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“So why are you?”
“Shane’s my closest friend. I’ve known him since college. He’s important to me.”
And you, I want to say. I wouldn’t be in this nightclub if it weren’t for Mila. Best to keep that to myself.
“You’re a good friend,” she says.
“You are too,” I say.
“Nadia and Shane are lucky to have us.”
“They really are.”
We smile at each other, and then her smile falters a bit as she looks away. I don’t know why, but the look has me pulling her in even closer, like I can protect her from whatever thoughts she’s having right now. Not that I think Mila needs me to protect her. I just want to.
“What’s wrong?” I ask.
She gives me a thin, sad-looking smile. “Nothing,” she says.
“You sure?” I prod.
“I just hope everything goes okay at the wedding,” she says, her eyes not meeting mine.
I furrow my brow, worried that maybe she knows something I don’t. “Why wouldn’t it?”
“It’s a wedding. I’ve been in enough to know that things never go as planned.”
“How many have you been in?”
“Too many,” she says.
I smile because her wit is one of my favorite things about her. But when she doesn’t reciprocate, I realize she’s being serious.
“Well, if you’re anything like you are at work, I’m sure they’ve all been incredibly fortunate to have you,” I say.
She closes her eyes and shakes her head. “I highly doubt any of them would say that if you asked them.”
I can tell there’s a story there, but I don’t ask. It doesn’t make sense to me, though. The way Mila thinks, the way she manages GlobeTrotter, I have no doubt she’s been anything but an asset.
I’ve never seen this vulnerable side to her. I know Mila is fully capable of taking care of herself, but I wish there were something I could do to reassure her she’s nothing short of amazing—without sounding like a man obsessed.
“Well, I’m fortunate to have you,” I tell her. I realize I should add a work clause here, that I mean I’m fortunate to have her at AppInnovate, but it’s more than that, so I just leave it.
Her eyes meet mine then and she sucks her bottom lip between her teeth, releasing it before saying, “Thank you.”
“It’s the truth,” I say.
Our gazes are locked now, as we move slowly to the music. It feels like a moment. The kind where I want to kiss her so badly, as if there’s a voice in my head chanting it at me.Kiss her! Kiss her! Kiss her!I could easily do it; our faces are only inches apart. I lean in slightly, feeling this intense desire to want to close the distance between us. When she doesn’t pull back, I lean in even more.
“Grayson,” she says, her voice barely audible over the music, as she tilts her head toward mine, our noses nearly touching.
Our breaths mingle and I can feel my heart rate picking up speed as my eyes travel down to her lips, the ones I’ve wanted to kiss since the day I laid eyes on her. But I’ve kept a professional distance because I kept telling myself it was the right thing to do, and maybe it is, but I don’t really care right now. I should, though, because she’s got Dave.
Dave.
Crap.
How did I forget about that? We were literally just talking about him when we were sitting in the VIP section.
