Page 51 of Fifth Avenue Flirt

I take a beat, wondering whether I should tell her. But I want her to know.

“Across the street,” I say.

She reaches across the table and slides her hand over mine. “It’s nice that you have this.”

I nod. “I don’t come here to grieve or mope or anything.”

“I know,” she says. “You come here for connection. To your past, to your childhood, to the people here who treat you like a son.”

Her words hit me right in the solar plexus like my chest is a bullseye and her words an arrow. “Yeah. I guess I do.” The food is good in Serenissima. That should be the only reason anyone needs to come here. But Avril’s right, I wouldn’t come as often if I didn’t feel so at home here. I don’t come here to network or “connect with the right people.” Except I come here to really connect with the right people. I come here to be myself. To be treated like a son. To be me.

Avril gets it. I’m starting to think she understands me better than I do.

FOURTEEN

Avril

I’m the first one to arrive at the building on Fifth Avenue. I wanted to get out of Ben’s apartment this morning. He left long before I did, but I got ready and out as soon as possible. It just felt like too much.

“Hey,” Poppy says from behind me. I spin round and give her a hug. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” I say. “It’s good to see you.”

“How was the weekend with Ben?” she asks. “I messaged you last night but didn’t hear back.”

“It was fine,” I say, scanning the sidewalks to see if Worth or the realtor is about to arrive. There’s no doubt that this hotel would be a good option if we were going to open a second hotel in New York, which is why Worth is coming to this second viewing. I thought it would take a week to arrange. No such luck.

“Did you bang?” Poppy asks.

“No.” I give her an exaggerated eye roll.

Poppy wants to know if we’ve managed to keep it professional. The problem is we might not have banged, but sex would have been easier in a way. I’ve gotten to know him better over these last couple days. Not just because we talked, but because I’ve been in his space, I’ve shared his world. I understand him better…and I like him.

I really like him.

“He’s hot. I wouldn’t blame you if you did.”

“The entire point of this week is showing him that we can keep things professional.” An image of Ben taking the nail polish off my feet creeps into my brain. Hardly professional. Neither was lying in bed together.

“So, what did you do?”

“Not much. On Saturday, we rescued a cat. Went for lunch.” She doesn’t need to know about the whispering gallery.

“You rescued a cat?”

“Kinda.” I tell her how we were supposed to be going to Ben’s gym, but ended up taking a cat to the vet.

“That’s cute. You think he was trying to impress you?”

I think about it for a second. “I don’t think he would have seen the cat if I hadn’t pointed it out. He would have walked right past it. Not because he’s a bad guy, but just because he would have assumed it had an owner that was looking after it and it would be fine.”

“Are you sticking up for him?” Poppy asks.

“No!” Even to me, I sound defensive. “I just don’t think he did it to impress me.”

She shoots me an I-think-you’re-lying look, just before Worth and Sujoy, the realtor, arrive together, and interrupt us.

“So, this is the place?” Worth says. “Great location.”