“Whoa, that was a long meeting.” Jane yawned as we left the conference room and headed out for lunch. “What do you think so far?”
“Honestly?” I hit the down button for the elevator.
“Yes.”
“I’m wondering what the hell I got myself into.” I laughed as we walked into the elevator. “I mean Tate seems intense, and honestly, I don’t know anything about credit.”
“Tell me about it.” She shook her head. “I don’t know how I’m meant to market this app. And make it successful. I knew I wanted a job in marketing, but I didn’t realize that I was going to be the entire marketing team.”
“I feel ya.” I laughed. “But it’s cool that we will be working so closely together.”
“Yeah.” She nodded. “So, you’re from New York?”
“I am.” I nodded. “Upper West Side. You?”
“I’m from LA.” She grinned. “My parents immigrated from Mexico.”
“Cool.” I smiled. “My dad is from England, and my mom’s parents are Italian and Irish. I’m a mutt.”
“That’s cool. Have you ever been to England?”
“I have.” I nodded. “My grandparents still live there, so we try to go every few years.” The elevator came to a halt and the doors slid open.
“Yeah, we try and go to Mexico frequently as well. I haven’t been in four years, though.”
“So, I don’t mean to pry, but what’s going on with you and Tate?” I asked as we walked out of the building and onto Jackson Street. “Also, what do you want to eat? We’re close to Little Italy and Chinatown.”
“I wouldn’t mind some dim sum.” Jane made a face. “And ugh, I can’t stand Tate. He’s such an arrogant asshole.”
“Oh, why?” I looked at her curiously. “Did you know him before this job?”
“Never met him before yesterday.” She laughed as she shook her head. “But it feels like I’ve known him forever.”
“Oh?”
“He reminds me of my douchebag brother’s high-school friends.” She shrugged. “My brother was on the baseball team, and he and his friends thought they ran the world.”
“Aw, older or younger brother?”
“Older.” She laughed. “Marco, my brother, thinks he’s my dad. And I have a dad. He acts bossier than my real dad.”
“Oh, that’s funny.” I pulled out my phone to find the closest dim sum place. “I always wished I had an older brother, but I only have an older.”
“Aw, I always wished I was an only child.” Jane laughed. “What do you think of the other girls?”
“They all seem nice. Millie seems quite cheeky, but I love it. Birdy seems quite shy, and Olivia seems really smart.” I nodded. “Tate’s got himself quite the team.”
“Yes, he does.” Jane rubbed her stomach. “I’m so hungry.”
“Me too,” I agreed. “I found a place on Broadway. It’s only about a ten-minute walk. Is that okay?”
“Yeah, that’s good.” She nodded. “So, do you live in the city?”
“Yes, I’m actually quite close to here. I’m on Bush Street in the Tendernob, between Taylor and Mason.”
“Oh wow, that’s close to Union Square, right?”
“Yeah. Where are you?”
“I’m near Duboce Park, near Stanyan Street.”
“Aww, cool.” I smiled at her. “How long have you been in the city?”
“I’m new, like you.” She smiled. “I was done with all the wannabes and plastics in LA. I thought SF would be a good change.”
“And now we have all the Silicon Valley people,” I groaned. “I’ve never met so many people in tech in my life.”
“What made you move here all the way from the East Coast?”
“Honestly, I needed a change.” I sighed as I thought about my life back home. “I still lived with my parents. My best friend and I kinda drifted apart. My love life sucked. I wanted to be somewhere new, and it was between Seattle, Portland, and San Francisco.”
“What made you pick San Francisco?”
“Honestly?” I tilted my head to the side. “I’m embarrassed to say.”
“Don’t tell me it was for a man?”
“Ha ha, trust me, no.” I shook my head.
“A woman?”
“No, I'm straight.” I shook my head. “Fine, I’ll tell you. I choose SF because it’s close to Napa.”
“No way.” She laughed and linked her arm through mine. “You’re a girl after my own heart. I love wine.”
“You don’t know how great that makes me feel.” I giggled. “I figured you would judge me for being an alcoholic or something.”
“No judgments here. We should have a bar night with the other girls. That would be fun!”
I nodded eagerly. “That would be amazing!”
“Awesome!” She grinned. “Quien con la esperanza vive, alegre muere.”
“Huh?”
“Oops!” She giggled. “Sorry. Basically, he who lives with hope dies happy. I’m so happy we’re working together. You’ve already made this job so much better for me. After yesterday, I wanted to quit, but now I think I’ll stick it out for a bit.”
“Yes, let’s make sure we’ve got each other’s backs.” I was practically skipping along the road and five seconds later, I slammed into someone. “Oh, I’m so sorr—” I broke off as I looked up at the person I’d bumped into. “You!” I pointed at the man in front of me. “Are you following me, Jagger?”
“Do you wish I was?” His emerald green eyes sparkled as they stared at me. “Do you have some sort of stalker fetish like the girl in that creepy Netflix show?”
“No, I don’t,” I growled at him. “Do you?”
“I wouldn’t mind it if you stalked me and then tripped and fell on my ...” He stopped and winked before turning to Jane, who was staring at us with open curiosity. “Hi, I’m Jagger Scott, Magnolia’s secret lover, and you are?”
“I’m Jane, her new coworker,” Jane squeaked out as I glared at him.
“Jagger is not my lover. He’s my neighbor who seems to be trying to make it into comedy, but I’m afraid he’s in for a horrible shock because he’s not funny. At all.”
“I’m a little bit funny.”
“No, you’re not.”
“Yes, I am.” He reached his hand up to brush some strands of hair from my face. “Magnolia Allen, you know that I’ve had you laughing so hard your clothes fell off.”
“No, you didn’t, and no, they have not!” I almost shouted, my face red. “You’re so inappropriate, Jagger!”
“I’m the inappropriate one?” He tilted his head to the side. “Hmmm.”
“I don’t want to be nosey, but I’m so curious as to what the story is here.” Jane glanced between us. “How long have you guys been neighbors?”
“Three weeks.” I blushed as her eyes widened. I could see her trying to figure out what could have happened in three weeks to have us acting like this.
“But we’ve known each other longer than that, haven’t we, Magnolia?”
“Not really.” I looked at my watch. “Oh, look at the time. We really should be going. We need to eat and get back to work. Nice seeing you, Jagger.”
“I’d love to join you for lunch.” He offered us both a warm smile. “I would even be your appetizer, Magnolia, if you so want.”
“No, I do not want.” I shook my head. “And no, you can’t join us.” I looked over at Jane, who was laughing silently. “It’s not funny. He’s such a pig.”
“You guys have an interesting relationship.” She made a face as her stomach growled. “Now, let’s grab some food. My belly is hungry.”
“Can I come?” Jagger grinned, then leaned forward and whispered into my ear, “In you.”
“In your dreams, honey.”
“Oh, it’s already happened in my dreams, sweet bee.” He winked at me and pulled away. “And lunch is on me for letting me crash and to celebrate Magnolia’s first day.”
“Aw thanks, you didn’t have to do that.” Behind Jagger’s back, Jane gave me a quick thumbs up. I wrinkled my nose at her and walked past Jagger to lead the way to the restaurant.
I didn’t know what he was playing at, but I knew that it wasn’t all bad that he was back in my life again. If I was honest, he was even cuter than I remembered. And back in the day, I’d thought he was absolutely gorgeous, though I didn’t want to remember just how badly I’d liked him. Because the more I thought about how much of a crush I’d had on him in the old days, the more other memories would come crashing in, and I’d die if I had to revisit the scandals of my past. My face flamed red as a thought of Doug and Jagger crossed my mind.
There was no way in hell I wanted to relive those memories, and I was going to have to make sure Jagger knew that I didn’t want him in my life. No way, no how. I didn’t care how hot and flirtatious he was … even if my heart and panties were telling me otherwise.