Page 57 of Semantics

She hit send, and immediately, three dots appeared, so Stella waited, hopeful.

Violet Russell: Don’t say a word when I walk into the bedroom, and I just might.

“Fuck,” she whispered.

“Are you two sexting right now? Gross, Stella. I’m sitting right here.”

Stella laughed after she replied to Violet’s message and set her phone back down.

“Just firming up our date for tonight.”

“That’s the thing, Stella – it’s not a date. It’s sex. What happened to wanting to settle down? Just last month, you were telling me that you haven’t had a relationship in a while and were tired of being alone. I thought of Amber for you, and I guess I was wrong there, but that doesn’t mean this is a good idea.”

“It’s sex, yes, but it’s only sex, which means I can still date someone if I want. I haven’t dived into anything with anyone just yet, but that’s because of work. It’s been really busy around here lately, in case you haven’t noticed. Now, I can at least have good sex.”

“I came in here to talk to you about someone.”

“Who?”

“Someone I met on that dating app and thought would be good for you, not me.”

“You’re not my matchmaker, Jen,” she said. “You don’t have to keep trying to find a woman for me.”

“I’m not. It just keeps happening. Amber seemed like a good idea because I knew her already, but I just happened to see this woman on the app, and I thought you might be interested in checking her out.” Jen held her phone up to Stella over the desk. “Her name is Trish. She’s thirty-five. Works in–”

“Jen, no. I don’t want to meet someone on an app.”

“Where else are you going to meet them? A bookstore that doesn’t exist anymore? A gay bar that also doesn’t–”

“I meant that I don’t want to meet someone on your app and not now. If I want to go that route, I’ll download it myself and find my own possible matches.”

“Okay. Fine. But she has a new puppy that she named Starbuck after Battlestar.”

“She’s a Battlestar fan?” Stella asked, suddenly more interested.

“Yeah. And the reboot, not the original. Your favorite show. Plus, you love dogs, and she’s hot.”

“A lot of people whom I would not be compatible with like that show.”

“Well, that’s all I got from her profile, so you’d have to talk to her to learn more.” Jen put her phone in her pocket and stood up. “If you change your mind, let me know.”

“I won’t, but thanks,” she said. “And I think Violet is going to sign the agreement. I was able to get the price down enough.”

“Oh, God. Please tell me you didn’t just exchange sex for–”

“No. And I explained it to her, too. Nothing like that. It just worked out.”

“Well, congrats, I guess.”

“Not exactly the deal I was hoping for, but maybe it can still help me land a Russell-branded business in the future somehow.”

“Also, tell me that you’re not sleeping with her in order to make that more likely to happen.”

“I’m sleeping with her because I want to and she wants to, Jen. That’s it.”

“Well, you never know with lawyers or salespeople,” Jen joked and left Stella’s office.

CHAPTER 17