Page 37 of The Catch

Cat swallowed down the gross feeling that came over her, and the desire to chuck her champagne glass at the back of Kasey’s head, and made her way back to where Josh was. She sidled up to him while he nodded and followed along with the story Cranshaw was still telling. Josh shot her a quick smile and wrapped an arm around her waist, then went right back to making the most boring man in the room feel like the host of a Ted Talk.

He’d been quite charming all evening, actually. He’d also turned a few heads. Kasey’s bedroom eyes flashed in her brain, and she slid her hand further down his back, resting just low enough to claim her spot without being work-function inappropriate.

Cranshaw finally excused himself, doing a scan of the buffet table before heading off in that direction, and Cat wrapped her fingers around Josh’s tie, pulling him to face her. She wanted to get another dose of those ocean-blue eyes before they became an unpleasant memory. “Snoozefest, right?” she said, smoothing her hands over his shirt. “Sorry about him.”

“It’s cool. We both play golf, so we chatted about that for a while.”

“You’re a natural at small-talk. Sometimes I forget to look interested in situations like that.”

Josh tipped his glass to his lips, and she watched his Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed. “I have a lot of these things in my line of work. Client dinners, ground-breaking ceremonies. I like to let Dylan handle most of them, but sometimes we have to tag-team.”

“What’s it like running a business with your best friend?” she asked, nervously glancing around for Kasey or anyone else who might be looking at him like that.

“Truthfully?”

“Of course.”

He laughed quietly, then finished his drink. “It’s awesome. Dylan’s good at what he does. I’m good at what I do. It just works. Besides, we’ve been friends long enough that if we get on each other’s nerves, we know how to hash it out.”

“Oh yeah?” she said, smiling at the thought of him and Dylan bickering. “How’s that?”

“Whenever he pisses me off, I usually invite him to play some basketball or go for a run. Two things that I’m better at than him. By the end of it, when he’s wheezing like an old man or dragging the last mile of our run, I end up feeling sorry for him and forget about whatever he did.”

A fit of genuine laughter surprised her. “How petty! I never would have guessed.”

“I hide it well. You want another drink?”

“Sure,” she said, taking the last sip of her champagne, then handing him her glass.

“I’m going to hit the restroom. I’ll grab another round on my way back.”

Cat turned over her shoulder, spotting Kasey perched on a bar stool like a bird of prey. She grabbed for his sleeve. “Josh, I can get—”

“Cat!” Her head swiveled again as Margo Fields, the executive director of her agency, appeared beside her with her arms outstretched. She gathered Cat into a boozy hug, launching straight into a conversation, and Josh flashed her one more grin before disappearing into the crowd.

Josh deposited their glasses on a tray as a black-tied waiter passed him, and he headed for the back of the room. He glanced around for a sign that would point him to the restrooms, and as he turned down the labeled corridor, he nearly collided with a red-headed woman in a short green dress. She was standing there like a toll collector, with her hands on her hips and head tipped up, eyeing him expectantly.

“Are the bathrooms this way?” he asked. It was rhetorical, he really just wanted to make it known that was his destination so she would step aside.

She shifted her weight, jutting one hip outward, and placed one perfectly manicured finger on her lower lip. “Do I know you?”

“Um, I don’t think so,” he replied, flicking his gaze past her toward the bathroom and hoping she would get the hint that he really had to take a leak.

“No? You look familiar.” She stepped closer, and the scent of sandalwood and vanilla filled his space. “We must have met before.”

“I don’t live in the city,” he said, searching his brain for her face. “Maybe we’ve worked together. Rideout Pierce Architecture?”

“No. This doesn’t feel like a business thing.”

He studied her again, coming up blank. Maybe she was one of Dylan’s flings. They all sort of ran together. Though, she looked too young for him.

“Hmmm,” she purred, reaching out to touch his sleeve. “Well, there’s one way to get to the bottom of this.”

“What’s that?” He took his arm back, shoving his hands in his pockets. He really fucking had to pee.

“You could buy me a drink, and we could talk it through.” She stepped closer still. “Let’s figure out where we’ve seen each other before, and where we’re going to see each other next.”

Realization smacked him in the forehead, and he couldn’t help the laugh that tumbled from his mouth. This woman was bold. “Sorry,” he said, moving to step past her. “I’m here with someone.”

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