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The next time I see Trey at brunch, I ask him again how Joe is doing. He says fine, and watches me carefully, as he always does when I bring up his colleague.

When I smile sheepishly, he raises an eyebrow. “What exactly are you asking me, Liz?”

I square my shoulders. “Is he seeing anyone?”

A few moments pass before Trey decides to put me out of my misery. “Not that I know, no.”

I grin. I can’t help it. I’m feeling a little giddy.

Trey’s forehead wrinkles. “I love you, Lizzie, you know I do,” he says. “But I don’t want you messing with my man Joe again.”

I nod. “I know. I get it. And I don’t want to mess with him. I promise.”

“Okay,” says Trey, still looking at me suspiciously. “So what exactly do you want?”

“I’ve been meaning to call him, but even that seems like too meaningful of a step,” I say. “I wish we could reconnect ... with a little less pressure.”

Trey rubs his hands and bares his teeth in a grin that’s one part mischief, three parts pure evil. “Say no more.”

??

Chapter Fifteen

Joe

“You need to come to lunch with me today,” Trey says, peeking through my office door.

“Why?” I ask, not looking away from my monitor. I’ve got meetings all afternoon and a bunch of paperwork to finish.

“Just do it, all right?”

I sigh. “Fine, but I have a ton to do so we gotta make it fast. Can't go anywhere far.”

“Shouldn't be a problem. We're going to the cafeteria.”

I stop typing and swivel around in my chair to face him. “I told you I’m not going to the cafeteria. And you know why.”

He gets inside my office and closes the door behind himself. “I know you’re avoiding it because you don’t want to run into Liz, you want her to feel comfortable at work and all that. And I’m still telling you that you need to come with me to lunch today. To the cafeteria.”

“Dude.” I clasp my hands together, elbows on my desk. “What kind of scheme are you working on?”

“The one where you get a happily ever after and you and I become brothers-in-law.”

“Trey.”

“Okay, okay. You know she asks about you. Liz.”

“I know. You’ve told me. And I ask about her. Allegedly, you tell neither of us anything other than ‘Fine.’”

“Yeah, only this past weekend she actually asked me if you were seeing anyone.”

I straighten in my seat. “What did you say?”

“That you weren’t, at least not to my knowledge.”

“Shit,” I jerk back against the chair, causing it to squeak. “Couldn’t you have fudged a little, made me look better?”

“There is no way to fudge your fishing trips with your dad to look like you're pulling some serious ass.”