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“Right.” Chris holds up his whiskey glass like he’s just unearthed a precious memory. “So your roommate is connected with us, you’re helping with the reunion…and now interviewing for a job at WHG?” I can practically hear the swallow I make, nodding. “Forgive me.” He looks at Fitz, but nothing about his gaze is apologetic. “I just don’t remember Piper here being among your friends in school.”
Fitz’s hand on my thigh tightens, and I settle mine over it.
“We weren’t close in high school, no.” Understatement, but sure. “The reunion reconnected us.”
“Which isadorable,” Andrea pipes in from the other side of Frannie. I think both of them are thoroughly enjoying some kid-free time, they’ve been attached at the hip and swapping complaints since we got here.
“Adorable,” Chris echoes, and then sips his whiskey. He gives us a faint smile, but I can see Paula’s appraising look on her husband from next to him. “I know Francesca has several top candidates for the position on her team. I just want to make sure that whoever she hires is…” He eyes me, and for a moment, I feel like he has x-ray vision and I’m immediately uncomfortable. “Dedicated to WHG, not just one person there.”
“Chris.” Paula’s voice is low, and the grip on her wine glass is so firm I’m a little worried it’s going to shatter. But I’m hardly noticing - because there’s a ringing in my ears, the flame of embarrassment creeping up my cheeks.
“Piper is more than dedicated,” Frannie says, leaning forward, “and more than qualified.”
Chris quirks a brow.
“Did you even look at her resume?” Fitz asks quietly, and all heads swivel in his direction. I’m trying not to dart out of the room, my conflict aversion at DEFCON 1, and truthfully, this whole conversation isn’t fair to Freddy, who’s looking almost as uncomfortable as I feel. This is his day, not an opportunity for his dad to grill Fitz’s new girlfriend. Again. Fitz’s words, his stories about his father, all come rearing to the surface, fueling the rage bubbling under my skin. “Or did you just see AllHearts, hear we were dating, and make up your mind then and there?” Chris lets out a little surprised noise.
“Of course I looked at her resume, I was in her interview. I just don’t see what years of designing-"
“I have a degree in marketing.” It’s out of my mouth before I can stop it, and everyone swivels to look at me. Fuck. Delmonico, what are you doing? “I have a degree in marketing from this school, right here, the same one your daughter went to.” I gesture toward Frannie, finding my voice. “I was a three time MSO international champion, which I also know means something to you, considering you helped fund several of those trips while Frannie was involved.” He looks a little taken aback, so I keep rolling, even as Fitz’s hand might as well be a vice grip on my thigh. “And prior to AllHearts, I worked for what’s arguably one of the largest marketing and public relations agencies in the country, on accounts with annual marketing budgets three times WHG’s total budget.” I pull my napkin out of my lap, setting it on the empty space where my plate would normally go.
“So I’m sorry, Mr. Westfall, if you don’t think years of designing for a multi-million dollar company is relevant to the work I would do at WHG. And maybe it’s not.” I push my chair back, standing. “But I do know what I want, and what I need, and what I needed after my husband died was a change.” Mateo does a near spit take next to me, choking on his water. “My time at AllHearts has run its course, and I’m trying to find somewhere to land where I don’t feel stagnated or made to feel less than I am. But if this is the way business is conducted, maybe I should rethink my application.”
Pretty much everyone’s mouths are hanging open, and Freddy’s head bobs between looking at me, and his father across the table, who’s just as shocked. But I don’t care. I turn on my heel, heading for the bathroom, locking the single door behind me with a click as my heart practically beats out of my chest. My head falls forward, forehead on the cold wood, and I try to even out my breathing, my heart rate, which my watch is telling me is too high. No, shit.
From the other side of the door, there’s a soft knock.
“Someone’s in here.” There’s a moment of silence before the response.
“It’s me.” Fitz’s voice is low, but I know it well enough, and click open the door to see him on the other side, his chest heaving as much as mine, eyes blazing like he wants to burn down the world. Good. Maybe I’ll let him. He pushes past me into the single room, and I shut the door behind him, locking it. I lean back against the linoleum counter of the sink, crossing my arms. He doesn’t say anything, he just looks at me, into me, and I feel uncomfortable again.
“I’m sorry,” I say finally, and his brows knit together. “This is Freddy’s day, and I just ruined it by-"
Before I can finish my sentence, he’s crossed the room, grabbing both sides of my face. I make a surprised yelp, but Fitz crashes his lips into mine in a ferocious kiss that I’m so stunned by, it takes me a second to realize what’s happening. Once I figure it out, I melt against him, one hand finding his hair and the other on his hip, pulling him into me. His kiss is so heated, so needy, that when we pull apart, we’re both gasping, and I look up at him, blinking through my lashes.
“I, uh,” is all I can manage, and a smile slides across his face. I realize I can feel him, hard and standing to attention against my thigh, and I glance down with a surprised laugh.
“That was,” he says, still meeting my eye as one of his hands reaches down, pulling the hem of my dress up until he’s sliding his hand across my thigh, up the shorts I have on underneath, “quite possibly one of the sexiest things I’ve ever seen.”
I can’t help it. I let out an unladylike, surprised snort. He just beams down at me, his hand cupping one of my asscheeks.
“And if we weren’t in a public place, these would be off and I’d be showing you just how much I enjoyed watching you tell my dad off.” He gives my butt a pat, and then lets my skirt fall back down. I pout, and his throaty laugh sends a shiver up my spine. “But the last thing we need is to get arrested for indecent exposure on Fred’s graduation day.”
“It wouldn’t be indecent exposure,” I argue, surprising even myself, but he just laughs and runs his thumb over my lip. I want to take it into my mouth, remind him exactly what I can do to him, but at this point, I don’t think that’s fair to either of us.
“Do you want to get out of here?” His gaze changes, the lust clouding it moments before gone as he observes me quietly. “We can just kill time until we head to Lawrence?”
“No,” I sigh, closing my eyes and giving a resigned groan. I turn in his arms, facing the mirror and attempting to adjust myself. In the harsh lighting of the bulbs above the mirror, both our eyes shine brightly. The deep blue dress I’m wearing is pretty well coordinated with Fitz’s navy suit, and we look…good together. “Hm,” I muse, one hand reaching up to feel the lapel of his jacket. I meet his eye in the mirror. “You sure I can’t convince you into a quickie?” He laughs, snaking his arms around my waist and leaning down to set his chin on my shoulder.
“You probably could, but I’d much rather take my time with you.” He tilts his head, his nose finding my hair, inhaling deeply. “Thank you for coming today.” I meet his eye again.
“Of course.” He breathes in one last time, and then separates from me, the cold air hitting my back and making me frown. As he adjusts himself, he leans forward, giving me a quick peck before I turn and open the bathroom door.
What I was not expecting was Paula Westfall, sitting on the leather bench outside the bathroom, looking up at us with a huge grin on her face.
Chapter 53
Fitz
