“Yes.”
I practically pulsed with anger. “Wait a minute. Lack ambition? You’re the cofounder of Chateau Cybersecurity.”
“Someone’s done her homework.”
“And I can assure you that you are neither a slob nor out of shape,” I said, squirming in my seat at the memory of our mostly naked dining room table encounter. Meals hadn’t been the same since.
“Ah, well, I may have ramped up my workout game with the hopes of winning her back.”
My stomach roiled. “So you invited me to make her jealous enough she would reconsider?”
“Winning her back was the original plan,” he said. “But I scrapped it the day I ran into an intriguing woman who was looking for a ‘Man in Finance.’”
I felt a stab of something. Wanting? Hoping?
Remember that this is a short-term arrangement. Keep it light.
“Which is funny because I am not looking for a man in finance.”
“That’s good,” he said. “I mean, you did find a man who plays with numbers all day, but ...”
His voice trailed off as we turned into the hotel’s parking lot. The valet, bless him, opened my door before I could say or do anything stupid.
Get it together, Stella.
As much as I hated to admit it, Havisham had to be right. If going this long without sex made me an emotional mess, then I was going to have to find a long-term friend with benefits after Malone left.
After he handed off his keys, he met me on the other side of the car and offered his arm. We entered the hotel, and I almost groaned with pleasure at the wave of air-conditioning that rushed over us.
“You can’t make sounds like that until after the party,” Malone whispered in my ear.
Okay, so I did groan with pleasure.
“I can make no promises,” I said. “My love affair with air-conditioning is well known.”
We passed through the lobby and headed down a carpeted hall, eventually coming to the end of a line of formally dressed people.
Great. From automobile traffic to people traffic. Thank goodness I’d worn the Converse.
Malone leaned over to say softly, “You’re about to come face-to-face with my ex sooner rather than later.”
We inched forward.
Unlike Malone, I couldn’t see that far ahead of me. I took a step to the side and craned my neck to see a model-thin woman with tawny skin and long, straight black hair standing at the door with a clipboard. She was the opposite of me in every way: tall, slender, fashionable, reserved.
Stella, it doesn’t matter. “Opposite” doesn’t mean more or less than.
I could tell myself that, but making Malone’s ex jealous felt nigh impossible, so I redirected my attention to finding Blake. He wasn’t in line. He could’ve already been in the ballroom, but I doubted it. He struck me as the kind to run late so all eyes would be on him when he entered—especially since he didn’t know about all Malone’s backups.
Finally, it was our turn to check in, and I was face-to-face with the woman who’d broken Malone’s heart. I put on my best smile, but I couldn’t control what my eyes said.
“Selena,” Malone said with a nod.
“Ty! So good to see you.” She put her clipboard to her side so she could wrap him in a hug.
Apparently, he’d shared his first name with her. Apparently, she’d chosen a nickname rather than calling him Malone. I found that irrationally irritating on his behalf.
Even so, there was no way I would ever be able to make this sleek-haired goddess jealous. What had Malone been thinking?
