Justin leaned in. “You absolutely should. Milan in spring is gorgeous.”
“You’ve been there too?” Awe lined Emily’s voice. “Is that where you two met? I guess that’s a stupid question. For all I know you ran into each other at some networking conference in L.A.”
“We met in Brazil.” Antonio was being sucked into her fascination. It had been a while since the world was that and amazing and vast to him, but she looked enthralled with the idea he and Justin had traveled.
Justin scrubbed his face. “Please don’t tell her this story.”
“You have to now.” Emily looked amused.
The waitress returned with their dessert, and it sat untouched.
Antonio always hesitated to delve into the memories of how he and Justin met. It was a bittersweet moment. He’d gloss over the details and they’d move on. “A couple of friends introduced us.”
She looked between them. “And that’s an embarrassing story?”
Maybe he couldn’t completely gloss over it. “It was a blind date. His friend read Justin wrong. She didn’t realize Justin doesn’t swing that way.”
“Really?” Emily’s eyes widened. Justin gave her a look Antonio didn’t understand and a frown crossed her face before vanishing. “I didn’t know you were gay. That is, not that it matters. Or that I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about it.” She dropped her face into her palm. “Oh my God, this conversation just became an HR nightmare.” Her words were muffled. “I’m shutting up now.”
The hint of flustered was as alluring as her confidence. Antonio liked the contrast; it made her feel even more real. “No one’s going to Human Resources, unless you do. And I’m not gay. I’m more of a keep my options open kind of guy.”
“Oh.” She looked up. “So, um... the two of you meet in Brazil andbaminstant friendship?”
Justin chuckled. “Exactly like that. If you remove the weeks of awkward fumbling and trying to find each other’s boundaries, a lot like this conversation.”
“Which tattoo is from Brazil?” Emily seemed determined to move on to a new topic.
Again, her question struck Antonio as oddly specific, given she and Justin only met a few hours ago.
“It’s where I had my inspiration for APPropriate Designs, so it’s an AI.” If Justin thought Emily’s insight was odd, it didn’t show in any of his mannerisms.
The answer was misleadingly vague. It really didn’t have anything to do with what Justin decided on in the end.
“As in artificial intelligence?” Emily asked. “Like Johnny Five from that old Short Circuit movie?”
“That’s the one.”
Antonio’s phone vibrated in his pocket, and he ignored it. Whatever it was could wait a few minutes. “That was disturbingly specific.” Especially since that specific tattoo was on Justin’s right shoulder blade. “What am I missing?”
Pink spread across Emily’s cheeks. “Nothing.”
Justin grinned. “Not anymore, anyway. Saturday night, you missed the stunning redhead hiding several rows of teeth behind an incredible mask of sweetness and a sharp tongue.”
Reality plowed into Antonio, and his world tilted. Emily was the woman Justin picked up? And now, not only was she working with them, but she and Justin were still flirting. What the fuck? Words escaped him. “This just got surreal. As in, bad plot kind of surreal.”
Justin opened his mouth but was cut off by the shrillness of his phone. He answered it before the first ring finished. “Hey, Merc.”
Mercy.The bizarre evening shifted aside in Antonio’s head to make room for its neighbor, ill ease. Something had gone wrong with the Promiscuous Perks beta the developers deployed this evening. Wrong enough Mercy couldn’t wait until morning to get it fixed. The code name was meant to be misleading so no one would guess it was Justin’s education component.
“He’s here with me.” Justin looked at Antonio.
Antonio didn’t expect him to say anything more specific. This was the project they weren’t funded for, and the last thing they needed was Emily overhearing it was not only happening, but also going poorly.
“We’re on it. Call you back in thirty minutes.” Justin pocketed his phone and stood. He gave Emily a curt nod. “Ms. Lowry, pleasure to see you again.” All the playfulness was gone from his voice, leaving a flat tone in its place. “We’ve got an emergency back at the office. I hope you’ll excuse us.”
Antonio shook her hand. “We’ll talk tomorrow. Whatever the two of you have going on, I hope it doesn’t interfere in the office.” He’d give Justin more of an interrogation, starting withwhat the fuck were you thinking?
“Is there anything I can do to help?” she asked.