“And what do you care?” Cat leaned over and asked. “You’re engaged yourself.”

Via caught sight of a pretty engagement ring on Sadie’s hand that she hadn’t noticed before.

“I might be engaged, but I’m not dead. A Thor look-alike has universal appeal.”

Via laughed along with the women. Maybe this job wasn’t going to be quite as professional as she’d thought. And honestly, she didn’t mind one bit.

CHAPTER FOUR

SEBASTIAN TRUDGED UP the stairs of his front porch, swinging his house keys on one finger and sighing deeply. He’d done it. He’d gone on a date, and he’d kissed a woman who wasn’t his wife.

It had been...fine. Emma was pretty and smart, and it wasn’t her fault if Seb’s rhythm had been off the entire night. Majorly off. Like, laughing-at-everything-she-said-because-he-couldn’t-tell-what-was-a-joke kind of off. Honestly, he’d been pretty surprised when she’d kissed him outside the subway entrance. He would have preferred to take her all the way home, but in New York City dating language, getting on the train with someone was the same as inviting yourself upstairs for a cup of coffee. He’d tried to get a cab for her, but she’d insisted she was a big girl who could ride the train at 9:00 at night.

He wondered if that had been her subtle way of telling him the date was ending too early.

He let himself into his house and locked the door quietly, immediately crouching to pat Crabby’s sleepily wagging behind. He clicked his tongue and had the dog at his heels as he grabbed a beer from his fridge. Sebastian cocked his head and followed the noise of his television.

“What the hell?” Tyler gaped at him from one end of the couch. “Dude, it’s like 9:25. I didn’t tank my Saturday night to babysit for a date where you don’t even score.”

“How do you know I didn’t score?” Seb raised an eyebrow as he plunked down on the couch. Crabby hopped up beside him and curled into a little doggy doughnut. Seb kicked off his shoes and stripped off one sock and then the other, stuffing them in his sneakers. He leaned his head back and rolled it to look over at Tyler.

“Because you’re as well ironed now as you were when you left, and you’ve only been gone for like an hour and a half. And even Seb ten years ago needed more time than that to close the deal.”

Seb laughed into his palm as he scraped it over his face. “I got a good-night kiss outside the F train. Does that count?”

“Depends.” Ty weighed his head back and forth. “Tongue?”

Seb raised both eyebrows and didn’t answer.

Tyler lowered the volume on the TV and eyed his best friend. “You all right, man?”

“Yeah. It was just weird was all. Being with her was fine. But kissing her was weird.”

“Because of Cora?”

“Sort of. I mean, Emma’s the first person I’ve kissed since Cora. But it really just felt weird to kiss someone I had no interest in. Pointless, I guess.” Seb started peeling the label off his beer bottle. “The whole night I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I don’t know. Like the person she messaged for a date and the guy who actually showed up were two different people.” He laughed humorlessly. “I felt like my own imposter.”