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“No,” I replied as I reached forward to pick up my liquor for a sip. “I guess it’s a coincidence that we managed to meet here.”
“It is,” she replied. “And yes, this is my friend Nancy Graham. I was surprised to see you both here.”
“Were you at the meeting earlier with Charles?” he asked, and she nodded. “Yes, I was.”
“So, you’re utterly familiar with this project as well. And you’ll be working on it too?”
She glanced at me as she shifted her weight from one leg to the other.
“Well, I’m Mr. Montgomery's assistant, and regardless of what projects he’s working on, I will undoubtedly be involved.”
“Oh, you're absolutely right then,” he said. “And you're extremely quick. I see why she’s your assistant,” he said and winked at me. I was instantly irritated by him. I wasn’t even sure why; I just knew that suddenly I had no interest whatsoever in this interaction continuing.
“We’ll be returning to our stools now,” she said. “We just wanted to say hello.”
She started to leave, then, but her friend grabbed her arm and stopped her.
I wondered who the woman was, especially since Sophie seemed somewhat uncomfortable. A former friend? Classmate? They could be the same age, but her friend was a little less petite, so maybe she was older.
“Oh, you don't want to stay for a little chit-chat with us?” Gregory asked. “Let's enjoy this bottle together. It's been quite a while since I was sent a gift by such a lovely woman.”
This fucking man talked so damn much!
Her friend pulled her along, and they took the seats opposite us. I was directly across from Sophie and couldn't stop looking at her. She was so gorgeous, and it almost disturbed me to know that it took me so long to notice. Had I been blind all along? What else had I so conveniently missed?
Chapter 24
Scarlett
This had to be one of the top three most uncomfortable experiences of my life. I wasn't even sure what the problem was, but I guess Nancy was making it a bit too obvious just how excited she was about all of this, giving off the aura of ass-kissing and excessive interest. I wanted to remain aloof, especially since my—or rather Sophie's—boss was right here. I didn't know; I just didn't feel comfortable under the circumstances, especially now that I was sure he knew what her intentions were.
“Do you ladies want to eat something?” Gregory asked. “Since you bought the alcohol, we’ll cover the meal. A very balanced exchange if you know what I mean.”
Nancy was all smiles at this because, of course, she knew exactly what this meant. However, my distaste for the entire situation grew. I had already gotten my exchange. In fact, I was still owed some, and as a result, I couldn’t help but slightly shift in my seat. That troublesome ache between my thighs had started again, and it was all thanks to the man directly across from me.
We barely touched underneath, but suddenly, I wanted to be seated next to him. This meant I had to make a decision—whether to play into this whole business or to be completely out of it. So, I picked up my phone and quietly sent him a message.
As I was typing, the waiter arrived, so I quickly sent it off and attended to the meal I wanted. He received it almost immediately; however, he took his time pulling his phone out to check, which made me somewhat salty. When he eventually did, I watched him read it and then he lifted his gaze to mine.
Me: I’m sorry if this makes you uncomfortable. We just wanted to say hello.
My heart pounded heavily against my chest for a few seconds, making it difficult to breathe. It made me realize and finally admit to myself that, to some extent, I truly did like this man. So far, no part of him had completely put me off, although there had been some slight abrasiveness and dickery, but even that kept things spicy.
I picked up my phone to reread the message I had sent him to distract myself and discourage questioning as Gregory began to ask Nancy a little bit about her life.
There was no way she would divulge that she had a kid, so as she blatantly lied that she was single, had never been married, or had no kids, I couldn’t help but glance at her for a moment. It was amusing to me, but even more entertaining was Lucien's reply when it finally arrived.
Lucien: Is that true?
I lifted my gaze, but found, however, that his attention was on Nancy as he listened to her speak and drink.
I didn’t want to play any games with him and had to remind myself that I could, to an extent, be as unhinged with him as I wanted to be since technically I wouldn’t be working for him in a few days.
Me: We could leave.
Lucien: Why? This might actually turn out to be quite an interesting night.
I wanted to smile at his words, but given that he was so close to me and could see my every expression, I tried my very best to control myself.
