Barrett’s eyebrows shoot to his hairline. Oh, shit. Did I say that out loud?

“I mean, why me?” I ask.

“You’re tolerable.”

“Geez, catch me before I swoon.”

“It’s a business arrangement. I will ignore what I’ve seen here tonight and you will attend dinner tomorrow night with me.”

“Tomorrow night?” I wince. “That’s bad timing. I’ve got guests in town. They don’t leave until Sunday.”

Barrett’s eyebrows lift again and I realize how silly that sounded. He’s giving me an out. A way to make my misstep disappear and I need to make whatever he’s asking me to do work. Lauren will have to understand.

“Are we in agreement?” he asks.

“Fine,” I say, albeit reluctantly because going on a date with Barrett sounds like a nightmare. “What should I wear?” I ask.

“Not that.” His eyes do that thing again where I think he’s so appalled by my outfit but it’s like a train wreck he can’t look away from so he’s forced to examine every inch. His eyes eventually land back on mine, his lips a flat line when he moves past me and out of the pantry.

* * *

It takes me a few minutes—twenty—to console the ladies about the loss of our assumed male exotic dancer. My pin the junk on the hunk game doesn’t go over as well as I thought it would after a real-life hunk of a man had been in our midst. I assured the ladies that they wouldn’t have wanted to see under his suit anyway. Titanium isn’t that thrilling.

During a titillating drinking game of Never Have I Ever, which I was thankful I didn’t have to participate in because of my limited sexual experience, I packed up all the party stuff, placed the remnants of the man cake in the refrigerator and took out the trash. I’ll return tomorrow to gather the cake and take care of any cleaning, thankful that I will be able to put a fresh set of eyes on the apartment before JoAnna will return Sunday evening.

An hour later, we’ve said goodbye to Lauren’s mom and Aunt Clara, and managed to pile into two Uber XLs headed to Bounce.

“Tell us more about the hottie in the suit.” Lauren nudges me in the back seat.

“Like I said, he’s my boss’s son and he was just making sure we had everything we needed.”