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“Already have them.” var Rorik pulled one out of his pocket and held it out with a smirk.

Clenching my jaw, I took it from him, being careful not to brush his long, claw-tipped fingers. A muttered, “Thank you,” scraped out of my throat.

“Thanks for all your help, Keli,” he drawled to the receptionist, whose face spikes flexed as she smiled at him again.

“My pleasure, Mr var Rorik.”

I shoved the pass’s lanyard over my head and marched off. Thank god I’d looked at the building’s floorplan on the Rorik + Stimis website so I knew where the Midnight Suite was.

var Rorik fell into step beside me, hands in his pockets as he sauntered along. I glanced over at him, reluctantly acknowledging that he looked just as good in a suit as he did in sportswear. Bastard.

“No Lipa today?” I asked lightly.

“She’s back at the office,” he answered smoothly. “Moving a few things around in my schedule for the week.”

“Ah. That’s a shame. She’s very nice.”

I saw him glance down at me, before he airily said, “Just me today. But don’t worry—I won’t go too hard on you.”

Before I could stop myself, I remembered his little quip at the gym about having “endless stamina”. My stomach clenched.

“You should probably put your pass on, Mr var Rorik,” I said in as sweet a tone as I could muster. I wasn’t very good at being sweet.

He shrugged dismissively. “They know me here.”

I almost ground my teeth into dust as we walked through the front lobby and down a wide, airy corridor. A smartly dressed demiurgus was waiting by the doors of the Midnight Suite, pointing at something on the clipboard being shown to him by a staff member.

He looked up as we approached, a wide smile showing off his sharp white teeth. “Ah, Anita, I presume?”

“Yes.” I smiled back and shook his hand when he offered it. “Nice to meet you. Thank you for fitting us in.”

“My pleasure.” He turned to var Rorik and held out his hand with a pleasant smile. “Dere var Joniz. And you are?”

var Rorik stiffened slightly beside me. He cleared his throat and grasped Dere’s hand for a firm shake. “Nuni var Rorik. I actually designed the building.” He let out a chuckle. “Well, my firm did.”

“Oh, I see! Wonderful. So I assume that’s why you’re considering holding your firm’s anniversary event here? Anita mentioned the client was an architecture firm.”

var Rorik gave him a tight smile, ears fluttering weakly. “Yes.”

“Well.” Dere clapped his hands together. “Let me show you the space. If you’ll just follow me…”

As he turned to open the doors, I leaned in and whispered, “Maybe you should put your pass on, Mr var Rorik.”

His flat nostrils flared as he glared down at me, before shoving a hand in his pocket and thrusting the lanyard over his head. I couldn’t contain my smile as he marched off after Dere without a word.

By the end of the third viewing, we were both flagging, but neither of us were willing to concede. I was desperate for a cup of coffee, or even just water, but I wasn’t going to cave until var Rorik did.

I was also incredibly tense. The spin class at lunch had done nothing.

I was just so inexplicably aware of him, and it was starting to piss me off. His deep voice as he asked the various event managers questions. The occasional brush of his arm against mine as we walked around the rooms. The subtle scent of his cologne surrounding me like fog, especially while we were in his car driving between venues. I’d almost insisted on getting the subway to meet him at each one, but I knew how petty it would’ve made me look.

Just because I’d admitted to myself that I was physically attracted to him didn’t mean he wasn’t still annoying. Because he was. Incredibly annoying. Domineering, arrogant, flirtatious with every single woman who showed even a hint of interest.

That last one pissed me off the most. Only because it was so unprofessional. If I’d done that, Corva would’ve chewed me out. But I supposed that was a perk of being your own boss—you could do whatever you wanted. Nuni var Rorik clearly did whatever the fuck he wanted.

When the manager of the Smoke Tower escorted us to the lobby and shook our hands in goodbye, I breathed a silent sigh of relief. Soon. Just a few more minutes, and I’d be able to get away.

“So,” I said briskly after we’d handed in our passes. “It would be good if we could get the venue booked by the end of the week at the very latest. Did any of these jump out at you as a suitable location for the event?”