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“Flip an omelet?” I laugh. “Well, when you’re a master such as myself, all of this is simple.” I shift my spatula under the finished product, ushering the omelet onto a plate and dividing it in two.
Just for the hell of it, I grab a pinch of the oregano leaves and sprinkle them on top of the perfectly-cooked eggs. “A garnish,” I proclaim. “Since this is a Michelin-star breakfast.”
“Oh, come on,” Sophie groans, rolling her eyes.
Hamming it up, I serve the plate to her with a flourish. I give a little bow as she snatches the fork from me.
“It took you five minutes to make it,” she says. “You don’t need to do all that showing off.”
“Anything for you,” I say easily. Her eyes widen, and that cute flush creeps back over the tops of her cheeks.
Rather than respond to me, she digs into the omelet. At her first bite, she sighs a little. “Oh, wow. That’s good.”
“Well, what can I say?” I grab my own plate and sit at the counter beside her. “I’m a good cook.”
“I’m sorry for making fun of you,” she says, swallowing. “You really know your stuff.”
We eat in silence for a couple of minutes. As she’s picking apart the last bites of her omelet, Sophie puts her fork down and glances at me out of the corner of her eye.
“Declan?”
“Yes?”
“Were you really serious about what you said last night?”
I pause, letting my own fork fall. “Which part?”
“All of it,” she says. “We’re really doing this?”
I nod, clearing my throat. “I wouldn’t have said any of that if I didn’t mean it. And I don’t do things half-assed either. I meant it. I’m all in.”
She grins, like she can’t quite believe what she’s hearing. The blush on her cheeks deepens, and she tucks her lower lip between her teeth.
“Okay,” she says. “Good. I’m in too.”
She picks up her fork, and we both finish eating. Once our plates are clean, I hold up a hand to stop her from carrying the dishes to the sink, and take them myself.
As I’m rinsing the plates, she asks, “So, what now?”
“Well,” I say, “now, we’ll have to tell HR.”
* * *
Sophie
As I sit next to Declan in Gigi’s office, I can’t help but feel that this whole thing is surreal. Surely, the other shoe is about to drop, right?
I also can’t help but feel like a kid in trouble, busted and seated in front of the school principal. After all of the care that both of us—mostly Declan—took to hide this, here we are, confessing to it.
Gigi isn’t helping with that feeling either. She’s looking at us skeptically, and she carries herself with the kind of sophistication that I can’t help but find a little intimidating.
“You’re serious?” She folds her hands together, leaning toward Declan with her lips pursed. “It’s a little out of the blue, Mr. Wright.”
Declan, of course, is as confident and polished as ever. “We’re in a consensual relationship,” he says. “That isn’t against company policy. We’re reporting our relationship status to HR, and we’ll be sure not to let it interfere with our work.”
“Naturally,” Gigi says, “but—”
Undeterred by her hesitancy, Declan interrupts.“I’m not even Sophie’s direct superior. I won’t have any opportunities to show her preferential treatment.”
