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Shit, fuck. Abort, abort. “Just leave it, Lauren. Derek’s just…being Derek.” Don’t poke the bear.
“Are you off to dish on your hot date last night? Since it’s so new and real and all.”
I want to punch the smirk off his handsome fucking face.
Instead of responding, I drag Lauren the last few feet to the elevator, desperately hitting the buttons to go down. “Why do you think we’re having a girl’s lunch? Gotta go, ramen waits for no woman.” I keep punching the button, praying the elevator arrives before I die on the spot.
“Tell Julian I said hello.” Derek’s parting shot hits just as the elevator doors open, and I shove Lauren inside, not looking until I slam my finger into the “L” button. It’s already lit up. And that’s when I notice Lauren is talking to someone.
“Hello, Frankie.” A deep voice sends my shoulders to my ears.
“H-h-h-hello, Mr. Sutton.” I turn to find him and Lauren both staring at me. Lauren’s Cheshire-cat grin contrasting with Mr. Sutton’s confused scowl. “How are, uh, you?” I pray Lauren doesn’t bring up what Derek just said.
He straightens his tie. “Fine. Did you have a nice time with Emma last night? How was the movie?”
I breathe a sigh of relief that I have a safe topic to discuss. One that doesn’t involve Julian. This was just supposed to get Derek off my back, not become the newest topic of gossip in the building. “Yeah, we did. The movie was great. How was your date with Sophie?”
Sutton tells us about the restaurant he took Sophie to last night, some brand new speakeasy that opened up in one of the downtown hotels. Sophie was enamored with the secret password and knocking sequence needed to get inside. It’s adorable how Mr. Sutton’s face changes when he talks about her—his eyes go all soft, and he smiles in a way I’ve never seen anywhere else.
There’s a sharp pinch to the back of my arm as the elevator doors open on the second floor and Sutton steps out. Dammit, I was hoping I could at least get out of the building—and past Julian—before Lauren grilled me.
“So…what’s Derek talking about? You had a date with Julian last night? But weren’t you with Emma?”
“Nothing. He’s full of shit, as usual,” I bluff, praying she buys it.
“Uh-uh. You’re not getting off that easy, Frankie Davenport. Spill.”
The elevator doors open and I speed walk through them, making a beeline for the door. Lauren keeps up easily, despite her three-inch heels, snagging my elbow and dragging me to a halt. “Spill.”
I glance around. Tina is on the phone, her back to us. But Julian is standing in his usual spot by the door, eyes on me, arms crossed and chest puffed out. Or maybe it’s just so muscled that he can’t help it. His head is cocked to one side, one eyebrow raised as he watches us, a question in his ice-blue eyes.
I stride through the lobby, trying to exude cool confidence. “In a minute. Let’s get food first. I’m starving.”
We almost make it through the door when Lauren digs her heels in, jerking me to a stop right in front of him. “So, Julian,” Lauren flips her hair out of her face, smirking. “How was your evening? Frankie hasn’t told me about hers yet, but an annoying birdie told me it was a good one.”
Julian stares her down for a second before glancing at me. I shrug. What else can we do? I hadn’t intended for the entire office to get involved in our little scheme, but I was fooling myself if I thought Derek was going to keep quiet about it. Now I’ll have to come up with a story quick.
“My evening was great, thanks. Tried out a new recipe, took my boy to the movies with his friends. How was yours?”
Lauren huffs. “Seriously? That’s all you’re going to give me? You two are worse than Sophie. Come on, Frankie.”
She drags me out the door and down the street. We pass by Two Birds, the table where Julian and I sat flashing by as she beelines for the ramen restaurant a few doors down.
My butt has barely hit the seat before Lauren turns on me. “Spill.”
I fiddle with the silverware on the table, flipping the fork over and over. “There’s nothing to spill, Lauren.”
“Uh-uh.” She leans back for a moment, looking for a server. “Derek sounded entirely too smug for me to believe that.”
My shoulders slump. Fuckity. Sharing what happened is going to make this all real. There’s no backing out of the plan once I tell Lauren. This is the bed I’ve made myself, now I have to lie in it. “You know I took Emma to the movies last night?”
Lauren nods, and I suck in a breath so I can get it all out at once. “Julian and his boy and some of the kids’ friends were all there and so we sat together. That’s all.”
“But why does Derek know?”
“He was there too. Saw Julian and I together. Also, Derek is an asshole.” I don’t make eye contact, keeping my eyes glued to the menu in front of me, not reading a word of it.
“You wanna tell me why you’re being weird about it? You and Julian are dating now, right? What’s the big deal?” She leans back in the booth as our server approaches the table. We order our food before she raises an eyebrow at me. “Unless there’s something you’re not telling me?”
