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“No one, business,” he came around the desk and held his door open.
“What business?”
“None of your business, business,” he shook the door a little.
“Don’t go and make some deal and come to me after, all ‘make this work legally, Brendan,’ like when you leveraged this place. Do you know how long it took me to find the trust deed? I had to go to fucking Scotland. Do you know how fucking cold Scotland is?” Brendan said but he was moving for the door and Chris couldn’t help smiling at him.
“You loved it, don’t lie. If it wasn’t for me, you’d be writing contract variations for a mining company in a cubicle. Now get out, I’m busy.”
“Don’t make a deal,” Brendan pointed at him. He went to leave before he paused on the threshold and turned back. “Who are you really calling?”
Chris shut the door.
He called Joq.
“Hello, Chris, what can I do for you?” Joq answered so smoothly, Chris had to laugh.
“Well, you could have dinner with me.”
“Nope, what else have you got,” Joq replied.
“What’s wrong with dinner? We had dinner last night.”
“We had a snack at your place.”
“So, we can have a snack somewhere else and then go to my place,” he ran a hand through his hair and walked over to the window. “Or we can go to yours, I’m not fussy.”
Joq didn’t say anything and Chris decided to wait. Maybe Joq was embarrassed about his place. But that made no sense—Joq dressed sharply, smelled good, and gave off the whiff of saving and spending sensibly. Chris imagined his place bespoke of the same minimalist taste and clean lines, wherever it was.
“We’re not dating,” Joq murmured finally.
“No,” Chris replied. They weren’t. But he ached for the build-up over a nice dinner, the being with someone in public when all you wanted to do was fuck them over the nearest available surface.
“Dinner and sex is a date,” Joq said flatly.
“Dinner and sex is dinner and sex,” Chris countered. “But if you’re not into it anymore, I won’t pressure you.”
“I’m into it, just want to make sure we both get where the boundaries are.”
Chris had a surreal moment where he thought—I’ve never had to work this hard for it, who the fuck is this guy? He couldn’t help it—he laughed.
“Got it, boundary established. Dinner and sex, no dating.”
“So long as we’re clear and you don’t go getting ideas later,” Joq replied but Chris could hear a smile in his voice. Joq didn’t exactly smile at him, but he got this look in his eyes—an understated bemusement. Chris was a fan of this look.
“Likewise.”
Joq did laugh then. It was a nice sound, but it seemed bitter too. “Trust me, you’re safe. I’ll see you at seven.”
And then he hung up.
Chris looked at his phone, a little bewildered and possibly, unfathomably, a little hurt.
Brendan opened the door like he’d been watching and waiting.
“No,” Chris said without looking up from his phone.
“You haven’t even heard what I was going to say,” Brendan resumed his position on the couch. “Also, I’m a shareholder, you have to listen to me.”
