I glance over to see her biting her lip. “Also… Megan isn't taking care of herself," she almost whispers. "I hate to say it, butshe wears too much makeup, and she doesn’t even take it off at night so she’s wrecking her skin. She's also fried her hair through overprocessing and cycling through so many colors. And yet most of the female influencers right now are going for a natural look."
Natural beauty,I think to myself.Like yours.
“Well, you’ve escaped her circus for the weekend. We’ll tell the team you have to get a lot of reading done this weekend for work, which will give you an excuse to curl up in a corner alone as much as possible."
"I appreciate it." She looks over. "What exactly have you told them about your wife?"
I sigh, shoulders sagging. "This is going to make me sound like an asshole…"
"Tell me anyway."
"This is the best brokerage around. I really wanted to get in with them. So I mentioned my quiet home life, but glossed over the fact that I have a wife, a house with a garden, and we’re thinking about getting a dog?—"
"You mean cat," she interjects quickly.
"Of course." I smack my palm against my forehead. "What was I thinking?"
"You were distracted, thinking about all the gardening you're going to have to do this springafterwe get the cat," Laila laughs.
"I've always implied that I like to keep my private life private. So I've never really mentioned my wife…I mean you…again. Everyone is so busy at the office that we really don't socialize very much. This is the first big company event where I would be expected to bring my wife."
"You didn't have a Christmas party?"
“Oh, of course, but that was the weekend I…" I keep my left hand on the steering wheel and make half a set of air quotes with the right. "Got the flu."
She laughs again. "Wow. We are terrible people with all these lies. I told my family I was taking off to a winter library retreat."
"What the hell is that?"
"I don't know! I often babble when I’m flustered and it just popped out. Fortunately they didn't ask."
"You're right," I chuckle. “We’re awful.”
I turn onto the highway that leads up to Wolfe Mountain. "So…time to make up some more lies about how we met, our home, and that lovely quiet life together."
"Can there be aliens? Or dragons?"
I shoot Laila a strange look. "Why?"
"I just thought we could borrow from the books I'm currently looking at."
“Uhh, how about we start with something normal-ish, then see if it needs to be jazzed up later?”
Her luscious bottom lip sticks out as she pouts, her eyes sparkling. “Fine.”
I love that this beautiful, clever girl wants to play this game with me. Well, to her it’s a game. For me, it’s my career.
Although I’m not even so sure I’m focused on that anymore. All I want is to get to know Laila inside and out. Her needs, her goals, her hopes for the future…
And if I could fit into that future.
3
LAILA
Iwas extremely nervous about this weekend while I was packing last night and getting ready this morning. Now that Devin and I have talked for hours, though, I have a pretty good feeling about the trip.
Of course, I’m not really a people person, so this is still going to be a stretch for me. But it also feels like stepping outside of my comfort zone could be exactly what I need.
