Page 25 of Clear Shot

“Mine, of course.”

“Because you’re afraid that once you become intimate you’re going to fall in love with him.”

I don’t say anything because she already knows the answer.

“Nothing ventured, nothing gained,” she whispers. “Will it be easier to keep him at arms’ length and walk away without trying?”

“Trying what?”

“To make this a real marriage. To make him fall in love with you.”

“You can’t make someone feel something they don’t feel.”

“No, but you can nudge things along by putting effort into the relationship. And if it doesn’t work out, at least you tried.”

“Why am I so scared?” I ask after a moment.

“Because nothing worthwhile is easy. You know that. This thing with you and Aiden has been simmering for a year, and now suddenly you have to deal with it. That’s scary.”

“You think I should go for it.”

“Absolutely.”

“What about finding a job and all that? If I do find something, I could be based anywhere.”

“Cross that bridge when you come to it. You could very easily find a job that allows you to work remotely, or something like you had at VineTech, where you’re on the road visiting customers all the time so it doesn’t matter where you’re based. And who knows, if I can get my own company off the ground, you can work for me!”

“You’re at least a year away from that, though, right?” I ask quietly.

“Maybe a little less. I’ve been working on the coding part of the database software but it’s time consuming and up until last week, I had a full-time job. I’m going to get serious about it now that I’m officially unemployed.”

“Is there anything I can do to help?” I have a degree in computer programming as well, but her focus is more technical and she loves coding. I’m more interested in the business side of things.

We talk about her ideas and what she’s done so far, and I’m intrigued. Of course, Claudia is brilliant. She never should have been working for someone else, but she wanted to get her feet wet in the industry before taking on something as intense as starting her own software company.

A year later, she’s doing it anyway.

“So if I play my cards right, and don’t get distracted, I could be ready to launch next year.” She glances at me. “And I’m going to need a kick-ass salesperson to go out there and help me sell it.”

“And I want to,” I whisper. “More than anything. But unless you can secure me a visa, I have to find a job that will. Being married to Aiden only allows me to stay in the country—it’s not a work visa.”

“That’s why you need to find a job that will do that for you. A year from now, we can see where we’re at and go from there. Hell, if you decide not to stay in the US, or things don’t work out with Aiden, you could potentially handle all my European sales.”

I hadn’t even considered something like that, and I nod my head. “That would be amazing.”

“It’s not ideal but we can do it.” Claudia squeezes my arm. “Trust me, Hana—you’re going to be part of anything I do, as long as that’s what you want too.”

“I do. Working for you would be a dream-come-true.”

“Workingwithme,” she says firmly. “I’d want you in on the ground floor—I’m not talking about hiring you as an employee.”

I’m really a lucky woman, with the world’s best bestie.

Going to MIT, which is where we met, was the best decision I ever made.

“You know you’re going to get the third degree, right?” she asks as we park at the arena.

“From who?” I ask curiously.