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Arriving at the bar, I ensured to stay at least six inches away from Charlie, despite my hand itching to place itself on her lower back and steer her to the exit.
“You ready to go?” I whispered as I leaned against the bar.
She gave an audible sigh of relief. “Yes, thank god. Lila left fifteen minutes ago, and I need to get out of here.”
I glanced in both directions, before sliding my keys across the bar to her.
“My car is parked in the garage. Second floor, right by the door to the elevator. I’ll meet you there in five.”
She grabbed my keys and smiled before turning around and freezing. Seeing the panicked look on her face, I spun around too.
“My, don’t you two make a cute couple,” Don slurred.
Chapter Thirty-Two
CHARLIE
“Don, hi. Great party,”I said through a tight-lipped smile, ignoring his comment. I had managed to avoid him all night, so of course he would turn up at the worst possible time.
“Charlie, great dress.” Hannah from marketing stood to his left. The two people I wanted to see the least right now blocked our escape route—and potentially just caught Nathan and me in a compromising position. All we could do was act like nothing happened.
“Thanks. You look great too, Hannah. If you’ll excuse me, I was just heading out.”
“You two leaving together?” Hannah asked, winking.
It was unbelievable the audacity people had after a few drinks.
“Of course not,” Nathan snapped from beside me. He had put more space between us.
“You sure about that?” Hannah giggled, nudging Don. “I saw the two of them together at the holiday market. They looked awfully cozy.”
“You don’t say?” The way Don looked me up and down made me feel cheap and disgusted. He turned to Nathan and smiled. “Workplace benefits, am I right?”
My mouth hung open. “That’s completely inappropriate and disgusting—”
“You must be mistaken.” Nathan’s voice was cool and unconcerned. I glanced up to see the distance in his eyes. He wasn’t at all shaken up like me.
“I don’t think so,” Hannah said. “Before we went off to talk about the marketing plan, I could have sworn I saw the two of you hugging.”
“Come on,” Don said. “You don’t have to keep secrets from us.”
His eager anticipation for a confession made it abundantly clear that he was the last person we should confide in.
“You’re mistaken,” Nathan said. “Besides, I think she’s with Liam. Ben and I ran into them out to dinner a few weeks back.”
Don let out a loud laugh. “Damn, someone really gets around the office. What’s the term?Office mattress.”
Hannah giggled and brushed my arm. “Good for you.”
Heat rose to my cheeks as I opened and closed my mouth in shock. I whipped my head to Nathan, expecting him to say something in my defense—at least point out their disgusting behavior. Instead, I only saw the hard set of his jaw and the darkness in his eyes. I had expected him to keep us a secret, but to hear him flat out lie and deny being with me after being caught? To leave me high and dry trying to defend myself on my own? That stung.
“Not that it’s any of your business,Don. But I went on one date with Liam,” I hissed. “That’s it. That kind of terminology is completely repulsive.”
Don narrowed his eyes and waved off my comment. “Lighten up, Charlie. You’ve always had such a stick up your ass. If anyone needed to get laid, it was you.”
“Excuse me!” I exclaimed. “I worked my ass off for this integration. Harder than ninety percent of the people in this room. Are you really going to talk to me like that?”
Don just shrugged. “You’re so sensitive. It was a joke.”
