‘Of course.’
‘You’re making me feel so cheap.’ He put an inflection into his tone that made me giggle, and then laugh, and then cough.
‘Are you deliberately trying to kill me?’ I asked when I’d got my breath back. ‘You promised you wouldn’t make me laugh.’
‘You started it.’
‘Actually, I think we can trace it back to your original comments about my voice.’
‘OK. Point taken. Apologies.’
‘So, how’s the trip anyway?’
‘It’s fine. Meetings, a bit of schmoozing, that sort of thing.’
‘I can’t imagine you schmoozing.’
‘No, it’s not really my thing, I have to admit. But Lenny’s with me, and he’s excellent at it. So, it’s all working out.’
‘Did you say you had ordered room service?’
‘I did.’
‘Not having dinner with Lenny?’
‘No. He… he had other plans.’
‘He hooked up, is that what you’re saying?’
‘Yes. One of the women from the mixer thing last night. They hit it off.’
‘Didn’t you hit it off with anyone?’
‘You know me, Libs. I’m not great at stuff like that.’
‘Charlie, you’re beefy and gorgeous and intelligent. I don’t think you actually have to be great at doing anything. Just stand there and wait for them to trample you.’
He laughed. ‘Thanks for the pep talk, but, like I said, I’m good.’
‘Maybe you should tell them that too.’
‘Libby Cartright, did you just make an insinuation about my sex life?’
‘No, I made an insinuation that maybe you should get one.’
‘My sex life is just fine, thank you.’
‘Is it?’
Was it?
‘Yes. But thank you for the suggestion. Although I imagine saying one is good is probably seen as a bit pushy.’
I raised my eyebrows in thought, even though he couldn’t see. ‘I don’t know. Depends how you say it. If you went, “Hey, I’m great in bed,” then yeah, big turn-off and setting yourself up for failure anyway—’
‘Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence.’
‘I’m just saying. But a teasing “I’m good”? I think you could probably get away with that.’
