Page 79 of Tuxedos and Tinsel

“That’s kind of the reason I wanted to go home.”

Her heart twisted at the words. Wouldn’t be too many more times she’d hear him say them. Not now that he no longer needed her. “How about we settle for a toast in the meantime? Champagne for me, water for you. I’ll go get it.”

Immediately he reached for her arm. “You don’t have to do that.”

“I want to.” She needed the moment to shake the thoughts from her head. “This is your celebration. You sit and let me wait on you.”

Pushing her lips into a smile, she scurried to the bar, choosing the one outside the ballroom so she could duck into the powder room and wipe her nose. Someday she’d get through an event without having to hide in the bathroom at some point, but not tonight.

And, because the world really wanted to mock her, Ginger and Courtney were seated along with a few of the PAs at the table nearest the door to the restroom. Both of them shot a trademark smirk in her direction as she approached.

Whatever. She didn’t have time for them.

That is, until she was almost through the door. That’s when she heard Courtney.

“Fake,” she said.

Susan stopped in her tracks. Stepping behind the door, she leaned her ear close to the crack to listen, the nerves in her stomach doing a tap dance.

It was probably nothing.

“…heard her clear as day,” Courtney said. “She told Linus that the whole romance was a scam to get him some publicity.”

“You mean they aren’t an item?” someone asked. “What about those pictures of them kissing?”

“Totally for the camera,” Courtney said.

Susan’s stomach felt like it had been punched. No wonder Courtney had smirked at her. She’d overheard everything. The witch had probably spent the whole party spreading the story to anyone who would listen.

What was she going to do? Lewis was going to kill her.

She found a different entrance and rushed back to the table. Lewis frowned upon seeing her. “Where’s your champagne? Did they cut you off?”

The ballroom wasn’t the proper place for this discussion. There were too many people still gathered at the tables nearby. If they hadn’t heard the story, she didn’t want them to overhear anything now.

“You know what?” she said. “Screw Linus. Let’s go home and celebrate properly.”

Under any other circumstance, the way Lewis’s brown eyes lit up would have made her knees weak. “Are you sure?” he asked.

“Definitely.” They’d talk when they got to her place.

As it turned out, Lewis gave the driver directions for his place. That was fine. They could talk there, as well. She chewed the inside of her mouth while he pressed the combination on his apartment lock. It would be fine, she realized. Courtney could spread the rumor all over the company if she wanted. She and Lewis could always debunk it. Who would they believe—a known company gossip or the two of them? And even if they didn’t believe her and Lewis, it was only Collier’s. Wasn’t like anybody who worked there was going to alert the press.

Yeah, she would tell Lewis and it would be fine.

The first time she saw Lewis’s apartment, she’d joked that it looked like a set for a bachelor-life reality show. Lots of chrome and retro-style furniture and a hot tub with a view to rival the London Eye. She thought that again as she dropped her wrap on the glass dining room table.

Lewis stepped up behind her, his large hands curling around her shoulders. “Finally,” he murmured. “I’ve been waiting all night to get you back here.”

Preoccupied or not, Susan’s eyes still rolled back at the growl in his throat. “Lewis, there’s something I need to…”

His lips found the curve of her neck and those were the last words she said on the subject. It could wait until morning, she thought as her head fell back against his shoulder. There was still plenty of time to nip the gossip in the bud.

It was snowing when Lewis woke up. Big slow-falling flakes like the kind in TV movies. They blanketed the trees and parked cars with white. He pulled a nylon jacket over his running shirt and grabbed a knit cap. Running in the snow had always been a favorite pastime, even as a kid. While his teammates complained and moaned about working out in unseasonable weather, he embraced it. There was something strangely invigorating about cutting through the snowflakes. Besides, he could always count on the snow to clear his muddled head.

This morning, his head was clear as a bell, but he had too much energy to sit still. Susan was still asleep, wrapped up in the covers. He smiled and for a second he considered waking her up instead of running. But there would be plenty of time later. It was going to take a lot more than a run to burn off his high.

Other than the Youth Ambassador Event, Lewis couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt this good about life. All the pieces of his goals were coming together. He was back in sports where he belonged, back on a team. And maybe now that he was back on top, he could convince Susan to continue their arrangement a little while longer.