“I get nervous when I meet new people,” Stevie said. “I’m not awesome with strangers, and you were so...”
Beautiful.
Hypnotic.
Perfect.
The words cascaded in Stevie’s brain, but she couldn’t say any of those things.
“Confident,” she said. “So I acted like I was too. Thinking of myself as someone else helped. I mean, up to a point.”
Iris watched her, mouth slightly pursed. “Okay. I guess I get that.”
Stevie audibly exhaled, but Iris wasn’t finished.
“What I don’t get is why your friends seem to think I came here for you. That we know each other beyond a disastrous one-night stand.”
Stevie winced. “Nice word choice.”
Iris’s brows lifted. “I thinkdisastrousis pretty apt.”
“No, yeah, it’s perfect.”
Silence spilled in between them. An awful, awkward silence.
And then, unexplainably, “I throw up when I’m really nervous” is how Stevie chose to fill it.
Iris’s mouth dropped open. “Wow.”
“Yeah. So that’s fun.”
“I’m sorry,” Iris said softly. “You could’ve just said you didn’t want to sleep with me. I’m a big girl, I can—”
“I did want to though,” Stevie said.
Iris tilted her head. More awkward silence, but this time, Stevie kept her damn mouth shut. The blush in her cheeks probably said enough anyway.
“Okay,” Iris said, pressing her fingers into her eyes. “Let’s focus on the more pressing issue.”
“My friends.”
“Yeah.”
“And Beatrice.”
Iris dropped her hands, gaze on Stevie.
“You must be really good,” Stevie said. “I’ve never seen Adri offer someone a part that fast.”
That tiny smile again. “Really?”
Stevie nodded. “And I’ve known Adri for ten years.”
Iris shook her head. “I didn’t mean to audition for Beatrice. They pretty much made me. Well, them and my friend Simon, who’s with the company somewhere.”
“Yeah, Adri can be pushy.”
“It was more the other one. Van?”
