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“I don’t believe so,” Damien replied. “But I’ve seen you on TV. I enjoyed your interview with Pete Whitecastle.”
“He’s a nice guy.”
Viv groaned, recognizing the name of the NHL star, who’d come out in support of gay players earlier in the year. “No. No hockey talk tonight. I get enough of it Monday through Friday.”
Lex smiled. “So...baseball? Who are you rooting for in the series?”
Damien went along, his smirk saying he knew well that she was seething in her chair. “LA’s looking good.”
“Their star player is, anyway,” said Lulu. “Hubba hubba. I hate sports, and even I know who Rand McConnell is. Yum.”
When Damien coughed lightly into his fist, Viv raised a questioning brow. “What?”
“Oh, it’s nothing. Just...I know the guy. Had a run-in with him in Chicago a couple of years ago.”
Everyone at the table eyed him, all intrigued. Including Viv. “A run-in? Like, a fight?”
He shook his head. “No. There was, uh, a sort of mix-up with the rooms at our hotel. I accidentally ended up in bed with his girlfriend.”
Viv’s jaw fell open, and Lulu’s husband, Chaz, chortled. “Do you mean his now wife? I’ve seen pictures of her. To quote my wife—hubba hubba, indeed.”
Lulu elbowed him in the ribs. He leaned over and grabbed her around the waist, pulling her close, and they shared a kiss. Despite their comments, the two were crazy about each other, having shared a love-hate relationship since childhood.
“I don’t suppose you ever accidentally end up in bed with an unattractive girl, huh?” Viv said, not hiding her snark.
“Not if he’s lucky,” said Lex. The three men at the table exchanged knowing glances. All three burst into laughter, Damien melting into the group so easily, she could almost forget he was a freaking billionaire who could buy and sell any of them a thousand times over.
“When did you realize you were in the wrong bed?” Amelia asked.
“I wasn’t. She was.” He lifted a glass of water the server had just deposited on the table and took a sip. As he lowered it, a twinkle appeared in his eyes. “And we didn’t figure out the mix-up until two of the three of us were practically naked.”
“Holy crap, was it you and Rand McConnell? Because I woulda paid money to witness that,” said Lulu.
Viv snickered as Damien’s eyes rounded. They went even rounder when Amelia murmured, “Me, too.”
“Alas, no,” he finally said, his face perhaps the tiniest bit flushed. “Sorry I can’t add to anyone’s baseball-player slash shipping.”
Lulu smiled at Viv. “I like this one. A guy who’s confident enough not to mind chicks slash shipping him with a baseball stud is a-okay by me.”
“Thanks,” he said. “Just don’t go shipping me with any hockey players.” He squeezed Viv’s hand. “Not after last week.”
Viv nodded. “Hear, hear! Now, can we stop the sports talk? I’ve had enough of it.”
“Can we at least toast to your getting your job back, and that asshole Bruno Neeley being traded?” Lex asked, lifting his glass. “I hate what he did to you, and I couldn’t be happier that the city’s getting rid of him. He’s scum.”
Damien was nodding, and his hand tightened even more. They hadn’t even had a chance to discuss what had happened with her job, other than what she’d said in her note. But that was fine. Frankly, she’d talked about it enough. As far as she was concerned, it was over. Her professional life was settled; now Viv was ready to move forward and focus on her personal one. And considering the man of any girl’s dreams was sitting beside her, having come to find her for no other reason than that he wanted to be with her, she seemed to be making a pretty good start.
* * *
ALTHOUGH DAMIEN LIKED Viv’s friends, he couldn’t wait to get her to himself. He’d been waiting for more than a week, hoping for some sign that she’d calmed down about him not telling her he owned the Vanguard. He’d refrained from chasing her—hadn’t gone to the office, or lurked around the parking garage after work hoping to accidentally bump into her. Realizing he owed it to Sam, and his company—as well as, of course, to Viv—to let her figure out how to proceed, he’d steered clear.
Still, he’d been honest about having stuck around for her. He’d dodged calls from his family. Inventing reasons to stay in the area, he’d actually gotten some work done, including negotiating a trade for Neeley to a Canadian team. The bastard wouldn’t be happy about moving to the great white north, but contractually, he couldn’t do anything about it. Hopefully the guy wouldn’t harass anybody except the polar bears.
