The handshaking continued. I felt that I was watching some sort of frame-by-frame car crash, Andrea moving in slow motion in front of me, charming the group and giggling like… well, like she was my girlfriend.
Damn, she was beautiful. Those big blue eyes, her breasts rising and falling with her breath.
“Liam, darling.” I snapped back into reality—she was looking at me. “Aren’t you going to introduce my sister?” Andrea nudged me aside and turned to the group. “This is Eliza.”
The blonde stepped forward and extended her hand confidently. What the hell were these two, professional con-women?
Ben picked up her hand and kissed it, as if he’d stepped straight out of a Jane Austen novel. “Charmed to meet you, Eliza.” Noticing his date appear at his shoulder, he dropped it again rapidly and made a space. “And this is Ava.” The women nodded politely to one another.
“Darling, could you?” Andrea gestured to the guards with her head. Dear God. Now I had three problems: convincing Hugo I wasn’t a playboy flake, somehow pulling off the lie that Andrea was my girlfriend, and getting rid of two guards who appeared to have phoned the police. This was trickier than active combat. At least in Helmand, you knew who was shooting at you.
Ben caught my eye and moved out of the circle toward the guards hovering behind us. If I could count on my brother for one thing, it was sorting out shit. And this was more than a little snafu. I’d owe himandDex by the time this evening was done.
“So. You must tell us how you met.” Hugo was smiling at us both expectantly. I turned to my new “girlfriend.” The pause extended unbearably.
“At work,” I said.
“Socially,” said Andrea, at the same time.
We both froze.
“At work,” I repeated.
“Yes. A… work-adjacent, social sort of thing,” she said, brightly. “An event. In London.”
Hugo tilted his head. “How fascinating. What event?”
Andrea waved a hand. “Oh, you know… one of those big… networking-type events. Crowds. Energy drinks.”
I squinted at her. “Right. A conference.”
“But less… formal.” She paused. “It was… fun. Social. There were booths.”
I could feel Ben vibrating behind me.
“Eliza and I went,” she added quickly. “She loves that sort of thing. She’s a student.”
“I do,” added Eliza. “I love it. All the… booths.” Her laughter had a slightly hysterical tone.
I pinched the bridge of my nose.
“Oh, come on, darling.” Andrea turned to me. “You might as well admit it.” She looked at the group. “It was Comic Con! I got a tote bag.”
“Comic Con?” Ben asked.
“Yes!” Andrea dazzled with a smile. “Comic Con. You know? The dress-up thing?”
“You mean cosplay,” I added tightly, like that made it sound better.
Hugo’s eyebrows lifted. “Really. That’s how you met? A dress-up thing?”
“Well, yes, but it was… work,” I said.
Brilliant. Nothing screams stability like full-costume foreplay. This wasreallynot helping Hugo’s impression of me.
Hugo’s lips twitched, though his eyes stayed cool. “Not the usual image of a steady hand at the helm. But then… surprises can be instructive.”
Miranda looked delighted. “Oh, howromantic, Liam. Didn’t you start out selling collectibles at something like that?”
