I blow out a rough breath that ruffles my bangs before I drop my head to his shoulder with a groan. “I’m sorry. I kind of panicked there a bit.”
“A bit?”
“Okay. Maybe a little more than a bit,” I correct with a chuckle.
Ryan’s hands cup my cheeks, lifting my head from his shoulder to meet his gaze. “Hey, everything is okay.” He leans in to plant a soft kiss on my forehead before pulling back. “We have been careful. And we’ll continue that. He doesn’t know. Only our friends know. We’ll keep it that way as long as we need to.” His thumb begins to rub slowly back and forth along my cheekbone. “I’m so obsessed with you, Isa, and I don’t feel like letting you go yet.”
My eyes fall closed. “I’m pretty obsessed with you too, I’m afraid,” I say with a soft laugh.
I let out a quiet sigh. I had been giving his proposal some thought, and as much as I should say no, I actually really want to get all dressed up and have a night out with him.
“So,” I say quietly, “about that gala?” I open my eyes and watch as his entire face brightens.
“You’ll come?”
I roll my eyes, but it’s halfhearted. “Yeah, I’ll go.”
His hands go under my ass and lifts me, making me throw my arms around his neck for balance as he spins us in a circle before placing me back on the counter. “This is going to be incredible. You’ll love it. It’s all very Hollywood.”
I can’t help but laugh at his overexcitement. “I’m sure it’ll be a blast. We’ll still have to be careful, but Liz actually convinced me. She’ll be there with Jackson.”
Imagine my surprise when I took my dilemma to the group chat to weigh the pros and cons over attending the gala and find out that Jackson is apparently a big donor to the hospital and between that and being a season ticket holder, he’s always invited to this event. This is the first year in a while he’s in town to attend so he’s taking the opportunity and dragging Liz along with him. Armed with that knowledge, I figured I’d have enough buffers to get me through the evening.
Ryan’s eyes widen comically. “Holy shit. Jackson West will be there? Can you introduce me? Please? Pretty please, Isa? I’ll be on my best behavior, I promise.” He’s all but on his knees—for the second time this morning—begging which only has me laughing harder.
“We’ll see.”
The two weekssince Mr. Boseman scheduled our check-in have flown by. The first week was the back-to-back home series with Texas and Boston which had me running around like wildwith the TV crew, but then Ryan and the team left for a weeklong road trip which ended last night. Now they’re rolling straight into the All-Star game tomorrow night in Seattle. Ryan and I have been relying very heavily on texting, phone calls, and good old fashioned FaceTime sex to hold us over until he’s back in town for the gala in three days.
My computer chirps with the five-minute reminder for the mid-season meeting. I use my final minutes of peace to tidy things up around my desk and grab my essentials: a notebook, my favorite gel pen, and my phone. Locking my computer, I rise from my desk and head toward Mr. Boseman’s office. I rap my knuckles on the closed door twice before his gruff voice shouts a “come in.”
“Ah, Ms. Rossi, come in, come in. Get comfy,” he says with a bright smile as he waves me in from the door. Gently shutting the door behind me, I step in and take a seat in one of the overstuffed armchairs positioned opposite his desk. “As much as I understand the need for pleasantries, I’m afraid I’m double-booked today. Are you happy if we jump straight in?”
I’m not even startled by his abruptness. He’s always double-booked. “Yes, of course,” I say, flipping to a clean page in my notebook and hovering my pen over it, ready to jot any notes as he speaks.
“Let me just start by saying, I think you’ve been doing a fantastic job. I’ve had feedback from the crew directly and they’ve all spoken very highly of you. How you’ve made their lives easier. Those are the kinds of things I love to hear as the face of this company and the one responsible for all client relationships.”
I nod along with his recounting. “I’m glad to hear that, but I’m only doing my job, sir.”
He smiles at me like he sees through the ‘doing my job’ line. I’m alwaysdoing my job,but I’ve never come to enjoy it the wayI do with this one. I mean, sure, a very large part of that is seeing Ryan, but I find that I fit into the crew family more than I have in some of my previous placements, even if I do still owe Annie that rain check on post-work drinks.
Mr. Boseman continues to ramble on about feedback, leading into areas for improvements—“because if you’re not constantly striving for improvements, then what are you really doing?” Our meeting shifts into a brainstorming session where we volley ideas back and forth for new documents to start drafting, policies to implement, tasks to assign. We also spent a good chunk of our conversation trying to work out what we can take from the MLB and bring into the NFL when their pre-season starts next month.
By the time I leave his office, I feel a hell of a lot more confident in my ability to do this job than I did at the beginning of the season. And I’m also less nervous that anyone knows about Ryan and me. Mr. Boseman gave me zero indication that he had a single clue anything was going on, which is how I intend to keep things.
TWENTY-FIVE
CLOAK AND DAGGER
ISABELLA
HaveI ever mentioned how useful it is to have a Hollywood actress for a best friend? Because it really feels like something I’ve neglected to mention. Typically, I’d be a chaotic ball of stress trying to get myself glam enough for a big-time Hollywood charity gala. Having to do my hair and makeup? Pick out the right dress and accessories? No. Absolutely not. I’d rather stay at home in my pjs eating ice cream on my couch avoiding that kind of stress.
But having Liz in my back pocket has made this the most stress-free experience of my life. A few simple calls from her and I had the whole wardrobe sorted, hair and makeup who showed up to the apartment first thing this morning to work their magic. I didn’t have to lift a finger. Ryan even sent over coffee, so I didn’t have to worry about that either.
I never try to take advantage of Liz for her fame and the perks it has to offer, but times like these have me reconsidering if maybe I should let her spoil me every now and then.
My phone buzzes on the table beside me as I finish slipping on my heels, letting me know Ryan’s downstairs with the car. Right on time.
