Page 22 of Stuck with the Hot Boss
‘Where shall we go?’ Leo asked. ‘Your local?’
‘Why? Have you been barred from yours?’
‘No, but only because I never go,’ said Leo. ‘You?’
‘Close run thing last New Year’s Eve, but we charmed our way out of it.’
‘We?’
‘Nicky and I,’ said Evie. ‘My flatmate and bestie. Who’ll be there at my local whether I invite her or not. Just so you know.’
Leo chewed on his bottom lip, weighing his options. Evie tried not to think about when she had recently had her own taste of that lip.
‘I suppose I’ll have to meet her sooner or later,’ he said.
A hesitant pause before he asked, ‘How much does she know? About me? And me and you?’
‘Everything,’ said Evie. ‘Even things I may have imagined happened between us.’
‘So – she knows I used to be a model?’
‘Very much aware of that,’ Evie confirmed. ‘Google’s had ahugeworkout recently.’
‘Shit …’ Leo winced. ‘Did you find the TV commercial for–’
‘Acne cream? Sure did!’
‘For the record, I’ve never had a spot in my life!’
‘Really?’ said Evie. ‘Bastard.’
Leo hesitated again. ‘I guess you couldn’t really miss the underwear ad, could you?’
‘Printed and framed on Nicky’s bedroom wall,’ said Evie.
‘I’m kidding!’ she added, before Leo had actual heart failure.
‘You know, I’m usually a strict one-beer guy,’ Leo told her as they gathered up their things and readied to leave. ‘But this evening, I have an inkling I’m going to break that rule.’
Chapter Twelve
‘Leo’s a recent carb convert,’ Evie told Nicky, as the bar staff put a large bowl of chips and a woodfired pizza on their table. ‘I ordered with that in mind.’
‘You mean you’ve spent your whole life up till now being afraid of bread?’ Nicky said.
‘You would be too,’ said Leo, with heat, ‘if you won or lost jobs based on how ripped you were.’
‘I stuff myself with carbs on a daily basis,’ said Nicky. ‘And you can still see my ribs.’
She shoved a handful of chips in her mouth. Leo gave Evie a look.
‘It’s true,’ Evie sighed. ‘She has the metabolism of a pygmy shrew, which consumes three times its own body weight per day.’
‘Am I allowed to hate your best friend even though we’ve only just met?’ Leo asked.
‘Of course,’ said Evie. ‘And I can tell you: once you get to know her, that reason will bewaydown the list.’
Leo raised his eyes to heaven and took a long pull on his pint.
