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I freeze as I spot Marcus excusing himself from his group and heading in our direction. He rolls his sleeves up casually as he crosses the room, exposing just a bit of his forearms, andholy fucking hellI’m in trouble.
“Not. One. Word,” I warn, shooting daggers with my eyes in my friends’ direction.
“Oh, we don’t need words,” Angela whispers with a giggle. “Your face says it all.”
I shake my head, taking a sip of my wine as he appears in front of us.
“Evening,” he says, his voice smooth as silk. “Enjoying yourselves?”
Angela brightens. “Oh, absolutely. The wine is gorgeous! And Lila here was just saying how much she appreciates yourcreative capabilities,”she says, trying not to laugh as I shoot her a death glare that promises retribution.
Marcus raises an eyebrow, that amused smile on his gorgeous mouth, and suddenly, I don’t even care anymore. “Is that right?”
“I… might have said something to that effect,” I say, trying my best to keep my voice as calm as possible while my heart hammers against my ribs.
Carter clears his throat. “We’re going to get another glass, and leave you two to, uh,creatively collaborate,”he says as they run off giggling like fucking schoolchildren.
I amsogoing to kill them.
“Smooth,” Marcus says dryly, watching them scurry towards the makeshift reception desk turned bar with no subtlety whatsoever.
Once they’re gone though, I swear the volume in the room dips just a little.
“You look beautiful tonight,” he says, his eyes steady on mine.
I try not to melt, butdid he just call me beautiful?
“Thank you. You clean up pretty well yourself.”
He chuckles, and our eyes meet, a moment’s pause that feels static – charged, just waiting for a spark to ignite it.
But then, of course, reality reappears.
“Marcus,” Stephen’s voice calls out, approaching us from the opposite end of the room. “Sorry, can I borrow you for a minute? One of the investors from Orion has a few questions about the ROI figures youmentioned.”
Marcus gives me an apologetic smile. “Sorry,” he says.
“It’s fine. Go, work your magic,” I say, trying to sound breezy.
He steps back but holds my gaze a second longer. “I’ll try to come find you later,” he says.
“I’ll be here,” I say. “Watching people pretend to understand all this abstract art.”
He smiles, then turns and walks away.
I stand there, smiling to myself like an idiot, until Angela suddenly reappears beside me.
“Oh girl. You’ve got it bad.”
Don’t I fucking know it?
Chapter 7
JANUARY 2024
The thump of the bass vibrates through my skull, making my stomach churn. I wince, blinking hard against the club’s flashing lights, and do my best to smile as Angela lifts her drink to me from across the booth.
Carter’s disappeared into the crowd somewhere, not for the first time tonight. His friend Harrison is here with us, sat opposite another girl from the office, Becky, who’s making flirty eyes at him and laughing too loudly at everything he says. I’m pretty sure they’ve been playing footsie all night, because Harrison’s foot accidentally brushed against mine earlier and when I looked at him, he quickly apologised before redirecting it to its intended recipient.