Page 37 of The Player + The Pact = I Do

I grin at her. She’s so relaxed, so comfortable. It’s nice. I’m pleased she’s here.

“Thanks for the flowers, by the way.”

“My pleasure. How did it go?”

“It was interesting,” she says. I pause, wanting her to expand a little bit. I go and get a glass of water from the kitchen. “It sounds kinda douche-y,” she calls over to me. “But I see things differently now. I always knew there were areas to improve and things I’d do differently, but today, I saw some things I wasn’t expecting to see. It was… disappointing.”

“You want to elaborate?”

She laughs. “You don’t give two shits about The Mayfair.”

“I givehalfa shit about The Mayfair, but I definitely givetwoshits about your day, which happens to have taken place at The Mayfair.”

She looks at me for a second, then two, then says, “Goddammit, Leo. Stay on-brand for all our sakes, will you?”

“If only I knew what that entailed.”

“I’m going to hold fire before I tell you what happened today,” she continues. “I want to do some more digging, figure more stuff out. Then I’ll either find solutions or come up with a plan to solve the problems that may or may not require your input.”

“How very cryptic,” I reply.

“Not cryptic. But you’re Just Leo here, right? Not my boss.”

She has a point. “Fair enough.” I join her on the sofa. “So tell me about when we met before. Was it a work context?”

She shakes her head. Maybe I’m imagining it, but all of a sudden she doesn’t seem to be able to look me in the eye. Is she worried I’ll be able to place her? Surely not. If I was going to figure out we’d met before, I’d have done it by now. She’s been working for me for months.

“Give me a clue.”

A grin twitches at the corners of her mouth. “My hair was a different color.”

I squint. “What color?” She shrugs. Why is she being so reticent about this? Did I embarrass myself? Did she? I really hope we haven’t slept together. “Why won’t you tell me?”

“You want the whole list of reasons, or just my top three?”

“Absolutely. If there’s a list, give me a list.”

She stares out over Manhattan for a few seconds. “I think I can sum it up by saying I’m embarrassed.”

What on earth could she be embarrassed about?

“Did we meet in Manhattan?”

She nods.

“If not in work, then at a bar?”

She nods again.

That doesn’t really narrow it down. Manhattan has over ten thousand bars. And I’m pretty sure I’ve been to most of them over the last couple of years. “You’re a tease,” I say.

“Honestly, I’m not.” Her expression is all worry. Despite the fact I want to know where we met, I don’t want her to stress about it.

She stands. “I should go. I’m meeting Sophia for a cocktail. I need to change.”

I can’t help but stare at her as she walks past me on the sofa.HaveI seen her before? And just then, as she turns herhead back to look at me, I see something. There’s a glimmer of recognition.

“Hey,” I say.

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