AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Furio had a car for his whole team, so Jude, Owen, and I took a separate Uber to the restaurant. Sitting next to me in the back seat, Owen grunted and said, “I think Furio likes you.”
“Me?” I blinked. “I met him for less than a minute. And most of that time was doing damage control after calling you a cunt-waffle.”
“I saw the way he looked at you,” Owen said quietly. “Trust me. Guys know when another man has the hots for their… uh, employee.”
He was going to saygirlfriend,or something else possessive. He even had a cute little pout on his face, like he wasn’t happy about it.
“Furio is a very nice man,” I said. “Much younger than I expected.”
Owen grunted again.
“It doesn’t matter,” Jude said from the front seat. “Amber can do whatever she wants. As long as Furio doesn’t make you feel uncomfortable.”
“He definitely didn’t,” I said a little too quickly. Owen glanced sideways at me.
“It just leaves a bad taste in my mouth,” he said. “He walks in here and starts ogling our employees before signing the contract. He kissed you on both cheeks.”
“He kissed everyone on both cheeks,” I said, although I felt myself blushing again at the memory of his lips on my skin. “It’s fine.”
Owen grumbled something in disagreement. Was he actuallyjealous?My first reaction was to smile. It was nice knowing that Owen was so enamored with me that a smile from someone else was making him jealous.
But the more I thought about it on the car ride, the more annoyed I got. I didn’t belong to him. He made it very clear that this was just physical. And then I remembered the petulant way he had acted about the disclosure form, blaming me for it rather than accepting that Melinda had figured it out on her own.
“I like Furio,” I said to the inhabitants of the car. “I’m glad we’re doing business with him.”
“Me too,” Jude agreed. Owen only stared out the car window, his mood darkening as if the deal had fallen through.
The restaurant was downtown and had a sprawling open rooftop deck with polished wood tables covered in white cloth. The Salesforce Tower loomed over us, and the evening was warm and bright as we were directed to our table. Piano music drifted from an awning, and I was surprised to see a tuxedo-clad man sitting at a baby grand, fingers flashing across the keys as he played.
“Nicer thanMarcello’s,” I joked as we sat down. Owen glared at me, half offended and half amused.
“Where are your people?” Jude asked.
Furio smiled broadly. “They are busy sending the paperwork to the necessary people. Moving money around, so to speak. Tonight, it will just be us friends!”
He spoke quietly to the waiter, who returned with a dusty bottle of champagne. I wasn’t anywhere close to a wine aficionado, but I recognized the gold shield Dom Perignon logo. The waiter cradled the bottle as if it were a newborn child, and hastily poured four glasses without spilling a single drop. Jude mumbled something under his breath.
“I brought this from my home cellar especially for the occasion.” Furio raised his glass to us. “To a long, fruitful business relationship.”
“And to the growth of Advanced Crypto Solutions,” Owen agreed.
We all touched glasses and then sipped our drinks. The bubbles made the champagne light and tingly, but otherwise it didn’t taste any different than the twenty dollar bottles that I’d had before.
Furio got up to excuse himself, and Owen twisted his glass between his fingers while studying it. “Dom Perignon, nineteen fifty-nine. Can’t imagine how much it cost.”
“Already looked it up,” Jude replied, holding up his phone. “Forty-two.”
I scoffed. “It’s Dom. It’s way more than forty-two bucks.”
Jude gave me an even look. “Forty-twothousand, Amber.”
He caught me in the middle of a sip, and I sucked in my breath with surprise. I coughed on the expensive champagne, covering my mouth with my cloth napkin.
I stared at the stemmed flute in my hand. Ten grand just for my glass. Maybe a thousand dollarsper sip. I glanced at the damp spot on my napkin with fresh horror. How much had I wasted by coughing it up?
Owen leaned closer to me and said, “Next time you give me shit for paying Marina Sirtis to do the voice work for my Home-AI, remember this bottle of champagne.”
Furio was all smiles when he returned to the table. “I have spoken to the chef, and he has assured me the lamb shanks are exquisite. I have taken the liberty of ordering for all of us.”
