Page 44

He snorted, dragging the list Corva had made closer with his claw to peer down at it. “At least it keeps things interesting.”

“Mm.” I gave him a brief smile before bending my head back over the table.

After a few moments of silence, he asked, “You sure you’re okay, Anita? You seemed a little tense earlier.”

I stiffened, wondering what reason I could give that wasn’t the actual reason. I didn’t want to start lying to my friend—god, I was getting stressed again—so I just said, “Thanks, but I’m okay.”

“How about we go out for lunch?” he asked, giving me a teasing smile when I looked up. “We can even go to that salad bar you like down the street.”

I hesitated. If I was alone with Hustin—away from the office—I would one hundred percent tell him what had happened. I wouldn’t be able to stop myself from blurting it out.

But I knew I could trust him, and oh my god, I needed to tell someone so I could stop obsessing over it. I needed it out there and no longer solely in my brain.

“Okay,” I said. “That sounds nice.”

“Great.” He turned to walk off, but paused. “They do have Caesar dressing, right?”

I huffed. “Yes.”

“And garlic bread?”

“I think so.”

“Then great.” He grinned at me, sharp white teeth gleaming. “I look forward to breathing my garlicky breath all over your desk for the rest of the afternoon.”

By the time Hustin and I sat down at a corner table in Liv Well’s Salad Bar, I was vibrating with the need to tell him everything.

Like a mind reader, he fixed me with a pointed look as he took his first bite of garlic bread. “Tell me.”

I swallowed, dragging my fork through my chicken salad, and croaked, “I messed up.”

“A work thing?” When I nodded with a cringe, Hustin set down his garlic bread and wiped his fingers on his napkin. “Okay. Don’t worry. We can fix it.”

I cringed again. “It’s not exactly… something that can be reversed.”

“Okay…” he said slowly. “What happened?”

Stomach jumping with nerves, I took a deep breath. “I… You know I’m working on the Rorik + Stimis event? The big architecture firm?”

“Mhmm.”

“Okay, so… I…” I grabbed my napkin and started twisting it between my fingers. “So we went to look at some venues yesterday—”

“Who?”

“Me and one of the managing partners. Nuni var Rorik.” My belly fluttered. “And… we… we went back to his office afterward to go over them all…”

A hint of realisation was already dawning on Hustin’s face. I mean, it wasn’t like there were many directions this story could go. I needed to just get it over with.

“I had sex with him,” I whispered.

Hustin’s yellow eyes almost popped out of his head. A wide grin spread over his face as he leaned in. “Oh my god, Anita.”

“Stop smiling! This is bad, Hustin!” I glanced around warily, just in case Corva had decided to pop in for a salad.

“Hold on.” He snatched up his phone and started typing frantically.

“What are you doing?” I asked in horror.