She stood, and her side brushed mine, and her perfume clung to my jacket. “We’re still on for dinner with the Infinity Weddings team tonight?”
“Yes.”
Her hand skimmed my arm, featherlight. “Wear the navy suit.”
“Natasha…” She turned, curls spilling over her shoulder. “Don’t tell me what to wear.”
She left without answering, and the click from the door closing behind her echoed in my office.
I exhaled slowly, gazing back at the lake. Nina Reyes. Ever since she had moved in next door, she’d taken up more of my energy than she deserved. She showed up with her long raven-black hair in a ponytail, denim overalls cut at mid-thigh, and the saddest fucking eyes I’d ever seen. When her brown gaze met mine, I found myself staring at the endless well of my own sorrow, and I knew in my bones that Nina Reyes was my soulmate.
Hope bloomed inside me that we’d have each other. She’d tell me about her parents; I’d tell her about my mom. We’d help each other hold onto our grief while the world around us moved on too soon.
I’d asked her out without thinking; we could hang out or walk. She’d say yes, no way around it, she had to haveseenwe were the same. Yet, she looked at me as if I’d slapped her, insulted by the idea of us. Could she notfeelthat the only way forward was together?
She wanted to keep all the pain to herself, as ifshewas the only one with the right to grieve.Fine.Death hurt, I fucking knew. She wanted to go through her pain alone? Then I’d fucking help her.
Still… a cupcake shop, scraping together tips, and becoming a fucking charity case. I hadn’t seen that coming. Sure, I’d screwed her over by gossiping about her in one workroom at a different marketing firm, but there were the suburbs, lesser-known firms. She hadoptions. The thought clung to the edge of my mind, persistent the way an itch I couldn’t reach would be. Nina was nothing of mine. Had never been. She’d shut that down.
Natashaand I arrived early to dinner with the Infinity Weddings team. It was damage control disguised as celebration—our chance to solidify their confidence after the chaos of Nina’s presentation. Chaos created by the woman next to me.Fuck me.
Waiting at the bar, I ordered a whiskey neat for myself and a glass of red wine for Natasha. She toyed with the stem, swirling the liquid idly. When Carmen finally arrived, I ordered her a wine as well. Natasha pursed her lips, but she recovered quickly, draping an arm around Carmen’s shoulders, all glossy hair and subtle smugness.
Carmen wore a dark-red-and-black sheath dress, professional but flattering, with a slit up to her mid-thigh Icouldn’t help but follow as the fabric dropped and exposed the back of her leg when she crossed them. Natasha dug her nails into my forearm.
“To Carmen,” Natasha said brightly, raising her glass. “For saving our marketing proposal from the clusterfuck her predecessor left it in.”
Carmen gave a small smile, cheeks flushing as she clinked her glass against Natasha’s. “It was actually easy,” she said, sweeping her hair over one shoulder. She switched her stare to me, detached and assessing. “I managed to recover some files that had been trashed. The presentation wasn’t fully complete, but there was enough there to see what that girl was trying to do. Honestly, I don’t know how she fumbled it so badly. What I found was pretty brilliant.”
A slow smile pulled at Natasha’s lips, but my gaze stayed locked on Carmen. “You recovered them from her drive?” I asked, swirling the amber liquid in my glass.
Carmen shook her head. “No, from the server backups. I’ve learned to keep copies across drives.” She shrugged, taking a sip of wine. “I like to keep receipts.”
Natasha chuckled, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. Carmen held my eyes, unblinking.
“Smart,” I said, letting approval tint my voice just enough to soothe her ego. My chest tightened with the pressure to do damage control. “Maybe you should share that presentation with me, you know? Nina could add it to her portfolio. It’d help her.”
Carmen’s lips curled as she nodded. “Of course. I’m always happy to help, especially if she’s as good as her work suggests.”
Unlike Nina, Carmen was cautious, self-preserving, quietly suspicious of everyone. She’d last longer. She flicked her focus from me to Natasha, then her gaze settled on me, newly promoted director.
Natasha leaned forward, resting her hand lightly on my forearm. “Relax, Lincoln,” she purred, her breath warm against my ear. “Tonight is about celebrating.”
Carmen’s gaze remained steady, her polite smile not quite touching her eyes. She wasn’t naive enough to believe this business was clean; she was filling some blanks, with a warning to not fuck with her.
After dinner with Curt and the higher-ups from Infinity Weddings died down, Natasha talked me into joining her and Carmen for one more drink at the bar next door. It was a simple yet elegant place—low lighting, dark wood, expensive cocktails.
Once we made it to the bar, Natasha stayed close to my side, her perfume cloying as she leaned on me, sharing observations about everyone in the room. It was one of her stupid drinking games based on people’s body language. Carmen sat across from us, swirling her wine slowly, eyes crinkling at the edges before smoothing out.
Natasha twirled a lock of her red hair, then pointed at a group of three in a corner booth. “Look at the way she plays with her necklace and leans into the guy in the blazer. She has a crush on him. Judging by how he leans away, he’d rather fuck a duck.”
“Ew,” Carmen said, chuckling. “What about those two at the end of the bar?”
Natasha glanced over, her eyes sharpening as she assessed them—a woman in jeans and a man in full business attire. “That’s the opposite. He’s into her, but she couldn’t care less.”
Carmen curved her lips, one corner lifting unevenly, and clicked her tongue. “Alright, my turn. This guy in the gray suit”—she nodded at me—“and the woman in the green dress”—she gestured to Natasha—“she keeps trying to put her hands on him, sometimes casual, sometimes more aggressive. Look at that hand on his neck, brushing skin rather than clothing. He’scomfortable enough but never reciprocates or initiates. It’s only going to leave her craving more.”
Natasha froze for half a second before letting out a low laugh, her eyes narrowing slightly. I said nothing, taking another sip of my whiskey, letting the burn drown out the spark of annoyance in my chest.
