Free For Nick by Taylor Dean Page A

girl immediately began to unbutton her blouse. One girl kicked off her shoes with a little too much gusto and nearly hit me in the head with one of them. One girl asked if we could turn off the lights and another hiked up her skirt and sat on the couch waiting for me to join her. Call me naïve, but I wasn’t expecting those reactions.” He chuckled. “It was awful.”
    Andie couldn’t help but laugh at his descriptions. “What did you say to them?”
    “The truth. I simply explained that I didn’t want any one working for me who would be willing to trade sexual favors for employment benefits and that this was a test. Please know, I do not condone sexual harassment in any form, and would fire any employee that truly resorted to those kind of tactics.”
    “I’m surprised Robert let you do it. It has lawsuit written all over it.”
    “He was completely against my strategy. What I was allowed to say was strictly scripted and I had to swear not to deviate. I wasn’t allowed to say anything that would’ve been blatant, that way I could technically claim that they’d misconstrued my meaning.”
    Andie spluttered, “Shame on you, Zachary Drake.”
    “I apologize profusely. I was praying you’d turn me down flat. I liked you immediately.” He paused. “To be honest I wasn’t exactly sure you knew what I meant at first. You seemed innocent, as if I had to spell it out for you. You ignited a spark of hope in me on behalf of all decent women everywhere. All I could think was I want heeerrr ,” he said with a mischievous smile.
    “I like your growl.”
    “Thanks. I’ll perfect it as time goes by.”
    Andie continued with the conversation at hand, ignoring his sarcasm. “I liked you too. To be honest, I was disappointed when those words left your mouth.”
    “When I told Robert about the other girls, he couldn’t stop laughing.”
    “Really, IT laughs?”
    “IT does, IT can have a sense of humor too, if he really tries. He actually likes you, you know. He just doesn’t trust you. Don’t feel bad, he doesn’t trust anyone. He doesn’t even trust me with my own money.”
    “He’s very loyal to you.”
    “Yes.”
    “Are you happy, Zach? I mean, surely you have some women friends who would’ve been willing to be your wife for a year.”
    “Too messy, too emotional,” he said at once. “And yes, I’m happy that I have you.” He hesitated. “Were you happy in your first marriage, Andie?” It was a quick change of subject.
    “Yes, we were happy. We had some issues though.”
    “Who doesn’t?”
    “True, but if he hadn’t passed, I sometimes wonder if we would have made it.” Andie closed her eyes and wished for something more in life than a business arrangement.
    “I’m sorry.”
    “Were you happy, Zach?”
    Abruptly, he looked away and sat up. “Yeah.” He didn’t elaborate.
    Conversation over and out.

    After dinner that evening, Zach remarked, “A dizzyingly delightful day .”
    Andie smiled. “C ontinuously cool company .” They both laughed at their strange penchant for alliterations.
    “I don’t feel sleepy at all after our leisurely day of sunbathing. I need to do something active. How about a game of Yahtzee ?”
    Andie raised an eyebrow at him “Perfect. Whenever I need to work out, I always feel better after a mean game of Yahtzee . Who needs a treadmill?”
    Zach froze and eyed her with mock disdain. “I believe you are making fun of me, Mrs. Drake.”
    “I don’t make fun at other people’s expense. That would be mean. C’mon, let’s break a sweat and roll some dice.”
    Zach threw his head back and laughed, surprising her just a little. Without consulting her, Zach started a fire. They sat on the floor in front of the fireplace playing game after game, trying to find a winner, but only tying-up the score each time. All the while they laughed raucously as if something was hilariously funny. Nothing was, but Zach had a weird effect upon her. She actually felt happy