“I appreciate that, Andrea.”
We smiled at each other. I couldn’t imagine any amount of money could improve on how she looked right now, hair falling over her shoulders, the soft restaurant lighting on her perfect skin.
But spending the day with her, seeing her reaction to the world I was used to?
That, I could invest in.
Chapter 20
Andrea
“You fucking what?”The Danish stopped just outside Kelly’s mouth.
“Yeah. We’re going shopping at the weekend. To get stuff. For the France trip.”
Monish side-eyed her. “Andrea, this is very surprising.”
“So you got stuck in a lift with him, shagged him, insulted him, attacked him in a meeting, and now, what… you’redating?” Kelly scrunched her face.
“Standard relationship progression, right?” I laughed nervously.
Kelly and Monish’s faces were stony.
“I don’t—I mean—hadn’t you decided to hate him?” she asked.
“Yeah.” It sounded even less convincing now that I was sitting at the Banana Store with my friends. “He’s not that bad.”
“Notthat bad? Wow, girl. Relationship goals.”
Monish was examining my face. “Andrea. Is this because…” He looked from my eyes to Kelly’s.
“What?”
He twisted his wedding ring, looking desperately uncomfortable. “Money can make life… easier, Andrea. But a man like von Roth. It won’t be easy with him. Have you forgotten what he did after you… ah…”
“Shagged?” added Kelly, helpfully.
“Right. And the photos in the media of him with all those… women?”
Of course I hadn’t forgotten. We’d all discussed it at length. And I didn’t give a crap about his money—I could make my own. But I still felt like we might have misjudged him. At dinner he’d seemed so genuine. There was something more to him. Something vulnerable. He wasn’t just a womanizer. And he wasn’t fake, I was sure of it.
Even if our relationship was.
Anyway, it didn’t really matter what I thought of Liam. I just had to make it sound convincing.
“But how did you go from loathing his guts to going to France with him?” Kelly scratched her jaw. “I mean… fuckingFrance?”
“We had a connection,” I said pathetically. “I mean, from the first hookup, obviously. But then afterward. It got a bit messy, but—I don’t know. We talked it through and we just… clicked.”
“Talked it through?” Kelly sipped her gin and tonic and leaned forward, studying me. “How did this actually go down, though? I thought you were filing HR letters and avoiding him like the plague. Did he hit on you again at the office? Surely that’s bad. Isn’t it? He’s theboss.”
“Exactly. We’ve been through this already, Andrea. I’m afraid you are playing with fire,” said Monish.
“He didn’t hit on me again, like some sort of sleaze. We met at an event by chance. The auction thing, for my art. He’sa collector, apparently. And we’ve been chatting since then. On text.” I paused. “He… he’s nice.”
Monish frowned. “And if there’s a restructure, what then? Does this make it worse for you, or better?”
“James thinks it’s fine,” I said. “Better, probably. But that’s not what this is about. We get along. We’re… well-matched.”
