Laughter bursts out of me. “Sounds like you’ve heard about me.”
“You kind of haveheartbreakerwritten all over you,” she says, her voice lowered seductively.
“Insults one minute, flattery one minute.” I give a mocking shake of my head as I ignore the stirring between my legs. “I’m just gonna finish my pint and be on my way.”
Her eyes turn almost instantly glossy again. “I guess I can kiss my career goodbye,” she whispers, putting her fingers to her trembling lips.
“Your employer can’t dictate what you do in your spare time.”
“I don’t have any spare time, not with my job. It’s my everything.”
“That sounds less than healthy.”Kettle, meet pot. Though in my current assigned role, I expect that would cause a lot of chafing.
“I love what I do. It’s who I do it with that’s the issue. I work in an office that’s like a frat house. I spend ten-plus hours every day with a bunch of asshole finance bros.”
“Banking?”
“Hedge fund.”
“On the trading floor.”
Surprise ripples across her brow. “Yeah, how did you ...”
“The balls on you, for one thing.” But talk about six degrees of separation. Well, six degrees plus the Atlantic.
“You think I’m ballsy?”
“You know you are. You’ve got more front than Bloomingdale’s,” I say, sounding like an old fart.
“Front. I like that.” Her amusement fades once more to a flickering frown. “Know thyself, right?” She gives a tiny shrug. “People usually assume I work a back-office role.”
“Then they aren’t paying attention.”
“It’s because I’m a woman. Or maybe because the back office is where I started. Thank you for the compliment, but right now, you’re confusing moxie with desperation.” She rolls in her bottom lip, chewing it a little. “I’m the only woman on the floor. It was bad enough when I only had to listen to those assholes. Being central to it is a whole other experience.”
I bite the end of my tongue to stop myself from asking. Not that she needs the invitation, apparently.
“When I was dating one of them, they left me alone. When he dumped my ass, it seemed all bets were off.” She slides away a tiny lock of her hair, her gaze avoiding mine.
“Bets?” The word is out of my mouth before I can stop it, though she continues as though I haven’t spoken.
“My ex proposed, and the CEO’s daughter accepted. A wedding was planned, our presence requested, and by that, I meansummoned.” Her frown is brief. “Good for the business, apparently. Today is an opportunity to show our clients how we’re all one big family. Or so the story goes.”
“We both know they can’t really make you go.”
“They can if I want a promotion. There or somewhere else. If I don’t go, I isolate myself, and I’ve had to work twice as hard as anyone there to get where I am. I won’t throw it all away.”
“You’re sure this is not about your ex?”
“Did you go to your ex’s wedding today just to be sure she was done with you?”
I scratch the back of my neck. “It was nothing at all like that.”
“Same. Like I said, I wouldn’t give him the pleasure of not seeing my face today. You see, I still have feelings for him.”
Well, that makes more sense. Though I’ve no clue why her words should feel like a fist to my face.
“I mean, those feelings are mostly loathing with a sprinkling of white-hot hate. But five days a week, and I’ve yet to give in to the compulsion to beat his brains into the carpet.”
