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I took a cup and poured my coffee. There was no one else at the coffee station in the office, and no one within earshot. Still, I leaned a little closer. “What don’t you see?” I asked.
Jade raised an eyebrow at me. She was twenty-two, black, tall, and gorgeous. “Busted,” she said. “If we show you, you have to promise not to tell the boss.”
“Of course I won’t tell him,” I said, suppressing the flutter in my chest, and the second one lower down. Aidan wasn’t in the office today—he had back-to-back real estate meetings around town. It was Tuesday, and I hadn’t seen him since Saturday night. The night that hadn’t happened, of course. At least, not to me.
I couldn’t think about it right now. These were my coworkers, and Jade was watching me. “I pinky swear,” I said to her.
“You know Aidan doesn’t like gossip,” Jade said.
I felt my stomach twist. Gossip?
“I don’t see any gossip,” Anita said. “Maybe they took it down.”
“It’s there.” Jade leaned over to Anita’s phone, scrolled quickly. “See? There. Read it.”
“’What a surprise to see a face we knew at the Masoku Gallery on Saturday night,’” Anita read aloud. “’The Man in Black himself, Aidan Winters, made an appearance. But he wasn’t wearing his signature black! He swapped his usual severe clothes for gray. Why? Your guess is as good as ours! Though we shouldn’t be too surprised to see Mr. Winters on the premises, since his multimillion-dollar company, Tower VC, owns the building and invested in the gallery. He never appears at the gallery’s shows, so we didn’t know he was an art lover. Did a woman lure him there? We’d love to know. There were no photos allowed, so you’ll have to take our word for it. In the meantime, the Man in Black maintains his bachelor status—and his air of mystery!’”
“Stupid, I know,” Jade said. “Still, he’s been different lately. I’ve definitely noticed.”
“It was just an art show,” Anita said.
“He didn’t wear black,” Jade said. “Have you ever seen him wear anything but black?”
“No, but I like it. He always looks hot.”
They looked at me, expecting me to say something. Anything. And for a second, I couldn’t think. My brain went blank and my hands went cold.
Aidan had been seen at the art show. There was gossip about it. That was why he hadn’t approached me inside the gallery—because he’d known there was a risk.
A risk I had taken without thinking.
And Tower VC really did own the building. That hadn’t been part of the game.
The silence had gone on a little too long, and both women were looking at me, so I said, “I’ve never seen him wear anything but black, either.”
Because I was Samantha, and for Samantha, that was true.
“Come on,” Jade said. “You work with him more than the rest of us. You have to have noticed his mood.”
“His mood?” I asked.
“He was completely impossible after the Chicago trip,” Anita said, nodding. “I remember that. But then he mellowed out.”
“Mellow for Aidan, that is,” Jade agreed. “He’s still his scary-ass self, but something’s different. I know the look of a man who’s getting some, and trust me, that man is definitely getting some. I’d bet a million bucks.”
I put my coffee to my lips and sipped it. Hard.
“Damn, that is one lucky woman,” Anita said. She gestured to the article on her phone. “An artist, right? That’s why he showed up at the show all casual. He’s got some artist chick and he’s banging her senseless.”
“Maybe.” Jade looked at me, an all-knowing look that demanded answers. “Spill it, Samantha. You know the dirt.”
I put my coffee down. I had to get control, and I had to do it now. “I don’t know anything,” I said, shrugging. “You know he doesn’t tell me his personal life. He definitely wouldn’t tell me that kind of detail.”
“No, but you have eyes,” Jade said. “Am I right or am I crazy?”
Why had I walked into this conversation? Oh right, because I was insatiably curious about anything to do with my boss. Which now I was regretting. “I suppose he’s in a good mood,” I said, “though he’s always very professional with me.”
There. That was a good answer. The answer a proper executive assistant would give.
