Page 47 of Not Since Ewe
Shirtless.
Anddamp.
I bit the inside of my cheek to distract myself from my inappropriate thoughts. “Too bad there are no Cliff’s Notes for lawyering.”
“Oh there are—we call them summer associates.” His lips curved in a slow, easy smile before the wry humor in his expression was replaced by something softer. “What about you? How was your day?”
“My day was fine.” In an attempt to keep the conversation in safe territory, I told him about the pitch I’d spent the day preparing for a new client I was hoping to get in the door with.
“I have a confession to make,” he said. “I don’t actually know exactly what product marketing is.”
I laughed. “That’s okay. I don’t really know what a corporate attorney does either.”
“Nothing interesting, that’s for sure. I’d much rather hear about what you do.”
“The short answer is that I help bring products—in my case mostly software products—to market.”
“Software like Microsoft Word?”
“It could be. My focus is business-to-business software as a service, which is a cloud-based distribution model that includes things like office management, customer support, or communication software used within a business—as opposed to business-to-consumer products like Microsoft Office.”
“Things like Slack or Salesforce, then?”
“Yes, exactly,” I said.
“So what’s the difference between product marketing and other kinds of marketing?”
“There’s a lot of overlap, but basically my role is to be the connective tissue between the technical product manager and the different marketing channels. I build the go-to-market strategy, including product positioning, messaging, pricing, managing the launch, collecting customer feedback, and making sure the sales team understands the product well enough to talk about it.”
“Do you mostly work from home?” he asked.
“Only in the evenings. During the day I go to an office I rented in a co-op nearby. But most of my work is virtual, and my clients are located all over the world.”
“Sounds like heaven. I’d love to be able to work from home.”
“That was what I thought until I started doing it, but it wasn’t all it was cracked up to be.”
“How so?”
“It wasn’t great for my mood and mental health. I realized I function better when I have a reason to get dressed and leave my house every day.”
It felt weird to be talking to Donal like this—like we were regular friends getting to know each other, instead of two people with a complicated and painful history between us. Weird but good, like something I might be able to get used to.
He ran his hand through his hair again, rumpling the damp layers. “So there’s actually a reason I called you.”
“You mean other than to find out if I was watching porn?” As soon as the quip slipped out, I realized my mistake. Rather than deflecting from my discomfort, I’d reintroduced the source of it—sex—into the conversation.
“Yeah,” he said slowly, an odd expression on his face. “Anyway.” He cleared his throat. “I was wondering if you were free on Saturday.”
I blinked at him, taken off guard by the question. “Why?”
“My mom’s hosting a get-together at her house to welcome Erin to the family. My kids will be there, and my dad and his wife—and I was hoping you could come too.”
“Me?”
The corner of his mouth twitched in amusement. “Yes, you. Are you free? It starts at four.”
“Um…” I didn’t need to check my calendar to know I’d be free. Other than working and going to the gym, my Saturdays were empty, stretching out forever. “Are you sure you want me there?”
