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The conference room door opened just as Felik was straightening his tie and giving his armpit a quick sniff. Lipa reappeared with a polite smile.

“Corva nir Feris and Anita Chaudhary, sir.” She held the door open wider to let the two women in.

I gave her a quick nod in thanks, then focused on the demiurgus woman in front of me and held out my hand. “Nuni var Rorik. Great to meet you.”

“Corva.” She let go of my hand and gestured to the human beside her. “This is my associate Anita.”

I met Anita’s gaze, trying not to think too hard about the tiny jolt in my stomach when I saw her eyes were a deep brown, fringed with dark, heavy lashes. “Nice to meet you.”

She shook my hand with a polite smile, then stepped away to do the same with Felik.

I flexed my fingers. They were tingling a little, but that was probably just poor circulation after sitting at my desk for eight hours. That was probably also why I was suddenly feeling all weird. Like, nervous or something. It was just anxiety because I was going to be late getting to the gym. Nothing cleared my head better than a good workout sesh.

After Felik had introduced himself to both of them—finally acting professional, much to my relief—we all sat down.

Anita sat opposite me.

Not that that was important. I wasn’t even sure why I noticed it. I glanced at her, then quickly looked away again when her gaze met mine for a moment.

“So,” Corva began brightly, pulling a Soppskinn planner with her initials embossed on the front cover out of her bag. Nice. Classy. “You want to hold a ten-year anniversary event for Rorik + Stimis Architects.”

I cleared my throat. “Yeah.”

After a pause, she smiled. “Well, congratulations on the long-running success.”

“Thanks.”

Then I fell silent again. Felik shot me an odd look, making me want to tug on my shirt collar.

“Yeah, it’s been a whirlwind,” he drawled, effortlessly slipping into the braggy-but-not-too-braggy mode we’d both perfected. With a chuckle, he reached over and gripped my shoulder, giving it a hard, furtive squeeze that meant Pull it together, dickhead. “Who would’ve thought we’d reach this level of success in just ten years? When Nuni and I started Rorik + Stimis, we…”

I zoned out, giving myself a pep talk. C’mon bro. Turn on the charm. You’re Nuni var Rorik. Founder and managing partner of the wildly successful Rorik + Stimis. Renowned architect. Unspeakably handsome and muscular demiurgus with a killer wardrobe and a fantastic ass.

Yeah, that worked. Damn right my ass was spectacular—not that it was important at this particular moment, but still. Thinking about it made me feel better.

“So.” I sat up straight, interrupting Felik, who was still humble-bragging about the business while Corva and Anita listened politely. “We were thinking the Blackgrass building would make a good venue.”

“Ah, yes.” Corva flipped open her planner and started rifling through the pages. “We assumed you’d want to hold it in one of your own.”

“And you recently won an award for the Blackgrass’s nesthouse, so that would make sense,” Anita added.

I gave her an impressed look. They’d done their research—another good sign. Feeling more like myself again, I shrugged a shoulder with an appropriately humble smile. “That’s right.”

“Congratulations,” she said politely.

“Thanks.”

I met her eyes briefly, and my stomach went all weird again. What the fuck was wrong with me? Maybe the macros in my new diet plan were wrong. My fingers twitched with the urge to grab my phone and text my nutritionist right that second.

I jolted a little when the door opened and Lipa stepped in carrying a tray with a copper mug of coffee and a glass of water. She set the water down in front of Anita, I noticed. I had no idea why I noticed, but I noticed.

Picking up her tablet, Lipa settled into the seat beside me to begin taking notes.

“So,” Corva said, a weighty Inchiostro Nero fountain pen poised over her planner, “before we tell you the preliminary ideas we’ve come up with, do you have any you’d like to share?”

I watched as Anita picked up her water glass and took a small sip, her slender throat bobbing as she swallowed. She licked her lips as she set the glass back down, drawing my gaze to her mouth.

My gut tightened.