Perfect for You

arm, not bothering to put them on since she was going to just take them off again when she got into her flat.
    On the porch, she juggled her stuff around so she could get to her keys in her purse, and then rejuggled everything so she could unlock the door. She jiggled the key in the lock, but she didn't have an extra hand to pull on it at the same time—a key step in opening her arthritic door. She cursed under her breath and tried to reach the doorknob with her shoe-holding hand.
    "Need help?" Eve said, coming up the porch steps.
    "Thank God!" Freya thrust her belongings at her. "Aren't you early?"
    "I was hungry."
    "Come in. I have to take a shower, but I'll be quick." She dashed up the stairs ahead of Eve and ran into the bathroom. She turned the shower on, stripped, and stepped into the hot stream.
    It felt wonderful. Her muscles were sex sore—they hadn't been so worked out in, well, ever. She would have given anything for a long bath. Maybe later. Perhaps she could even convince Greg to scrub her back.
    Wrapping a towel around her hair and another around her body, she quickly dressed and, taking her shoes, went into the living room.
    "That was quick," Eve said, looking up from a magazine.
    "I didn't want to keep you waiting. Besides, I'm starving too." She twisted her still sopping hair onto her head and secured it with a pencil that was lying on her coffee table.
    "Come on then." She stood, dropping the magazine on the table. "You can tell me why you were sneaking into your flat half-dressed over our first mimosa."
    Freya couldn't stop the grin that spread ear-to-ear. "It's a good story."
    "I bet. Does it have visuals?"
    "It will," she said, thinking about the mockups she'd put together so far. She had an idea for one more, and then she should be set.
    "Oh boy." Eve rubbed her hands together. "Elite CafŽ?"
    "Let's go."
    Eve waited until they were seated and had their drinks ordered to before she crossed her arms and said, "Okay, I want details. Many, many details. Who were you with?"
    "You won't believe it."
    "Your hot upstairs neighbor," Eve said instantly. "I knew it. Of course it didn't take a genius to figure it out, not after seeing you guys cavorting on the floor in your office. So how was it?"
    Freya couldn't help it—another big grin split her face.
    Eve's eyes widened. She sat back and whistled. "That good, huh?"
    "Better."
    The waiter returned with their drinks.
    "Good." Eve took a big sip. "Okay, I'm ready for the whole story. Start with the part where you realized he was hot and wanted to jump him."
    "Actually, we struck a deal. I'm using him to get my muse back, and he's trying to convince me that I should stay with him."
    "Is he luring your muse back?"
    "Better than anything else I've tried."
    "Sex does that for you." Eve gave her an enquiring look. "Assuming the sex is good."
    "Let me put it this way, Greg surpasses Coit Tower in phallic status, and if there had been an earthquake anytime while I was with him, I wouldn't have known the difference, he rocked my world so hard."
    "Wow. Does he have a brother?"
    "Sorry." She took a sip of her mimosa, thinking. "He's not how I thought he'd be."
    "I think you actually like him." She leaned in and whispered, "I think maybe you're even in love with him."
    " No. " Freya shook her head vehemently. "He's a lawyer."
    "He's a lawyer you're sleeping with," Eve pointed out. "The fact that he's gotten that far is telling, don't you think?"
    "What? Are you saying next it's wedding bells and the pitter-patter of little feet?" At her friend's raised brow, Freya shook her head again. "No way. We're just doing it to help me get my sexy back for Sin City. That's all this is."
    "So you're saying after next week when you present your designs, you're going to break it off with him."
    That stopped her cold. She hadn't thought about not going out with him any longer.
    Eve smiled knowingly. "I rest my case."
    "There's no case here," she said, adamant. "I just haven't thought that far ahead. I still have a week and one more design to finish."
    "Well, you better think about it, because your week will be up sooner than you think, and then you'll need to decide what to do. You don't want to lead him on."
    She sat straight up. "I've been honest and upfront with him."
    "I'm not saying you haven't been, but you can't deny that if you keep having sex with him after your deadline he's going to think that you're in it for him." Eve regarded her steadily, tucking her hair behind