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“I think so,” I admit, grabbing my briefcase. “You?”
“As I’ll ever be,” he says, extending his left arm out to suggest we move to the big table. He presses his right hand to the small of my back, gently urging me to take the lead.
I step out in front of him, acutely aware of the point of contact between the two of us. As hard as I try to focus on my forward momentum, it’s impossible thanks to his touch, and I miss the first of two steps that drops us down to the main floor.
Because who in their right mind would put the bar level slightly higher than the main floor? Don’t they know drunk people have to traverse these floors?
My briefcase goes flying and I lurch forward, my life flashing before my eyes. Or maybe I just wish death was imminent.
Because someone kill me now.
Horseman of Death, where you at?
“Whoa there,” London says, his voice suddenly beside my left ear. It causes all of the hairs on that side of my neck to stand on end.
His hands wrap around my waist, pulling me upright and closer to his body than I have any right to be. Yet, for the briefest of moments, I can’t help but revel in the way he feels and the warmth radiating from his hands and body.
“You, uh, really should do something about those steps. They came out of nowhere. Talk about a hazard. I mean, I can only imagine what kinds of drunken escapades happen thanks to the ridiculous placement. Your insurance has to be through the roof. Truly, there must be nightly calamities with those bad boys,” I babble, trying to right myself and deflect from the fire racing straight to my cheeks.
London chuckles, releasing me to pick up my briefcase. “Surprisingly, it’s not often. But at night, the lights are low and the steps are lit up. So maybe that helps.”
“Oh, well, yes. That would definitely help. Big flashing lights definitely change the game. Am I right? I mean, you’d think with the lights on full blast right now I would have noticed them, butwhoo—so not the case. It’s like they’re just begging to be tripped over. Maybe the psychedelic carpeting did it. You know, like hypnotizing me to continue on to my death?“
Stop talking Lily, for the love of all that’s holy.
I fan myself, trying to alleviate the humiliation. “A—anyway.I’m alive. All’s well that ends well. Back to business?”
A smirk tugs at the corner of London’s lips and he holds out the briefcase to me. “Would you like me to file an incident report, Lily?”
His tone is playful and I can tell he’s having far too much fun witnessing my demise.
I swallow hard and tug on my shirt. “No, I’m fine, thank you very much.”
With a huff, I slide into the booth and place my briefcase on the table in front of me, all the while wishing I could crawl under the table and vanish from existence.
London slides into the booth from the other side and scoots around until he’s sitting right next to me. For some reason, that makes it so much harder to breathe.
Get yourself together, Lily.
This isLondon. He doesn’t care if you completely mortified yourself.
“So, I was thinking we should set a theme first,” London suggests, breaking me from my internal dialogue.
Relief floods me and I turn to face him. “Yeah? I was thinking the same thing. I have a few ideas—”
“Hey, London,” a woman who looks suspiciously like a blond version of Angelina Jolie says as she walks by. Her voice is wispy and it’s clear she’s got a thing for him.
London bristles, but doesn’t even look up at her. “Hi.”
“Oh, are you working on that top-secret event? Anything I can help with?” she asks, stopping at the table and bending forward so her boobs squish together and nearly fall out of her black top. She hasn’t even sent any indication that she sees me sitting here.
“Nope,” he responds.
I clear my throat and attempt to stand so I can shake her hand. But the table extends too far into the booth space. Instead, my hip knocks into the table and it tilts slightly, forcing Ms. Big Boobs to drop with the motion.
Half-standing there like a moron, with my arm extended to her, she gasps and steps back like I just stabbed her in the bosom.
“Sorry,” I blurt, holding up my hands as I sit back down.
