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And I know exactly where to find her.
6
AMELIA
“Oh my God, this place isAMAZING,” Maddy screams in my ear as she plops happily onto a velvet couch. She readjusts herBridetiara and waves at a waiter for more champagne. “I can’t believe your new boss got us the Mirrorball.”
“Me neither.” The Mirrorball is a glittering three story club filled with chandeliers, mirrors, disco balls, and frosted glass. Floors two and three both feature a balcony that looks down at the dance floor. Cole got us the whole top floor, which means our group can lounge, drink, and have fun without being bothered. And when we feel like a little more adventure, we can wander down to the first floor to bust some moves and enjoy the admiring glances of strangers.
I kick off my heels and join Maddy on the couch, happy. Maddy’s one of those women who has off-the-charts charisma and a million great ideas. In the eight years I’ve known her, she’s been a nanny, an actress, a bartender, a barista, a tutor, a plus-size model, a sales associate, and fallen for one and a half pyramid schemes. She’s dated more people (both men andwomen) than I can remember. Hell, half of her exes are at this party. She’s lovable chaos incarnate.
But in the last year, it’s like her life has finally fallen into place. She’s had the same job for eleven whole months, running social media for sex toy company. And she accidentally fell in love with her roommate—a calm blond giant of a man who sees Maddy exactly as she is and loves her for it.
I’d be jealous if I didn’t love her so much. We moved to New York together after college, and while Maddy’s life is taking off, mine’s...not.
I mean, my career’s moving in the right direction, albeit slowly. My dating life, however...
An image flashes through my mind of Cole’s brilliant smile, his gravelly voice sayingI could kiss you, Amelia.
I toss back more champagne, telling myself the heat that runs through me at the memory is because of all the alcohol I’ve had. It’s not at all because he’s gorgeous and infuriating. It’s definitely not because winning a smile from that world-weary face feels like a goddamn accomplishment.
He should smile more, I decide. If he smiled more, I could build up an immunity to it. It wouldn’t make a girl feelspecial.
“Seriously,” Maddy says. “I owe you and him a giant thank you. I’ll send you both some free samples from work.”
“Please no,” I say, struck with a horrifying vision of Cole opening a package at the office and finding sex toys from Maddy’s office.
It’s a little too easy to imagine him holding up a set of handcuffs and smirking, one eyebrow raised.
Nope, not thinking about that, I tell myself.
“So tell me,” Maddy slurs. “What’s it like to work in a big fancy office?”
I shrug. “Boring. I crank out designs all day for projects I don’t care about. Then I go home and...”
“And?”
I shrug, not quite ready to tell Maddy about my extracurricular work with Cole. It’s the one part of my job that isn’t boring. Even if it weren’t for the bonus Cole promised me, I’d want him to win his board member vote. He’s fierce about how much he cares about his company. And that passion...it’s contagious.
Maddy eyes me, contemplative. “Well, maybe boring is good. You gave too much of yourself to your last jobs.”
I sigh. She’s not wrong.
Maddy raises her glass like she’s making a grand proclamation. “I’ve decided. You may keep working for this Cole person. Just don’t sleep with any of your coworkers this time.”
I choke on my drink.
“Hey,” Maddy leans over to look at some of our friends, all clustered around a tall brown-haired guy in a suit. It’s hard to tell in club lighting, but some glittering light from the disco ball catches his profile, and for a second he looks a lot like...
“Did you get me astripper?” Maddy asks, delighted.
“No,” I say, as one of the women boldly tries to help the man out of his tie. Someone else slides cash into the pocket of his slacks.
The man looks around, firmly pushing back on the wandering hands of the women fawning over him. His eyes catch mine, and that’s when I know.
It’s Cole.
Shit. Fuck. Why is he here?
