There’s a long pause.
“But, I mean, don’t get me wrong,” he stammers. “I’m super excited for you and I wanna help you out.”
I pause, trying to decide what we’re really talking about here. I feel like he just kissed me and slapped me. “Maybe I’d better figure everything out on my own, after all,” I say tentatively. “But thanks for your offer, anyway.”
He makes a sound of frustration. “What the fuck just happened?”
“What do you mean?”
“You were all happy and grateful and excited and then you suddenly became a chick. What suddenly crawled up your ass?”
I’m shocked. “Whatcrawled up my ass?”
“Oh, Jesus. Vagina!” he shouts. “Sometimes I forget you’re not just a hot-lookin’ dude.”
“What the hell...?” I say, bristling. “What crawled up my ass?”
“Bad choice of words. Sorry. It’s what I’d say to a dude. Forget I said it. Listen, Kat. Here’s the deal. I’m gonna help you because you’re my Party Girl with a Hyphen—not because I want a stake in your company, that’s all I’m saying. Okay? Don’t get all freaked out and start overanalyzing everything and start looking for secret codes.”
Whoa. It’s like he can read my damned mind.
“I’m being above-board with you: I wanna help you. That’s how I feel right now. How will I feel a few months from now? I have no idea. All I know is that right now, I wanna help you. And I wanna see you. And be with you and touch you and fuck you and lick you and fucking bite you, and I can’t stop thinking about you, no matter what the fuck I do—” He abruptly stops talking.
Suddenly, there’s complete silence on the line.
Wow, that was quite the rambling speech from Mr. Joshua William Faraday.
I pause a really long time, collecting myself, my hand on my heart.
He doesn’t say another word.
“Okay,” I finally say. “Well, then, thank you for yourshort-termand completelyuncommittedhelp. I appreciate and accept it.”
There’s another really long beat.
Josh swallows hard on his end of the line and clears his throat. “Great. You’re welcome. So what do you think about calling the company ‘Party Girl with a Hyphen PR’?” he asks, clearly changing the topic of conversation. “Is that too long?” he asks.
“Is what too long?”
“The name ‘Party Girl with a Hyphen PR.’”
“Oh. Yeah, definitely,” I manage to reply. “And also too weird.” I clear my throat. “Actually, I was thinking of calling my company ‘PG PR’? Is that too boring? I’m thinking ‘Party Girl PR’ kinda sounds like an event planner.”
“Yeah, you’re totally right. Good call, PG. That’s why they pay you the big bucks. ‘PG PR.’ I like it. Oh fuck, they’re boarding my flight.”
“Okay. Thanks for everything, Josh.”
“My pleasure.”
My pulse is pounding in my ears. “Fly safely.”
“That’s always the plan, babe. Oh, hey, PG. One more thing. Real quick. I sent you a little present. It should be waiting for you when you get home.”
“Apresent? Oh my God, Josh, no. I still haven’t thanked you enough for everything you’ve already done for me.”
“It’s just a small gift. You’ll see.”
“But, no, Josh, you’ve already done too much.”
