“It’s okay if you do,” Ness says before his face softens a little. “Just wait until this deal goes through. Then, you can go for it.”
“You’re ridiculous,” I mutter, unwilling to admit my real feelings to him. I don’t know how he would react if he knew I’d found my mate, not after his rejected him.
“I am,” he grins, “and you have a thing for that woman.”
“She works for me. The power imbalance is too high in my favor. It would be wrong. I?—”
Magnes gives me a look of complete pity that stops me mid-rant. I realize I’m starting to sound like an obsessed fool. “Come out with me this weekend,” he says. “There’s a hot new cryptid bar. We’ll meet some women who like their men tall, repressed, and hairy. You can find a random pink-haired hipster to take home with you and get your mind off of that one.”
“I don’t want some random hipster,” I insist. I want her.
“Come out with me anyway! We’ll get drinks, have a good time. You haven’t let loose for a while, Sacha.”
“No.”
He leans forward, resting his hands on his knees, his long neck craning toward me. There’s a moment of serious silence—something you rarely get with Ness.
“When was the last time you took a vacation?” Ness cocks his head to one side.
“What does it matter?” I ask.
“Pleasant and I wondered if you might want to take a break?”
“A break? Now?”
“Once we’ve wrapped up this case.”
“I don’t have time to take a break.” I huff out a breath.
“You’re stressed, Sacha.”
“We’re all stressed.” I gesture between the two of us.
“You've been an even bigger jerk than usual. You need to take a break.”
“We’ve all three been working nonstop since college to make this company what it is.”
“You’vebeen working nonstop. Pleasant and I have both taken a number of stops. He’s wrapped around the finger of that terrible woman.” Ness’s phone pings and he glances down at it with a smirk. “And it looks like I’ve got a blonde pit-stop lined up for this weekend.”
“I should finish the presentation this weekend,” I grumble.
“You should go out into the world, get laid, take your mind off the pretty little lass.”
I glare at him. She’s mine. Nothing is going to take her off my mind. “I won’t come into the office. Is that good enough for you?”
“What are you going to do instead?” he prods.
“I’ll make plans.”
“Staying home and thinking about your assistant while you tug on your little foot, isn’t a plan.”
“I’ll figure something out,” I snap. There are things I would like to be doing, with Bay, if she’d let me. “Sushi. I heard about a new place I’d like to try.”
“Can I come with?” Ness asks.
I shake my head, “You wouldn’t like it.”
“How would you know?” He asks.
