had seemed like Frankie had the best life, but now Finn wasn’t so sure. “Thanks,” he said, standing to his feet and putting his untouched drink on the coffee table. “I knew you’d help me see the light.” Frankie grinned as he followed Finn out of the den and to the front door. “Any time, son,” Frankie said, slapping Finn on the back. “Any time.”Peyton stepped out of Bailey’s office building and blinked in the sunlight. Thankfully the rain had passed and the sky was blue. The heat was intense, but she breathed it in with relish. Today felt like a new beginning. The whole mess
Peyton rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I did. I met him at the cafe where he spilled his coffee on me. I just ran into him again downtown and he asked if I wanted to go for drinks. Finn and I aren’t exclusive. We’ve only been on two dates and besides, I’m done with the whole long-term relationship thing, remember? This is the new Peyton. Playing the field and having fun while she’s still young.” “O-kay,” Mia said. “Come on Mia,” Peyton whined. “I need this. I need to forget about that whole mess with Dale and what better way to move on than dating two me? Besides, Daniel’s kind of cute in an adorable puppy sort of way and he might have some equally good-looking friends.” She dangled the bait and hoped Mia would be distracted enough to go for it. “Good-looking friends, huh?” Mia said her voice musing. “A-huh,” Peyton said. “And not deadbeats either,” she added. “Businessmen. In suits.” Mia sighed. Peyton knew that would get her across the line. Mia had a little crush o
Carter pulled out his chair, unbuttoned his suit coat, and sat down. He smoothed his hand down his tie and avoided looking at Finn. “You are such a fucking bastard,” Finn spat at his friend. “Why the hell would you do something like that?” “Cross-promotion,” he said, looking up at Finn. “What the hell, Carter?” Jack asked. “Since when have you been so focused on revenue?” Parker asked. “What’s going on?” “Nothing is going on,” Carter said with a sigh. “Look. I contacted the program before I knew how much of a success Finn’s blog was going to be. I thought that if the subscriptions were still flagging then I could give them a boost.” “But that didn’t happen,” Finn said. “The blog has been successful and the subscriptions are climbing again.” “Right,” Carter said. “But…” Parker waited for Carter to continue. Carter sighed. “But now I am locked in with them and can’t get out of the agreement I made.” Finn jumped to his feet. “Oh for
“Hey,” Daniel said quietly to her, nudging her shoulder. “Do you want to dance?” Peyton looked up and around at the bar. She hadn’t even realized there was a dance floor. “Sure, okay,” she said. Daniel slid out of the booth and then offered her his hand. She took it with a smile and let him lead her out onto the dance floor. There weren’t many other couples dancing, so she felt a little awkward. Daniel tugged her into his arms and began swaying to the music with her. It wasn’t like the music at a club, this was more ‘couples dancing’ type music. She tried to relax and just go with it, but she couldn’t help worrying that she was going to flash everybody with her sheer underwear if she moved too fast. “Are you okay?” Daniel asked, looking down at her with concern. She smiled up at him. “Fine,” she said. “Uh oh,” Daniel said, “That’s not good.” “What do you mean?’ she asked with a puzzled frown. “A woman is never ‘fine.’ There is always something e