“Well, you lost the competition,” Kiefer said upon her return to San Diego, “but at least you got laid.”

“Oh my God.” Fedora laughed. “Shut up.” She had no idea how he’d deducted that since she hadn’t told him she and Cole had slept together, but there it was.

Clearing his throat, Kiefer said, “Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, notice that she did not deny it.”

Kiefer followed her as she rolled her suitcase into her room and started unpacking.

“I won’t ask for details, but rate it on a scale from one to ten.”

Ten to the millionth power, she thought.

“I’m not telling.”

“You don’t have to. The look on your face tells it all. I’m so happy for you. Do you think this will go somewhere? Because from everything you’ve told me over the past year, Cole seems like a great guy.”

She tossed clothes into her laundry hamper. “I don’t want to jump too far ahead. I’m going to take this one day at a time. I’m still not even quite believing that I broke my cardinal rule of not dating the boss.”

“That just proves he’s special.”

“Or that I’m colossally stupid.”

“Hey, no negative self-talk.”

“Well, time will tell. We’re just going to see where this leads. It may not lead anywhere.”

“Or it may lead to a walk down the ai—”

She held up a warning hand. “Don’t even go there. Read my lips. One day at a time.”

Kiefer shrugged. “Okay. But you’re happy, right?”

“I’d say I’m more cautiously optimistic.”

On the plane, Fedora had insisted that they not carry their personal lives into the workplace. They wouldn’t try to keep the new status a secret, but other than notifying Flynn and Slater, they wouldn’t talk openly about it either.

“I don’t really see why we have to sneak around,” Cole had said.

“It’s not sneaking around,” she’d replied. “It’s…it’s like we’re celebrities, see? Everyone knows we’re together, but we’re just trying to live our lives without people poking their noses into our private goings on.”

“Well, all right. I guess that’s reasonable. But I want to go on record as having objections. I don’t like feeling stifled and that’s what this feels like. Like I’m being personally censored.”

“I’m sorry. I just can’t risk my position at Hat Trick. This is a deal-breaker, Cole.”

The moment those words left her mouth, she’d felt a stab of fear that he’d call her bluff. It reminded her of the time she’d been babysitting her little cousin and she’d said, “If you don’t stop whining, we’re going home and not seeing the movie.” Except she had really wanted to see the movie. Luckily, her cousin had complied and they’d been able to stay.

Cole had sighed then and taken her hand. “If that’s what you want, that’s what we’ll do. But if we’re going to be like celebrities, we have to have a celebrity couple name, like Brangelina. How about Fedorole? You see what I did there? I did the gentlemanly thing and gave you top billing.”

She wrinkled her nose. “Sounds like escarole.”

“What’s escarole?”

“A leafy vegetable.”

“We are not leafy vegetables. Okay, let’s try my name first. We could be…Colora. That’s not a vegetable.”

She shook her head, laughing. “That’s even worse. It sounds like cholera.”

So he went on trying to combine their names, first and last, into pleasing combinations, with only comical results.

Cole confessed to Flynn and Slater that he and Fedora were dating as soon as he could gather them both in the same room. He expected them to disapprove or be angry and he tried to prepare some good reasons why he had gone back on his word, but he didn’t have much. It all boiled down to the fact that he couldn’t help himself which was a pretty piss-poor reason for reneging on an agreement with your two best friends.

It turned out that his anxiety and guilt was all for nothing.

When he finally told them, Slater hooted and pumped his fist. “Finally.”

Cole frowned, puzzled at the strange reaction.

“What do you mean?” Cole asked.

“You two have been circling around each other for months. It was only a matter of time.” He turned to Flynn. “Pay up, loser.”

“What the fuck?” Cole said, looking back and forth between the two of them. “You had a wager on it?”

“Yes,” Flynn said. “I maintained that you would honor our agreement not to get involved with an employee.”

“While I expected a coup de cock. I’ll take that,” Slater said, snatching the hundred-dollar bill Flynn had extracted from his wallet. “Thank you very much.”

“Shit,” Cole said. “And here I was all afraid to tell you two.”

Slater tucked the bill into his pocket. “It’s good that you were afraid because all joking aside, I still think you need to be careful. If things get ugly between you two…”

“Dude, I know. Believe me, I wouldn’t have taken this step if I didn’t think…” He trailed off, shaking his head. “It’s not just a flash in the pan. I’m crazy about her. I really think this could go somewhere.”

“Just be careful,” Slater said. “That’s all I ask. Because if things go south, we could be slapped with a nasty lawsuit and I don’t need to tell you that lawsuits suck up a lot of time and money.” He grimaced. “Christ, I’m getting an ulcer just thinking about it.”

“Go chew on a TUMS. It’s going to work out fine,” Flynn said. Smiling, he clapped Cole on the shoulder. “I hope it works out, Ripper. I really do. Everyone should have someone.”

Slater laughed. “’Everyone should have someone. Jesus, Hammer, you’re wasting your talent here. You should work for Hallmark.”

Fedora almost immediately regretted the Proper Distance Policy she’d insisted on. She found herself really longing to go back to the way they’d been in Seattle, relaxed and able to freely express their affection for each other. After only three days, she wanted to cave. Her decline started when he asked if he could talk to her in her office.

“I can’t stop thinking about how you looked this morning in the shower.”

He kissed her thoroughly, his hands roaming all over her behind. She went from normal to insanely turned on in an instant. She kissed him back for a good minute or so but then pushed him away when it seemed like they might not be able to stop. Plus, he hadn’t even closed the door.

“Cole. Come on. Remember the PDP,” she reminded him.

With a hard body shake, he got a hold of himself. “Yeah, okay. I…I just needed a pick-me-up. I’m good now. I’m good.” He tugged on the hem of his shirt, smoothed it, and walked out the door, back straight, making her laugh.

The next day, she found an index card in her chef’s coat pocket. There was a coffee bean taped to it and some writing. I’ve BEAN missing you.

She immediately thought of their trip to The Roastery and was touched and amused. She went out onto the floor and saw he was across the room, but he looked up and made eye contact. Despite the PDP, she held up the card and smiled.

His answering grin was dazzling.

That night, after her shift at Hat Trick, she went home with him and as they were walking toward the stairs to go to bed, she told him she’d changed her mind.

“Changed it about what?”

“I think we can abolish the PDP.”

“Hot damn. Really? Why?”

“I don’t like it.”

He smiled.

“And it’s too hard.”

He pulled her close. “I agree one hundred percent. It was killing me. I think we’ve turned a corner, Chevy. How are you feeling about it? Nervous? Scared?”

She looked up at him and answered honestly. “I feel pretty good about it, actually. Still a little nervous.”

“So is it official? Are we a couple?”

With a hesitant smile, she nodded. “Yes.”

With a whoop, he swooped her into his arms and went up the stairs with her, like a hero in a romance novel.

Holding onto his neck, she asked with a laugh of delight, “What are you doing? What’s going on?”

“We’re celebrating our official change in status.”

Fedora liked that idea. She liked it a lot and with a freedom they hadn’t felt since they’d returned to San Diego, they celebrated long into the night.