Elizabeth decided we should play down the fact that we were rabidly in love with each other for professional reasons. Of course, she didn’t use those exact words, but she didn’t need to spell it out for me. I just understood her like that.
“Remind me to figure out how you get to start calling your places ‘villas,’” I said to Elizabeth as we let one of the employees inside take our coats. I recognized quite a few faces from the office once we were inside.
“Don’t stand so close,” Elizabeth muttered from the side of her mouth.
I took a half step to the side, then looked her up and down. We’d driven separately, so I was still freshly enjoying the sight of her. “You look fantastic. I think losing your virginity is a—”
She pressed her palm to my mouth and bulged her eyes. “Travis, we talked—”
“Am I interrupting something?” Rand asked.
Like most of the men at the party, he was dressed in a tux. I hadn’t got the memo, so I was just wearing a sport coat and a dress shirt with no tie.
“You know,” I said, carefully removing Elizabeth’s hand from my mouth and smiling. “I’ve found if you have to ask, you probably are.”
“No,” Elizabeth said. “I just…” She opened her mouth and closed it a few times, apparently realizing there was no plausible reason to cover your co-worker’s mouth platonically.
“I had something in my teeth,” I said with a shrug. I acted like I was picking it out. “I knew it was a bad idea to eat a spinach salad on the way over.”
Rand frowned between us. “Are you two—”
“No,” Elizabeth said quickly. “Tra—” she stopped herself, taking a slow breath. “Barry just gets embarrassed really easily.”
Rand’s eyebrows crept up. “Somehow, I find that hard to believe.”
“You know what I find hard to believe?” I asked. I could see the suspicion blossoming in Rand’s eyes, and I knew exactly how to throw him off our scent. “The Egyptians built the pyramids without getting some help from aliens.”
Just as I’d hoped, it was like the light left his eyes. He suddenly was convinced I was a complete idiot and not worth the effort. He looked at Elizabeth as if I’d just ceased existing. “I meant to thank you, by the way. That project you let me take over has really given me a chance to show Mrs. Glass what I’m capable of.”
Elizabeth gave a tight smile. “I’m happy to hear that, Rand. If you don’t mind.”
She started walking and I followed after her.
“It would be best if you didn’t follow me like a puppy,” she said over her shoulder.
“You realize Mrs. Glass wants us to hook up, right?”
Elizabeth stopped by a table full of finger foods. A few dozen people were grazing while holding small talk. I noticed a guy at the back simply stuffing his face and making no effort to pretend he wasn’t loving life. My kind of guy.
“She has a policy about employees dating. So, no, I don’t realize that because it’s not true.”
As if she could sense we were talking about her, Mrs. Glass swooped in from behind us with two tall, well-dressed women at her side. “Just the pair I’ve been looking for,” she said. She smiled, but Mrs. Glass’ smiles reminded me a bit more of when a shark opens its mouth to swallow something alive. “This is Candace Waller,” she gestured to the woman in her fifties at her left. She had short blonde hair and an impressively large nose. “She runs a Fortune 500 investment firm. And this,” she swiped her arms to her right. “Is Nicole Shuman.” Shuman was maybe in her early thirties, very serious, and pretty in a frightening way—like she’d be perfectly at home in leather suits with whips at her hip. “She’s a rising star just like you, Elizabeth. I’ve been waiting for you two to meet.”
The two women and Elizabeth spent a minute or two exchanging pleasantries while I lingered a step or two from her side like I belonged in the conversation.
“And who is this?” Nicole asked once they’d moved past the initial small talk. She was looking straight at me.
Mrs. Glass jumped in before Elizabeth could respond. “This is her partner in crime. I hope you’ll forgive me for this, but I’ve been calling you two my own little power couple.”
Elizabeth made a distressed sound. “I wouldn’t call us—”
“Love it,” I said, clapping my hands. “Ever since we started sharing an office, I’ve been teasing Lizz and calling her my work wife. She hates it.”
Elizabeth let out a nervous laugh.
“It’s too bad, isn’t it?” Nicole asked Elizabeth. “The universe puts a charming, gorgeous man right in your office and you’re bound by company policy to stay away. But I suppose it’s for the best.” She lifted her drink and flirtatiously swirled the straw while making eye contact with me. “I imagine the temptation would seriously hamper productivity.”