I walked over and tried to say hello but only got her cold shoulder. I’m happy to take anything from her, though, hot or cold. She doesn’t seem to realize the more she plays hard to get, the more I want her. Although if she threw herself at me, I’d still want her pretty goddamn bad, too. I guess that makes me an even bigger idiot.

It took everything I had to let her walk away without crawling on my knees after her. I’ve never had this reaction to a woman before, and it’s unnerving. I need tonight, if for nothing but to help settle my mind.

Once I got home and jerked off to the image of her lips saying my name while I was deep inside her pussy, I was able to get my thoughts together and send her the last of my ideas for restructuring her department and streamlining her data like she asked. About an hour after I sent it, I got an email back. It was only the word thanks, with her email signature below, but I knew that meant something big. She’s not the type of woman to give things easily, and if she even took a second to respond, I knew she liked what I had to say.

I’ve always been a supporter of the don’t shit where you eat policy. I keep it one hundred percent professional with all my clients, but something about Pandora is different. When she looks at me, there’s heat there. If I knew she wasn’t attracted to me, then I wouldn’t come after her so hard. But I caught a hint of something I can’t name, and I intend to find out what it is.

“That big German fucker is moving up,” Donovan says, taking a beer out of my fridge and joining Ezra in the living room. “You sure you want in?”

“You know if you guys get pom-poms you could be my own personal cheerleaders.” I grab a beer myself and lean against the counter. I pull out my phone and text the number I was given and ask for the location.

The three of us all got our own places a couple of years ago after we started making good money. I bought a loft in the Meatpacking District and have been fixing it up. It’s still a work in progress, but I like doing it all with my own hands, so I don’t mind. The kitchen and living space are done, and so are my bedroom and master bathroom. The spare rooms and baths are pretty much just bare bones, but the exposed brick makes it seem trendy instead of like a construction zone. There’s a nice patio outside, but I’ve yet to tackle the jungle out there. Both my thumbs are black, so I’m leaving that for the last possible second.

Although they have their own homes, too, Ezra and Donovan always end up in my living room. I think it’s because I have the biggest television, or maybe because I actually go to the store and buy beer. Either is a success in our book.