Page 39 of Not Safe For Work

She must be tipsier than I thought because she looks up at me with glistening eyes. “That’s so nice of you.”

“I’m a nice guy,” I say back.

“Yeah, you are,” she murmurs, still gazing at me. “It’s very unsettling.” She narrows her eyes and purses her lips before her face transforms into a grin.

I give her shoulder a squeeze, tucking her a bit closer. “Brat.”

I never let myself flirt with Liv before this week. At first, I didn’t want her to be uncomfortable starting a new job, and then, once our working relationship felt more settled, she gotherself a boyfriend. I’ve waited over two years to be able to do this and it feels amazing.

“So, Olivia,” Jayce muses, pulling me out of my daze. “Do you work at the winery?”

“No, I’m in sales with this one.” She tilts her head toward me almost close enough for us to touch. “What about you guys? Are you all writers?”

“Songwriters.” Jayce raises an eyebrow and a muscle in my jaw starts to tick, because with two words I can already tell he’s about to hit on her. Does he not fucking see me here?

“Graham and I work with Lucy’s husband. We mostly score movies or high production TV series.” He bites his lip this time. “Do you like music?”

What kind of question is that? Who doesn’t like music?

“Of course. That’s such a cool job. What instruments do you play?” she asks them, somehow unaware of Jayce’s intentions.

“I do strings,” Graham says just as Jayce replies, “A little bit of everything.” He licks his lips and I feel like smashing his head in. Thankfully our drinks just came so I can chug some rum and ignore this guy.

I take a long pull of the Mai Tai and offer it to Liv. Her eyes flare up at me when she takes a sip and I grin.

“Delicious, right?” I ask, our eyes still connected.

“I pegged you more for a ‘whiskey, neat’ kind of guy to be honest.” I nudge her shoulder. “You’re really full of surprises, Scottie.”

I keep smiling at her. My face feels stuck this way.

“Olivia,” Jayce continues, ignoring the fuckingmomentwe’re having. And this time he reaches out to grab her hand on the table. “If you could be any instrument, what would you be, and how would I?—”

He’s cut off when Lucy and Graham both yell “stop it!” and Graham smacks Jayce over his head. I like the Australian one.

Liv turns to me with wide eyes and we both laugh.

“So, Olivia,” Lucy says, ignoring Jayce’s pleas for her to “play nice.” “It looks like you landed a new boyfriend, huh?” She tilts her head and eyes me.

“Oh, no, we’re just friends,” Liv offers. It only hurts for a moment because a week ago, I’m not sure she’d even call me a friend.

Graham chuckles, also ignoring Jayce when he shouts “see!”

But then he eyes Liv, then me, and Liv again. “Have you told him that?” And I take it back. I do not like the Australian one.

“I cannot believeI just spent the night drinking with Lucy Gold. She gave me her number. Hernumber.”

Liv has been gushing non-stop since we left the musicians. After the second round of drinks, I could tell it was time to go. Though I’m still feeling grateful she was tipsy enough to not bat an eye at Graham’s comment.

“Should I call an Uber?” I ask, tugging gently on her hand. She’s been holding on to me since we left the restaurant.

She looks up at me, a perfect angel, twisting her lips in indecision.

“What is it?”

“Are you hungry at all?” she asks.

“Always. Wanna get some pizza? Golden Boy isn’t too far from here.”

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