Ouch! A hand suddenly gripped his hard enough to leave bruises. Jess had obviously heard the conversation going on behind them, based off the death-grip she now had on his hand.
Another woman’s voice joined Brianna’s and Mr. Food Stain’s. “Why were they allowed to have their names included on the document if it was all your work?”
A theatrical sigh. Brianna explained, “I thought about letting my superiors know about their lack of contributions, but I didn’t want to create a problem in the offices. No one likes a snitch, after all. It was just easier to put their names on the project and let it go.”
Did this woman remember who was standing just a few feet away from her? Or was she so far gone in her own fantasy of self-importance, she forgot that the woman who actually led the team was standing nearby?
Based on his own experience as a high school English teacher turned high school principal, Lucas preferred to give people the benefit of the doubt. Forgetting Jess’ presence was entirely possible. Technically, she wasn’t supposed to be here. A late cancellation prompted the territory manager to issue a last-minute invite to her and a plus-one so that the two-hundred-dollar-per-plate dinners didn’t go to waste. However, he couldn’t help but wonder if the woman was selectively forgetting Jess was nearby, deliberately testing whether or not she would cause a scene.
Clearly, no scene was forthcoming when Jess’ lips tightened so far, the perimeter of her mouth turned white. He gave her hand a compassionate squeeze. He knew how difficult it was forJess to hold her tongue. This was one of the rare moments when he wished his friend wasn’t so polite and team-oriented.
“Very magnanimous of you, I thought,” Mr. Food Stain continued.
Brianna continued to push all her achievements and ideas, all of which, he was sure, were also bullshit. The rewriting of that manual was actually the team’s work, and it was the current regional manager who had failed to show up for the meetings on the extensive project while refusing to put in any overtime.
He knew this as fact because Jess had spent hours in the evenings on online conference calls with her team for almost a year, working on the manual. He also knew that the team had decided to say nothing about her lack of assistance because it would have made her even more insufferable to work with.
All six of the practice managers had been under consideration to replace their boss, and this project was purportedly the central factor in their decision. Had the team known she would be able to snow all the high-up muckety-mucks and take credit for the manual, they might have changed their tune.
It was another thirty minutes before they were able to attempt an exit from the party. Lucas followed Jess as she made her way toward the territory manager.
She held out her hand. “Thank you for the invite, Mr. Trevino.”
“Arthur, Jess. How many times do I have to tell you to call me Arthur? You’re welcome.”
“This is my friend, Lucas.” She gestured to him, and the two men shook hands.
“A pleasure. I understand you’re the new principal at Tejeda Springs,” the man said. “When do students arrive?”
“Teachers arrive on Wednesday, and students arrive next Wednesday.”
“What a way to celebrate your last weekend as a free man, eh?”
Oh yeah. A dinner party with some of the most pompous people he had ever met at a restaurant where the food was so fancy and in such small portions, he was considering a frozen pizza when he got home. He’d rather get a root canal than repeat this experience. Irony at its finest since this was a group of people connected to an endodontic practice.
Lucas turned to see Jess finishing up a conversation with the territory manager’s wife, and he was just about to collect her when he felt sharp pressure digging into his forearm. He looked down to see a set of talons gripping his jacket sleeve, and his gaze followed the hand and arm into the eyes of Brianna.
“I’m so glad I caught you. Lucas, is it? Jess never introduced us. I can’t blame the naughty girl though. I’d want to keep you all to myself as well.”
Internally, Lucas was rolling his eyes.
She tried to look at him through her eyelashes, but she was already a tall woman, and her five-inch heels put her right at Lucas’ six-foot-one stature. “Jess didn’t share with us that she was dating such an attractive and successful man.”
He was pretty sure she was attempting to flirt with him, but all the toothy grin did was remind him of a crocodile. Yikes!
“Jess and I are very similar in that we don’t share our private lives with people we don’t know well.”
She clearly didn’t get the hint because she kept going. “Have you been dating long?”
They weren’t dating at all. Well, not anymore. They’d tried to date when they first met, but it had fizzled relatively quickly. When they broke up, their relationship became a much stronger friendship.
“I’ve known her for just under three years.”
“Almost three years and you haven’t made it official? Sounds to me like maybe you’re looking for something better.”
What the fuck? Was this woman seriously coming on to a man she believed was here as another woman’s date? He didn’t bother to correct Brianna’s misconception over the relationship because he didn’t want her to push any harder than she already was.
“Jess and I are very happy with our current arrangement. If you’ll excuse me.”
