Page 39 of His Good Girl

“Not legally. Ethically. Socially. Emotionally. Architecturally.”

“Thank you for narrowing it down.”

She held up a pair of black Gucci heels. “These.”

“They’re yours.”

“And tonight, like my wisdom and my last shred of innocence, they are yours.”

I took them. “You are having too much fun.”

“I am having the correct amount of fun.” She sat beside me on the bed, shoulder bumping mine. “But for real. You know you can say no, right?”

I looked down at the shoes in my hands.

“I know.”

“And you know you can go to dinner and let it just be dinner.”

“I know that too.”

“And you know you can fantasize without immediately filing paperwork with the shame department.”

I smiled faintly. “Is the shame department near operations?”

“Second floor. Terrible lighting. Benjamin runs it on weekends.”

I laughed, but my eyes stung a little, because beneath the joke was permission I had not realized I needed. Jules reached over and squeezed my knee once, brisk and warm.

“You’re not doing anything wrong by wanting him.” She sounded so reassuring. I wanted to believe her.

I swallowed. “Aren’t I?”

“Wanting is not doing. Wanting is like weather. You just have to decide whether to pack a picnic or cancel the flight.”

“That metaphor got away from you.”

“It did, but the wisdom remains.”

I leaned my head briefly against her shoulder. She let me, which was how I knew she was worried.

“He was good to me today,” I sighed.

“I know.”

“I don’t want to turn that into something cheap.”

“Then don’t.”

“What if he does?”

Jules went still for a moment, then turned her head slightly. “Do you think he will?”

“No.” The answer came immediately, which told me something. “I don’t.”

“Then maybe tonight you let yourself find out who he is when he isn’t godfathering you or interviewing you.”

“And when I’m not trying to become Employee of the Month before orientation?”