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“Hello, Luna. Blake and I were just discussing you,” Jane said.
“What good things did Blake have to say?” I asked, putting on my for-journalists smile.
“He’s hinting that he may be working for you next year.”
Oh. And here I thought we were keeping this under wraps, for Pedro’s sake. I’d have to let Rafe know about this, especially now that Jane knew. This was not the way Pedro should find out, and if Rafe didn’t take care of this, I’d kill him.
“Is that so. He’d make a great addition to the kitchen crew. I hear he’s a wizard with a wok,” I said, mocking an article I’d recently read about him in a British lifestyle magazine. Much of the article was devoted to Blake’s culinary skills. Apparently, he loved making homemade bread.
“I am, and maybe I’ll let you sample my marvels.”
“You’ve got a date, Blake.”
“I have to run,” Jane said, watching Devin walk out to the first tee. “Have fun today.”
Blake turned to face me, his blue eyes seeming to smile. “Nice to know you read the article.” I rolled my eyes, so he continued, “So Flynn and Mathers, huh? Now, that is a real treat.”
“You arranged that, didn’t you?” I said, wagging a finger at him.
“Maybe,” Blake said with a laugh.
“And when do I get a home-cooked dinner out of you?”
“Why not tonight? I rented a great flat in London for a few days. It beats a damn hotel room.”
I’d been teasing, but inside, my stomach was roiling. Go to his flat for dinner? That invitation hinted at other suggestions, ones I was never going to entertain.
“How do you know I’m available?” I hedged.
“Because I was supposed to meet the Saudi Arabian prince, but I turned down the invitation.”
I gasped and quickly caught myself. “That was evil of you.”
“And I did arrange for Flynn and Geoffrey to be partners. I know how he loves to hobnob with people out of his league.”
“And you did all this so you could have dinner with me?”
“Absolutely. So after you drop him off at the airport tonight, come to my flat.”
I found myself adding his address to the contacts in my phone. Was this a bad idea? Of course it was a bad idea, and I should have said no, but what harm could dinner do? Dinner with a colleague? Even as I justified it to myself, I wondered what I was doing agreeing to it. I was jeopardizing my relationship with Devin for a bit of fun and attention.
We got to the first hole a few minutes before our tee time. I’d played a lot of sports at school and in my free time, but I didn’t have a lot of golf experience. I could hit the ball straight to a reasonable distance, but my putting game wasn’t great. Blake was a much better golfer and beat me by eight strokes. We returned to the clubhouse laughing at a joke Blake had told about a chicken and a duck and something foul. Devin was scowling at a table with a beer in hand.
“How did it go?” I asked, dropping a kiss onto his cheek.
“Geoffrey Mathers has to be the most boring person in the whole fucking world! And in case you needed more evidence of that, he had to run off for a poetry reading this afternoon. He said it was an emergency. Fuck me.”
“You thought I was boring, and look at us now.” Devin didn’t laugh, and I realized it was no time for joking around. I turned to Blake. “Thank you for a nice day,” I said, overly formal. “I’ll see you in Austria.” That was code for,Don’t say anything about dinner.
“Definitely,” he said with a wink.
Devin and I drove back to London. A dark cloud was hovering over his head, and when we got to my flat, there was just enough time for him to pack some clothes and get to the airport on time.
“I’ll be back Tuesday,” he said, kissing me distractedly. He exited the car, and I watched him walk into the airport. I sighed and pulled out my phone to check Blake’s address. The place he was renting wasn’t far from my flat, and I found it easily.
While he prepared dinner, I wandered around the spacious flat. With its expensive artwork and trendy furniture, it looked like something out of an influencer’s Instagram account. I could hear the sounds of pots and pans rattling up against one another. I walked into the brightly lit kitchen and asked him if he needed help, but he declined.
“What will we be having?” I asked.
