INDIA

Jon comes through on his promise.

The next morning, he wakes me up with roving hands that slide up and down my body, squeezing my breasts and pressing his morning erection against my butt. I smile to myself and turn over, and he has this gleam in his eyes that promises so much…

He really is very good at this. I guess all that practice does make perfect.

I stiff-arm him when he tries to kiss me. "You have to let me brush my teeth first."

"All right," he says with a laugh. "Women…"

I escape his arms and grab my bag. I've thought ahead and have squirreled away a fresh pair of undies and a toothbrush in it so I can avoid the dreaded morning breath, and be able to go straight to the hospital when I want to.

Jon follows me into the bathroom and brushes his teeth as well. The two of us stand side by side and brush our teeth and it amuses me that we're both naked. He's definitely interested, his cock – his very ample cock – stiffening while he stands beside me. His eyes move over my body and I know he's already planning how he'll take me and make me come several times before I can leave.

That's fine with me.

I finish brushing and then rinse, before standing in wait while he finishes. He rinses and spits, then grabs me, and I can't help but giggle when he nuzzles his face into the crook of my neck.

"Hey," he says, in mock protest. "No laughing. Only moans and groans of pleasure from now on."

"I like laughing." I wrap my arms around his neck and sigh when he starts to lick my neck, his tongue moving in small circles, making me think of where else I want that tongue to be.

He pulls me into the shower – a two-person version with amazing shower heads on the ceiling and walls. After the water starts, we stand beneath its soft warm stream and get wet, then he starts to lather me up, his hands soapy. "Let me do you first, then you can do me."

"Okay," I say and close my eyes when he begins to wash me, his soap-slick hands moving over my body, my shoulders, my breasts, and then down between my thighs and buttocks. His fingers linger between my thighs, stroking me, working me up and then he takes the shower head off the wall and rinses me off.

When he's done washing me, I wash him, following the same pattern, spending time on his nice thick erection and balls. He leans against the wall with me between his outspread arms, his eyes on mine as I stroke him.

"That's enough," he says, his voice thick and throaty with lust. I rinse him off and then we stand together in the shower stall, the warm water pouring down over his back. He kneels and lifts one of my thighs over his shoulder and does what he promised, making me come the first time with his mouth. When I'm finished, he shuts off the water, slips on a condom he removes from a drawer in the vanity and fucks me while we're still in the shower. By the time we're both finished, panting from the force of our orgasms, my fingers and toes are all wrinkled.

We dry each other off and it's tender and wordless.

Then, when we're both dry, Jon pulls me into his arms and kisses me, and his kiss is equally tender rather than needy, the way it was before we fucked.

"I could get used to this," he says, his mouth against my neck. "Like every day and night."

"My skin would stay permanently pruney."

He laughs and pulls me more tightly against his body and we rock together, enjoying the warmth of our bodies pressed together.

"Time to go back to the real world," I say and kiss him briefly before pulling out of his arms. "I want to go and see my mom."

"Okay," he says. "I'll let you go, but you have to know that when you step foot into my apartment, you're mine. You do what I say when I say it. You take your clothes off when I tell you and you spread those delicious thighs when I tell you."

"Your wish is my command," I say playfully. "I hope you'll give me a break now and then to come up for air and for food."

Jon laughs. "I'll cook you dinner tonight so don't worry about going hungry."

"Sounds perfect."

I get dressed and so does Jon, the two of us pulling on clothes and talking about the upcoming business meeting we have with one of our suppliers. We're thinking of ramping up production on one of our drones, so we need more parts and we're sourcing more if our current supplier can't keep up.

When I'm finished dressing, I grab my bag and go to the front door.

Jon stops me, putting his arms around my waist and pulling me against his hips.

"Will you be in at work this afternoon?"

"I have lunch with Marina and a friend from Stanford, but afterward."

"You really should tell Marina about us."

I shake my head. "I don't need the aggravation."

"She'll find out from someone at work."

"I won't invite her to any of our work functions."

"She's going to keep trying to match you with a new date," Jon says, frowning.

"I'll humor her. I said I'd help her with the app and I will. Maybe I'll help her re-design the questionnaire. She really has to think twice about moving forward with it if she failed to match either of us using it."

Jon kisses me. "It's up to you. I think you should tell her and tell her to accept it or shut the fuck up, but that's just me."

"She's my best friend, Jon."

"I thought I was your best friend," he says with a big fake pout that's only half-joking.

"You're my best male friend and my lover," I say. "A woman needs a best girlfriend to survive. I need Marina. She keeps me sane."

Jon nods, but I can tell he doesn't really believe it. I know he thinks she has far too much influence over me, but that's just because Marina doesn't really like Jon and doesn't want us together.

She's going to have to deal.

They're both just going to have to accept that the other person is important to me, and just chill.

I kiss Jon once more and then leave, taking the stairs to the front entrance and out into the clear, bright morning.

I breath in deeply, enjoying the morning, then take my car to the hospital to see my mom.

She's doing much better when I arrive and had a good night. She's even sitting up in bed, eating her snack of a cup of tea and a muffin. It's good to see her improving enough that she can sit up by herself.

We talk about everything, and then out of the blue, she asks me about Jon.

"You look happy. What's happening between you two? Did you think about what we talked about?" She raises her eyebrows expectantly.

"We decided to give it a try," I say, unable to hide my smile. "But we're keeping it quiet – at least from Marina."

"You should be honest with her. She's only going to cause you trouble if you don't tell her the truth."

"She's busy trying to perfect her matchmaking app. She needs both of us to help her."

My mom frowns. "You're not going to keep letting her set you up with dates, are you? That won't be good for your relationship with Jon."

"I'll advise her to rework her app. I don't want to go on any more of her dates, and I won't, but I can help her with the questionnaire without agreeing to date any of her picks for me. No more blindly going along."

"Honesty is the best policy."

"I know, I know," I say and kiss her cheek. "I will. Eventually. Right now, I don't want a big kerfuffle when Jon and I are just trying things out. Who knows if they'll work between us? I don't want everyone and their dog giving us a hard time. Especially not Marina."

My mom pouts. "She should be happy for you two."

"She doesn't like Jon for some reason," I say with a sigh. "Probably because he doesn't fit neatly into her view of love and romance."

"Does he fit into yours?"

I shrug. "He fits really well into everything else," I say, meaning work. Then we both laugh at the double entendre. "You know what I mean," I say.

I kiss her again and then leave, making my way home so I can do a bit of work before meeting Marina and the girls for brunch.

While I'm there, I get a text from Marina.

MARINA: I have someone who really wants to meet you, sug. Are you up for a coffee date this week?

I sigh, realizing that this is going to continue unless I put my foot down.

INDIA: I think you better work on the questionnaire before I go on any more of your dates for me. Zero for three is not very good track record…

MARINA: This guy is perfect. I mean it. Tall, blond, blue eyes like you wouldn't believe. Smart. Rich. Even in the biz – has a startup in Silicon Valley that's doing well.

It sounds like Jon and I wonder why, if her app is so good, it doesn't match Jon and me together. It's obvious the two of us want to be together. Yet, Marina's app is so bad that it doesn't catch how right we are together.

INDIA: I don't think so. I will work on the questionnaire if you want me to, though.

MARINA: The questionnaire is fine. It's the people who aren't following the rules.

INDIA: You don't really mean that, do you? Supposed to be the other way around.

MARINA: Sometimes people aren't being honest with the questions. I may need to tweak it a bit to make sure people are consistent with their responses. That might improve its results. You may be right.

INDIA: I'll be happy to sit down with you and work on it.

MARINA: Sounds good. How about tonight? I want to get it done as quickly as possible. I have a meeting with my coder tomorrow and we could start tweaking it right away. Come over for dinner and you can spend the evening with me, working on it. We can do some tests of it with different customers.

I think to myself that Jon is expecting me to come over tonight for supper at his place and to spend the evening together.

INDIA: Okay. What do you want me to bring?

MARINA: Just your sweet self.

INDIA: Will do. Later.

I put my cell away. I know Jon will be upset that I'm breaking plans with him to spend time with Marina, but he's the one who suggested that Marina's app needs tweaking…

I text Jon to let him know.

INDIA: Have to call a rain check on the date tonight. Marina asked me over to work on the questionnaire because she's meeting with her coder tomorrow and wants it ready to go.

I wait for the response, figuring he'll be upset.

JON: When I suggested that you encourage Marina to rework the app, I meant so she wouldn't try to match you up with anyone else and cut into my time with you…

INDIA: I know, but this is kind of important for her. I'll make it up to you.

JON: Okay… Can you come over after you two are done?

INDIA: If I'm done early enough. If not, there's always tomorrow night.

JON: Okay. Will you be in the office later today, at least?

INDIA: Yes. See you then.

JON: K.

Damn. I have these two very demanding friends and colleagues. They don’t like each other, and each expect that I'll prioritize them over the other.

It's going to be a long day…

I meet Marina and Jill for brunch at a local deli and as usual, we go over our weeks and what exciting or extremely boring things happened to us.

Marina tells Jill about her attempts to match me with a few of her Stanford customers. Jill is all excited for me, her eyes bright.

"That's too bad that none of them worked out," Jill says, her voice sympathetic. "I thought you and Jon were going to be a thing."

Marina glances at me quickly and then frowns. "Jon is a manslut. India wants someone stable and dependable. Jon's the last person she should be with."

"I think he's secretly in love with you," Jill says, a sparkle in her eyes. "He's such a dreamy guy with those big biceps and tattoos. Plus, you gotta admire his face. He's gorgeous. Rich. Alpha…"

"Jon's into casual sex and that's it," Marina says, folding her napkin primly. "India isn't. So they most definitely are not a match, even if Jon does want to fuck her. He wants to fuck every woman he finds attractive."

"And most of them want to fuck him back." Jill raises her eyebrows. "Am I right?" She looks between Marina and me. "Don't you ever wonder what he's like in bed?"

Marina practically glares at Jill. "Look, I've been trying to keep India away from Jon's clutches for years. Don't encourage her."

"I think they'd be a perfect match."

"You're such a romantic," Marina says and takes a drink of her coffee.

"Says the woman who designed a dating app," Jill replies with a laugh. "I can't believe they're not together now. They're like two peas in a pod."

"You're completely wrong. Believe me. They are the last two people who should get together. Jon would have to have an epiphany about life and love, or India would have to give up any hope of having a real partner who loves her. Jon is a dedicated manwhore and I doubt anything will change him anytime soon."

Marina glances at me, and I don’t say anything. Instead, I push my food around on my plate, wondering if I'm ever going to be able to tell her about us and what will happen when I do.

"You're right. He is that," I say finally, when I realize it would look strange for me not to agree with Marina.

"He'll settle down when he finds the right woman," Jill says. "Don't you want him, India? We've always thought you two would finally just give in and get together. Stop all of us placing our bets and wondering. Especially after Blaine left you like that and you decided to stay instead of go with him. That was such a shocker. I thought you stayed because of Jon."

"I stayed because Blaine didn't want to tell me what I’d be if I moved with him. He thought I should just move and take a chance. Give up my stake in Pacifica for nothing. I couldn't do it."

"We all thought it was Jon you couldn't stand to leave, not Pacifica. I expected you to fall into Jon's arms for comfort. Remember, Marina? You said it wouldn’t happen?" She frowns and looks at Marina expectantly.

"I don't remember. It doesn't matter, anyway. Jon wouldn't know how to be a real partner, so India's better off being single rather than being with him."

"Jon will settle down someday," I say, frowning at Marina. "He's just not ready. He's not a bad person. He's really very smart and nice."

"See?" Jill says and elbows Marina. "She's secretly in love with him."

I don’t say anything. I'm not going to lie.

Marina answers for me anyway. "She's not in love with him," she says, and squeezes my arm. "They're business partners and friends. India knows she can’t throw her heart away on a guy who can't make a commitment."

Jill shrugs. "I'm surprised your app didn't match the two of them together."

Marina opens her mouth to speak, but thinks better of it. Instead, she forces a smile and drinks her coffee.

I don't say anything because I don't want to risk the wrath of Marina, but the truth is that Jon and I have been circling around each other for five years. If her app hasn't matched us, it really needs work.

Jill seems happy, probably because she's said her piece and got in the last word. Which is unusual in a conversation with Marina.

We move on, but I think Jill gets the hint that the subject of me with Jon is verboten.

When we're leaving, I stop by Marina's car while she searches in her bag for her keys.

"You know, Jon isn't a bad person," I say, wanting to defend him. "He's really very decent. He treats his staff well, and he's a very loyal son to his mother, especially after his dad died. He's always been good to me, and he agreed to help you when you wanted to test MATCHED on him, even though he's not the dating type. I don't know why you hate him so much."

"I don't hate him," Marina says and finds her keys. "I'm just realistic about whether he'd be good for you." She comes to me, her hand on my arm. "I was with you after Blaine left. I'm just trying to prevent you from having a broken heart again."

I can't argue with her.

"See you later," I say and we air kiss before she gets into her car.

I leave, my stomach in a knot, and take my car to the office. I plan on putting in a few hours before I head home for an evening visit to see my mom, then to Marina's and finally, to see Jon. When I slip the car into my spot in the parking garage, I turn off the car and sit there for a moment and just cry.

I don’t know why I'm crying.

I wipe my eyes and shake myself mentally. Quit overanalyzing. Just enjoy Jon.

I take out my makeup mirror from my bag and check my makeup, which has smeared a bit. I touch it up and apply some powder to my nose to cover up the redness and take in a deep breath.

I have work to do. I can't let myself be a sniveling female worried about some man. I'm a successful businesswoman, CTO with a multimillion-dollar tech company. I'm smart, attractive, and a good person.

I'll give Jon time.

But I'm not waiting forever.

When I get to the office, I see that Chris, our CFO, is in his office working on a Sunday. He takes care of all the corporate matters for Pacifica and is usually a straight nine to five kind of guy because of family commitments. It's Sunday so he must have something coming up. Today, he's wearing a Hawaiian shirt, a straw hat, and dark-rimmed glasses. It looks like Bing Crosby slipped into the office during the middle of a game of golf.

"What's up, India?"

I sit in the chair across from him.

"If I were to sell all my shares in Pacifica, how much would they be worth?"

He raises his eyebrows, but doesn’t say anything. Instead, he turns to a third monitor on his desk and clicks on a keyboard.

"Let's see…" He clicks through a few screens. "Considering what the company is worth, you're looking at about $3.2 million, if you sold them all."

I sit and consider. "What could I do with $3.2 million?"

"You could invest it and live off the interest if you don’t mind living off $120,000 a year. That's about one quarter of your income from Pacifica. It would be quite a decline."

I sigh. I knew it. We’d have to expand Pacifica a lot before I could quit, sell my shares, and move away.

It's not like I want to leave my mom, considering, and my friends are here and I like the climate. But I’ve always wanted to move out East.

"Thanks," I say to Chris. "I was just wondering how much longer I need to stay with Pacifica. I'd like to get into something else – maybe biotech, so I was wondering how much of an investment I would need to make."

"You could invest as a partner in a startup with the seed money you would get, but it wouldn't be a certain thing like Pacifica. With the potential new defense contracts we're looking at down the road, Pacifica is set to take off in the next couple of years. Your shares will likely quadruple at least. Maybe more if you stay."

I nod. "I'm not planning on leaving anytime soon. Just wondering. Don't say anything, okay?"

"Mum's the word."

I leave his office and return to mine. Jon's door is closed so I'm not even sure he's in. I didn’t ask when I came in so I go inside my own office and close my door.

While $3.2 million is a considerable amount of money, it's not enough to live off. I need more if I also want to start a new business. I hadn’t planned on leaving Pacifica until my shares are worth at least a hundred million, so I could really do something big.

If things don't work out with Jon, it'll be really hard to stay.

I have to rethink things.