Chapter 31

Layla

I bring a glass of wine into my living room where Lori’s already sitting on my couch with her own glass.

Sitting down with a happy sigh, I say, “I’m so glad all of that is behind us. The past few weeks were really stressful feeling like we were at odds.”

Things have turned out better than I could have hoped for A Cunning Linguist. After the country went pretty much crazy—in a good way—over the episode where we all lost our minds and fucked on live TV, there’s no way the FCC could cancel the show. Not without all kinds of pushback.

Plus, and probably more importantly, Lori has done a complete one-eighty after what happened between her and Toby.

“I know,” Lori says regretfully. “I hate that I put you in such a position. If I had any idea...Well, I’m sorry about making everything so difficult for you with the investigation. I hope you aren’t angry.”

“Girl, please. It all worked out for the best.”

“I know.” She still doesn’t sound like she’s okay with how she handled the investigation. “I just wish I hadn’t let my anger and humiliation over the entire situation get the best of me. I just took the rejection so personally. After my divorce, it felt like the last option to finally find some kind of happiness with myself.”

Damn, I had no idea she was dealing with so much. She never let on about any of it. That’s what girl friends do, right? I mean, I know I’ve always told her all about my sexcapades. Not once did she make me think that her sex life was shitty. Just goes to show that there must be more women out there that need help from someone like Jake.

“So, yeah,” Lori continues, “I let all of that influence my decision to come down on ACL so hard.”

“Lori, don’t be so hard on yourself. You got what you wanted in the end. You finally broke through all that old shit and can finally let yourself enjoy sex.” I grin at her mischievously. “Speaking of which, what’s up with you and Toby?”

She grabs my arm. “Oh my God, girl, it’s so crazy. We had the filthiest, dirtiest sex imaginable last night after we left the studio.”

I hold my hand up to give her a high five. “The live broadcast sex wasn’t dirty enough for you?” I tease.

“I know, right?” She shakes her head, laughing. “I can’t believe that I’ve been missing out on that kind of kinky fun all this time.”

Laughing, I wiggle my eyebrows. “Are you seeing him again tonight?”

She shrugs. “I don’t know. Probably not. We may see each other again, but I don’t want to get serious with anyone. Now that I know all the fun that’s out there just waiting for me, I want to try it all. Lots of flings out there, you know.”

Holy shit. Who would've thought that my prudish boss would turn into a total sex fiend? Good for her. “That’s right,” I say, amused. “You get yours, girlfriend.”

We giggle, and then she turns speculative eyes on me. “What about you?”

“Me?” I take a sip of my wine.

“Yes, you. Are your days of flings and no-strings sex a thing of the past now that Jake Kent is making you come on the regular?”

Who is this new Lori? She’s kind of fun. “Nah,” I say casually, “this might end up just another fling. I don’t know how long it'll last.”

The words taste bitter in my mouth, and I wish it weren’t true. I really don’t know where this is going or what’s going to happen. I mean, I know that we declared our love on national TV. But there’s a lot to consider. Jake’s show has a full lineup for the rest of the season. I don’t know if I can deal. Or what he wants for the future.

“Whatever, Layla. Don’t be stupid.”

“Excuse me?”

She gives me a look like she can’t be fooled. “Don’t even try that with me. You two are obviously in love.”

“I do love him,” I admit. “I realized that. And he said he loves me, too. But I’m not sure where we go from here. With his show picking back up…it’s complicated. And he’s not ever been the relationship type.”

“Until he is.”

I frown. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Just that I’ve seen the way he looks at you. You can’t tell me that man isn’t crazy about you.”

“Yeah. That’s how it seems.” I know he cares, but we haven’t talked about where this is going. A relationship might be too much of a leap. “Besides, I don’t know what’s going to happen with us now that everything’s settled with the show. We were thrown together because of my investigation. What if it was just the circumstances we were in?” I don’t mention that him going down on a new girl every night makes me nauseous.

“Not a chance,” Lori says, waving her hand dismissively. “You two are perfect together.”

I think so too, but I just don’t know if we can make it work. It depends on if I’ll be able to handle him still doing the show. Or how Jake will react once he finds out how it makes me feel. At this point, anything could happen.