Phoebe, are you even listening to me?”

I blink out of my trance. Truth be told, no. I wasn’t listening. I was far too busy imagining Max towering over me with that stunning, green-eyed smirk.

I turn my attentions back to my speakerphone. “Yes, Bradley…” I clear my throat. “I’m listening.”

“So, which do you think we should go with?”

Ah, crap.

He’s either asking about the vampire love triangle or the time traveling cyborg impostor that shows up in book three. It’s obvious what he wants me to say. Oh, it’s all great, Bradley! Don’t change a word of it, Bradley! It’s a sure hit, Bradley!

I feel a burst of confidence. “Honestly, Bradley, I think you should scrap both of them,” I answer.

He pauses. “Both of them?”

“You’re adding way too much,” I say. “You should only introduce story elements that compliment your theme. In its current state, your story is a complete mess.”

“You have no idea what you’re talking about!”

And now he’s shouting. Goody.

I keep a level tone. “Bradley, you and Mr. Fellows asked me for my honest opinion and expertise. I’m giving it to you.”

He scoffs. “No, we didn’t ask you anything. We told you to print my book.”

I flex my jaw. “I’m not printing your book until you make these changes.”

“We’ll see about that, Phoebe.”

“Either you take my advice or you go elsewhere.” I hover a hand over the button, ready to hang up. “I’ll have updated list of desired changes to Mr. Fellows by next Monday. We’ll speak again then.”

“Fine.”

He’s pissed. That should bother me more but…

I press the button, cutting the line.

“Me—ow!”

I look up to see Jackie’s head peeking in from the hallway.

She raises her hand and scratches downward like a claw. “Where did that attitude come from?” she asks with wide eyes. “I like it.”

“There was no attitude,” I claim. “I’m just doing my job.”

“Well, score one for the boss-ass bitch of Burbank.” She lowers into the chair across from me. “I love Phoebe Pink when she gets laid.”

I cringe. “Is it that obvious?”

“Oh, yeah.” She licks her lips. “Guess that date with Max went well.”

“You could say that,” I say, keeping it vague.

“Wanna talk about it?”

“Yes.” I lean forward. “It was amazing.”

“The food or the meat?”

“Both.” My chest flutters. “The restaurant was amazing. He’s actually really close to the family that owns it — that’s how he got us a table. He helped them capture the guy who stabbed her brother. Isn’t that adorable? He’s like a superhero.”

She waves a hand. “Yeah, whatever. Get to the good stuff.”

“Right, right.” I exhale, feeling my cheeks turn pink. “It was everything I wanted it to be. He was kind and sexy and rough — but not too rough. We’re having dinner again at my place on Tuesday.”

“At your place?” she asks.

“Yep. He’s going to cook.” I swoon. “He cooks.”

She tilts her head. “You have the next twenty years of your lives all planned out, don’t you?”

“I might.”

“You’re gonna have two little brats in a fenced-in yard in the suburbs, aren’t you?”

“Oh, god, no.” I hold up my hands, creating a wide frame to picture it in. “I’m thinking more along the lines of a brownstone in the city with a live-in butler — and a cook!”

“For the nights when Max doesn’t feel like doing it himself,” she says.

“Exactly. And the roof will have this little nook where we can look out at the city and make sweet love under the stars…”

She frowns. “You’re disgusting.”

“And a puppy! Little baby chocolate lab puppy with a pink collar.”

“Wow.”

“Mark my words, Jackie.” I sigh. “This is the start of a beautiful love story.”

“You’ve fucked him twice,” she says, rolling her eyes. “Calm down.”

My desk phone rings beside me.

“Seriously,” I say, reaching for it. “Absolutely nothing is going to kill my mood today. I don’t care how much Bradley annoys me with his stupid book. It’s going to take something truly massive to wipe this grin off my face.” I rest the phone against my cheek. “Hey, this is Phoebe.”

“Hey, Pheebs.”

I pause. “Who is this?”

“It’s Thad Hemsley.”

My smile drops.

“Hold, please.” I press my hand over the mouthpiece. “Oh, god. Oh, god. It’s Thad,” I tell Jackie.

“Thad?” she repeats. “Thirty-three percent of your little three-way, Thad? That Thad?”

“Yes, that Thad. How many Thads do you know?”

“Well, what does he want?”

“I don’t know!”

She blinks with amusement. “Don’t you think that you should ask him?”

I slap the phone against my cheek. “What do you want? I mean…” I clear my throat. “‘Sup?”

Jackie squints with disgust and silently mouths, “‘Sup?”

I throw my hands in the air, my panic rising.

“I wanted to see what you were up to tonight,” Thad says. “I’m flying into LAX around six-thirty, thought maybe you’d like to have a drink with me.”

The phone slips from my clammy hand and bounces loudly on my desk.

“Shit—!” I pick it up again. “Uh, sorry about that. So, drinks? Wow. That’s… that’s a question you just asked me.”

Jackie’s jaw drops.

“Are you okay?” he asks. “I can call back later if you’re busy.”

“No, no. Not busy,” I say. “In fact, I’m as free as an eagle…” Jackie cringes at me, “in the wild, blue sky…”

She silently scolds me again. “Stop. Talking.”

I spin in my chair to turn away from her gawking face. “I’m like totally free,” I say into the phone.

“You are?” Thad asks.

“I think.”

“You think?”

I bite my lip. “Okay, honestly, you caught me a little off-guard here, Thad…”

He chuckles. “I figured, but… I don’t know. I feel like we might have hit it off last week and I wanted to catch up with you one-on-one. If you don’t want to, that’s fine. Super cool. You won’t hurt my feelings.”

“I won’t?”

“Well, maybe a little.”

I smile, instantly picturing his smirk in my head. “Yeah. I’ll have drinks with you. Sounds like fun.”

“Awesome,” he says. “Do you know Marion’s? It’s on Vine.”

“Uh… not really,” I say, “but I’m sure I can find it.”

“Bright orange sign. You can’t miss it. I’ll meet you there at eight? That should cover any delays I might run into…”

I stare straight ahead, blissfully catatonic. “Uh-huh.”

“Okay. I’ll see you then, Pheebs.”

“Kay...”

He hangs up and I allow the phone to slip through my hand again. It slides into my lap as I spin back around to face Jackie, her face still dropped in shock.

“Thad asked you out?” she asks.

I nod. “Yep.”

“And you said yes?”

“Yep.”

Her brow pops up. “And which floor of the brownstone in the city is he going to live on?”

My heart drops. “Oh, shit.”

Her grin twists up her face. “Uh-huh.”

“Fuck…” I slide forward. “What am I supposed to do? I can’t date two guys at once!”

She shrugs. “Why not? I do it all the time. It’s fun. Just never ever fall for both of them. That doesn’t end well.”

“No?”

“Never ever.”

I clutch my chest. “Oh, god. They’re best friends. What am I doing?”

“It’s not like you and Max are exclusive,” she says. “You’re not, right? All the time you spent together pounding uglies and that topic never came up?”

I shake my head slowly. “No…”

“So, it’s just as likely that Max is seeing other people, too. I mean, the guy set up your next date for a Tuesday night, completely skipping the weekend — meaning he already has plans.”

“I thought he had to work.”

She raises a brow. “Does he? Does he really?”

I sink deeper into the chair. “I don’t know.”

“Well, there you go.” She waves a hand. “Keep your date with Thad. Go have fun. Get in there. Do your thang, girl.”

“I have a thang?”

She nods. “I’d say dating two hot best friends you had a threesome with after your high school reunion qualifies as a thang. I’d be smiling with pride if I weren’t using every ounce of self-control I have to stop myself from tearing this office apart in a jealous rage.”

I sit back and smile. “I have a thang.”

“It’s only cool if you don’t gloat,” she says, her tone flat and cold.

“I don’t care.”

She smirks. “So, how do you think little Bradley Dumbfuck is going to decorate his new office?”

I glare at her.