“And your dad is okay with it?” another woman asks, her eyes darting over to the man she must be with.
They’re all young, around my age, give or take a few years, and the men are all hovering around Nico’s age, too. I wonder if any of these women are facing the wrath of their parents for being with an older man, or if it’s an accepted fact of life around here.
“Oh, yeah,” I lie, my stomach turning at what the truth would actually be. If my dad knew where I was right now, even if he knew that it was all just pretend, he wouldnotlike the idea of me on Nico’s arm tonight. “They’re good friends, and he trusts Nico.”
“That’s so surprising to me,” Angel sends an appraising glance in Nico’s direction. “I mean, he has a bit of a reputation…”
I blink before realizing maybe this was meant to be a jab. To imply that Nico isn’t faithful or is such a womanizer that he couldn’t be in a relationship. Strangely, I want to defend him, tosay that of course he’s capable of being loyal—look at how long he’s been doing business with Cole and Dane. Their friendship is stronger than most marriages.
Instead, I focus on the point. The reason we’re here.
Laughing a little, I give them all a pointed look, “I mean… I don’t mind. I get to benefit from all that experience, after all…”
Saying it makes something tighten between my legs, my heart beating a little harder. Like I might actually get to touch Nico later on tonight.
Absolutely not happening, even as Julian’s voice rings in the back of my mind, urging me to get a taste while I can.Complete the sampling flight, and everything else he said about the men during brunch.
“Oh,really?” Angel asks, raising an eyebrow and glancing back at the men, who are laughing, their whiskey glasses held loosely in their hands.
From here, even I can see that Nico is at the helm of the conversation, the brightest star in the sky. I can’t stop my gaze from lingering on him, watching the way he tells a story, waving his hand, before thrusting that hand into his glorious hair.
Then his attention darts to me, and he winks so quickly I could almost convince myself I imagined it. It’s ridiculously suave, even though it should be cringy.
“God, girl, get a room,” the brunette next to me laughs, and I flush, doing my best to act naturally, like Nico is actually my boyfriend, and not myboss.
“I mean… why do you think they got into making Ember’s products?” I return to the conversation confidently, thinking Dane would be proud of me for avoiding the wordtoy. Shrugging, I say, “Nico definitely cares about a woman’s pleasure.”
Angel crosses her arms and raises a brow, “I think they started Ember to make money. I’d much rather back somethingwomen-owned, you know? I just don’t see how men can really know anything about it.”
“I get that.” I do my best to say it like it doesn’t matter to me. “But, you know Cole Davenport, right?”
They all react appropriately to his name, and I take a moment to marvel at myself, dropping genius billionaire’s names like we’re the best of friends.
The kiss with Cole just two nights ago flashes through my mind, and I do my best to push it out. If I think about that right now, I’m going to lose it and ruin this whole thing. And, I’m finding it’s actually fun to slip into this role for a little while.
To play pretend as someone I’m not, just like I did on the stage with Dane, in Amsterdam.
“I mean, I know of him,” the brunette laughs, glancing at the group. “Isn’t he, like, a recluse?”
I let out a laugh that I hope sounds sophisticated and take a sip of my champagne. “Oh, maybe for some people. But I’ve seen the way his brain works—it’s amazing. You know, Ember products use nano-bots he invented himself? And right now, he’s working tirelessly on—well, maybe I shouldn’t tell you?—”
“Tell us,” Angel urges, leaning forward, laughing a little. “We can keep a secret.”
“Okay, but you have to promise me you’ll keep it a secret.” I don’t know if I should be sharing this or not, but it’s too late now. “It’s a way to make the product self-cleaning. I don’t know about you, but I hate UTIs, and I’d really like to never get one again.”
“Oh mygod,” the brunette sighs, jiggling her leg, “every summer I swear to god—if I eventhinkabout swimming.”
Angel hums, “So, they do like, market research?”
“Oh, it’s way more than that.” This time, I’m not sharing what Cole has told me, but just my research on the company practices in general. “First, Cole spent almost ayearjust learning more about pleasure. He worked with the top experts oneverything.Now, they pay like a thousand women to collect their biophysical data when developing products. All that goes into it. And, I mean, you know he has a medical doctorate, right?”
Angel blinks, “I didn’t know that. He’s a doctor?”
“Not practicing,” I admit, “not anymore, so he doesn’t have a license, but he went to medical school. So he already knew about anatomy and stuff before. Then they spend all this money and time researching pleasure in women—I mean, not to be rude, but Cole probably knows more than we all do, combined.”
“God,” one of the girls breathes, “I’d kill to be in a room alone with him.”
A ripple of desire moves throughmeat the sound of that, too. Iwasalone in a room with him, and I couldn’t keep my hands to myself. Now I’m bragging about his expertise to these women, and the latent desire in the back of my mind is just going to get worse.
