“Fine!” I threw my hands in the air before burying my face in my palms and groaning. Here goes nothing. I peered at her from between my fingers. “You have to promise not to say a word to anyone about this, okay?”
“Whatever, yes, I can keep a secret.”
“Not whatever. I mean it, Donna. This stays between you and me. Lock and key. No compromises. Got it?”
She nodded eagerly. “Cross my heart and hope to die. This is gonna be good, isn’t it?”
I sighed, let my hands fall away from my face, and forced myself to meet her gaze. “I went back to the office last night on my way home from my parents’. Jake was still there and things sort of, well, happened.”
“Happened?” she asked with an arched eyebrow.
“We hooked up.”
Donna gasped dramatically. “Shut up.”
I grimaced. “I don’t know how it happened. I just—I needed someone, and I went to him, and it kind of rocked my socks off.”
Donna surprised me by throwing her head back and laughing like a maniac. People on the patio craned their heads around to look at her. Some smiled. Donna had contagious, jovial laughter. I, however, wished I could crawl under the table out of shame and embarrassment.
When she had herself under control, Donna wiped tears from under her eyes with her thumbs. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to laugh, but damn, Gabi! I didn’t see this coming. Especially not from you.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You’re so straight and narrow! Not to mention you hated his guts a few weeks ago. Like, wished you could carve him open and dump out his organs so they could cook on the asphalt sort of hated him.”
“That’s not true.”
“Um, yes, it is. Was the sex really that good that it gave you amnesia and you forgot how horrible he used to be?”
I cringed internally. “Maybe.”
She laughed again. “Oh man, he did a number on you. Don’t get me wrong, I’m impressed. I’ve wondered for a long time what’s hiding under those expensive suits of his, and if he knows how to use his you know what.”
I swirled the ice cubes in my water. “I can confirm he knows how to use it.”
She snickered. “Give me all the details.”
“If he wasn’t our boss, I would. But he is our boss, and I think you know enough.”
“Fair.” She shrugged. “Is that what the new Lambo was for? Because you fucked him?”
“What? No!”
Oh God, I hadn’t thought of that. Are people going to think he’s compensating me for sex? How humiliating!
I didn’t even know Donna knew about the Lambo. Then again, it was probably safe to assume that everyone did. It was bright yellow, after all, and not at all inconspicuous.
I began shaking my head back and forth. “I can’t believe I let it happen. Or that I sought it out. I mean, the sex was great, but I never should have let things get that far, and as soon as I knew things were escalating, I should have bailed. Now things are going to be complicated and weird. And we’ve just seemed to hit our stride.” I slumped and hung my head. “I feel like I screwed everything up.”
Had I been willing to fuck him because he’d been so good to me? Was I letting all the gifts and gestures go to my head? Did I literally drop my panties for him because he was treating me like a princess?
The thought made me want to puke.
Donna winked. “He’s like your sugar daddy.”
“Please don’t say that. It’s not funny.”
“It’s a little funny.” Donna reached across the table and put her hand on my wrist. “Gabi, you’re overthinking this. Do you know how many people have sex in the workplace? Way more than you think. That’s how many. You’re a professional woman, and Jake is a professional man. There’s no reason why you two can’t continue working together. And fucking, if you want. It’s not like any higher-ups can fire you if word gets out. He is the higher-ups.”