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“Just before you got here,” he replies. “He’s going to send them the paperwork.”
“Great. Tell me if you need anything,” I say without thinking and catch the confused look in Lisa’s eyes.
“About time you got here,” says a classically beautiful, dark-haired woman with big doe eyes and a gentle smile. I lean forward to kiss her on the cheek.
“Brynn, I’d like you to meet my girlfriend, Lisa. Lisa, this is Charlie’s wife, Brynn.” I reluctantly release her hand so she can shake the one Brynn offers.
“It’s great to finally meet you,” Brynn says. “I love what you’re doing with the blogs.”
“Don’t forget the pitch documents,” Charlie adds. “Lisa was a big contributor to those.”
“Thank you.” Lisa ducks her head. “I’ve enjoyed working on them.”
“You’re a very talented writer,” Brynn offers.
“You don’t know how right you are, sis,” I tell her. “Lisa has an agent chasing her for her kids’ books.”
“Chris,” Lisa hisses, swatting me on the arm.
“Oops, I forgot. I’m not supposed to brag about her,” I tell Brynn as I sling my arm around Lisa’s shoulders and drop a kiss on her forehead.
“Why not? That’s great news,” says Charlie.
“It’s just an inquiry,” Lisa downplays. “It doesn’t mean anything at this point.”
“Only a matter of time,” I say, giving her a gentle squeeze. She responds by pinching me in the side. “Okay, okay, I won’t tell anyone else.”
“I know publishing a book has always been your goal, but I hope that doesn’t mean you’ll be leaving us. You’re a big part of why we got this far,” Charlie says. I watch Lisa’s cheeks turn pink with the compliment and wonder at how she can be both sexy and adorable at the same time.
“It’s really too early to talk about anything being published,” Lisa says. “But even if that happens, I’d love to stay at Engage. I really enjoy what we’re doing there.”
“Good. I think Charlie would be lost without you,” Brynn says.
I notice Lisa’s cheeks are still flushed, and she’s fidgeting a bit, so I excuse us both to grab some food.
“Why do the compliments make you uncomfortable?” I ask her as we fill our plates.
“You saw that, huh? Thanks for the rescue.” She smiles bashfully.
“No problem. But they’re right, you are talented, and you are a big part of their success. Why does that make you blush?”
“I don’t know. I guess I don’t know how to respond.”
“Don’t you think you’re talented?” I frown.
“Well, sure, but saying that sounds arrogant.” She fidgets with the napkin she picked up. I hate to see her uncomfortable, but it’s so refreshing to be with someone who doesn’t crave attention or praise. God, I love her.
“There’s a difference between confidence and arrogance, and no one would mistake you for arrogant. Just say thank you.” I place a quick kiss on her lips and am rewarded with a smile that guts me. I am so gone for this woman.
“No wonder I couldn’t find you. Your face is stuck to his.” A dark-haired woman sidles up next to Lisa.
“Jen!” Lisa admonishes, looking around to see who may have heard her. I stifle a laugh. There’s no way Lisa can avoid drawing attention, but her desire to is sweet. Fortunately, she didn’t catch Simon winking at me slyly from across the buffet table or she’d really be uncomfortable.
“What?” Jen says. “Is that bad?”
“Chris, do you remember my friend Jen from the launch party?” Lisa asks through gritted teeth as she sets down her plate.
“We didn’t meet then, but yeah. It’s nice to see you.” I give her my hand.
