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He started to open the various containers, prompting me to get out plates and silverware. I said a silent thank-you to my mama, who had insisted on buying me “adult dishes” when I rented this apartment. When she’d said every Southern lady should have a nice set of dishes, I had thought it was an antiquated salute to the patriarchy. Now, however, I was suddenly pro-nice-dishes, even if they were normally used only to keep me from burning my hands on microwavable meals.
“It’s been a busy month,” he answered, meticulously lining the containers up buffet-style. “I didn’t know what you like, so I got a little of everything.”
“It all looks great.” I passed him a plate and spoon for scooping. “I didn’t realize how hungry I was until I smelled all of this. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. I should have called first but I thought you would tell me no again. My father always says it’s better to ask for forgiveness later than ask for permission now.”
I ignored the comment about his father, because I was turning over a new leaf.
“You would have been right, but I was serious about the rain check.” I added a perfectly golden slice of what looked like eggplant Parmesan to my plate before moving on to the lobster ravioli. I wasn’t about to be shy. He brought this on himself. “We had a long afternoon of meetings, and my brain was so tired I didn’t think I would be very good company.”
We filled our plates — Holden’s servings about half the size of mine — and settled at the small table I had set up in the space between my kitchen and the living area. Holden looked comical sitting at my cheap IKEA table in his designer suit.
I made it exactly three bites before I broke down and asked the question that had been on my mind since I’d opened the door to find him standing in the hallway.
“I’m trying to come up with a way to ask this without sounding rude, but I can’t think of anything so I’m just going to go for it. What are youdoinghere?”
Holden finished chewing and dabbed his mouth with a very fancy Bounty napkin.
“The dinner with Macon and your sister didn’t sit well with me.” It might have been wishful thinking on my part, but I could have sworn he was shifting in his seat, looking uncomfortable. “More specifically, what you said about being ‘stuck with trash now.’ I wanted a chance to talk to you without interruption.”
Aaaannndddd just like that, my carbohydrate-fueled bravado vanished. I regretted asking that question more than I regretted dressing up as Marie Curie for my first — and only — Halloween party at a frat house in my freshman year of college.
“Oh.” I sighed, highlighting just how articulate I was in front of someone who made his living from speaking. “That. Don’t worry about it. I was having a bad day, and I took it out on you. I’m sorry.”
Holden stared at me like he could see right through my epidermis to my warm, squishy center. I shivered. I bet this look got people to confess to all their sins on the witness stand.
“That doesn’t seem like the kind of comment you just come up with spontaneously when you’re having a bad day.”
I shrugged, going for casually panicked. “It’s a gift I have. So why has your month been so busy?”
Classic diversion technique. Lawyer, meet developer. Checkmate. Except that Holden looked like he knew exactly what my game was, but he seemed blessedly willing to let it slide — for now. I was nowhere near naïve enough, though, to think that this was the last I’d be hearing about that night and that comment.
“Our firm oversees a number of large charitable foundations that are connected to various political groups. The tax laws are changing significantly next month, and everyone wants to know how the changes will affect their operations.” He gave me a look that I couldn’t interpret. “Macon is supposed to be handling most of these clients, but he’s been distracted with wedding planning lately.”
“So you have to handle his work too?” I asked in an attempt to keep him talking, even though the answer was obvious. Then I took a bite of the lobster ravioli, and almost slid off the seat. “Ohmygodthisissogood.”
“I hope the ravioli makes up for my coming here unannounced. And yes, it means I’m doing a significant portion of his work in addition to my own.” He paused, looking at the piece of ravioli speared on his own fork. “Although it’s not that unusual. Macon is...easily distracted.”
I squirreled away this piece of information to dig up and examine later.
“Just what every girl wants to hear about her sister’s fiancé,” I joked, smiling so he would know I was teasing. “Do you enjoy being a lawyer?”
“I do. Thankfully.”
“It would be tough to be a St. James who hated the law. Did you always want to be a lawyer? Is it an inherited trait for your family, like blue eyes or curly hair?” My comment earned one of those half-smiles.
“I did. I used to follow my father and grandfather around the old courthouse growing up, and I always wanted to be just like them. They always seemed larger than life when I was a kid.”Ignore it, Sutton. We’re trying tonight.“What about you? Do you enjoy working as a developer?”
“I do. I love it, actually. I’m not sure if I see myself coding video games for the rest of my working life, but I’m happy where I am right now.”
“What were your meetings about this afternoon?”
I looked up and was shocked to find that he seemed genuinely interested in my answer. The discovery was as surprising as it was encouraging. It was rare that people’s eyes didn’t glaze over after a few minutes of coding talk. I had no doubt that my job was significantly less sexy than being a high-powered lawyer at a prestigious firm.
“Well, there are phases to testing video games before they’re released. Each stage gives us a chance to improve graphics or story lines, identify bugs as they come up, things like that. This is a highly anticipated sequel to a really popular game, so every phase of testing is more intense and focused than if we were releasing a new app.” I stopped to gauge his level of interest. He was nodding along so I continued. “We’re at the alpha phase of testing right now, so theoretically, at this phase, our testers shouldn’t find any significant issues with the game as they play. Before we turn the game over to the alpha testers, we always have a series of meetings to go over each team’s status and concerns, like any things they want the testers to pay special attention to. Basically, a long afternoon of very boring meetings,” I summed it up. I wanted to avoid sharing too many of the tiny details and making him lose interest.
“It must be exciting to have people actually play the game you’ve been working on for so long,” he said, surprising me yet again. Holden St. James was full of surprises.
