"What do you mean?"
"Laila and I have only been dating for a short while." My fingers gently tangle in the back of her hair. "I wanted you both to think she was my wife, so you'd know that stability isimportant to me. Because it is, in both my career and my home life."
"But you're not married," Jim says flatly.
"No…not yet." I keep stroking Laila's hair so she won't panic. "I’m truly sorry, it was wrong of me to refer to her as my wife. I just wanted you to take her seriously as my partner. Plus, I really wanted to bring her along for this Valentine's weekend, but wasn't sure if unmarried couples would be welcome."
Jim turns to squint at Callan. "What do you think… If he's a liar, do we skip him for the promotion?"
She ponders for a brief moment as I try to stay relaxed, slipping my hand down the back of Laila’s thin sweater and stroking her back. Then Callan suddenly pokes Jim roughly in the shoulder. "Oh no you don’t. I'm not going to let you pass him up for that promotion. I know you just want any excuse to hire your old palGary."
Callan glances at Laila and rolls her eyes. “The guy is a complete idiot."
"Hey now—” Jim snaps, clearly offended.
Callan pokes him again. "We'renotgoing to risk our company just because you guys used to ride bikes together. Grow up, pumpkin.”
For several seconds, Jim glares at his wife. Then they both burst out laughing before Jim shrugs. "And this is why I keep her around,” he says to me. “She always tells it like it is. Better for every relationship, and better for every business."
Callan leans close to Laila. "I'm sorry that I implied that you weren’t in an actual relationship, my dear.” Then she turns to me. "Your young lady is lovely. We’ll keep your secret for a bit while you figure it out." She waves a finger back and forth in front of my nose. “Just no more…exaggerations…okay? Clients don’t like their broker to be a liar.”
I nod. “Understood.”
"Thank you," Laila whispers. I can still feel the tension in her shoulders.
Jim hooks his arm through Callan’s. "Think it’s time for a pre-dinner cocktail?"
"Why not!"
As soon as they leave, I pull Laila out of the chair and into my arms. She instantly begins to tremble against me.
“Devin, I’m so sorry. I’ve been sitting here trying to keep notes on what we’ve told them, but then she thought I might be an escort, and?—”
“Shh. It’s okay,” I murmur against her hair. “I heard through the grapevine that one of the brokers showed up with an escort as his date to the Christmas party several years ago. Callan wasn’t exactly pleased. Maybe she’s on high alert to make sure that doesn’t happen again.”
“Still,” Laila sniffles, looking up at me with tears in her eyes, “I got flustered when she said that and couldn’t answer her right away. That was how I had intended to deal with it if the question came up. Just give reasonable answers and act confident about it. And then…”
“Baby, it’sfine.” I sink into the chair, cuddling her on my lap. “You’re not a professional actress and neither one of us is a natural liar. Maybe this weekend was a really dumb idea on my part.” I kiss along her cheekbone, squeezing her tightly for a second, happy when she finally smiles. “Honestly, the risk of getting fired was totally worth it if the tradeoff was getting to know you.”
Her lovely blue eyes widen. “Really?”
“Really. Plus, we’ve spent so much time together now that it feels like wehavebeen dating for a month or two, don’t you think?”
Her lips part, and her breath turns shaky again. “So, you’re saying we’re really dating?”
“If you’re in, I’m in.”
“And this is…a real relationship?”
“One hundred percent.” My lips drift across her temple. “That is, if you’re okay being seen with a lying jerk who upsets a sweet, gorgeous young lady for the sake of a stupid promotion.”
She rests her head on my shoulder. “How about starting Monday, we extend our bubble of extreme honesty to include everyone?”
“Done.” I lean in to kiss her gently, loving the way her entire body relaxes and her hips shift against my thighs.
Finally, I break off the kiss. “Now, since we’ve been dating for months, are we ready for a romantic Valentine’s Day dinner?”
“Yeah.” Her eyes are glowing.
