Page 25 of 7 Nights of Sin

It was all very strategic, and I was proud of myself for coming up with it. I was good at my job, and now Kevin was going to see that.

I didn't know why that part mattered, really. I knew I was good at my job. I had plenty of successful plans and campaigns that had worked out well. It didn't matter if Kevin realized I was good or not, but there was a part of me that wanted the validation.

We'd both been devoted to our goals, and his success was much more in everyone's face than mine.

I was still scrambling for recognition most of the time.

When he was finally released from shaking hands and signing autographs, he found his way over to me.

I had a cup of truly terrible coffee in my hand, and I used it as an excuse to avoid looking at him.

"You're a genius," he said. "I didn't even know they were going to have those pictures from the shelter."

"I know," I replied, and the answer went for both parts of his statement. "Your surprise needed to be real. And it was, so it worked. People will buzz about that for a while, and then we'll move onto the next thing. If you can stay out of the bar for longer than a few days, we might just pull this off."

"I said I was sorry about that," he said, pouting a little. "I didn't think it was going to be that big a deal."

"You never do," I shot back. "Anyway, we're making progress. Just stay out of trouble, and it should be fine."

I turned to leave. We'd done what we came to do for the day, and there wasn't any other reason to hang around.

But Kevin caught my wrist, keeping me from pulling away.

"What?" I asked, turning back to look at him.

"Let's do something tonight," he said.

I frowned. "What?"

"I know you know more words than that," he teased. "Let's do something. Dinner, drinks, dancing. Whatever. To celebrate, you know?"

"It's too early to celebrate. You could still fuck this up completely."

"Your faith in me is astounding. You know what I mean. Let me take you out. As a thank you for your hard work."

I narrowed my eyes at him, finally shaking him off my wrist so I could fold my arms. "You already sent me flowers and coffee. And pastries. You don't have to keep thanking me."

"Yes, I do," he said. "You're saving my career. You know how much it means to me."

"Oh, I definitely know how much your career means to you," I said, and even though I was trying to keep the bitterness out of my tone, it was hard to do.

He could hear it, though. I could tell from the way he frowned as he looked at me. "Your career meant just as much to you. Don't try to pretend like it didn't."

I opened my mouth to tell him the thing I'd been holding back since the moment he'd broken up with me six years ago, but then closed it, shaking my head. "I'm not pretending anything."

For a moment, he just stood there, looking at me, and then he shook himself and that smile was back. "Okay, then. So...dinner?"

He was so damned persistent, and I knew the smart thing to do was to tell him no. That I didn't have any interest in being around him outside of the time we had to spend together for me to do my job.

But he was just as suave and charming as ever, and the thought of being taken out in appreciation of the work I was doing was tempting. No one had ever done that before, and usually when clients sent gifts to the office after the fact, my boss commandeered them, so I never saw any of it.

"You know what?" I said, not quite believing what I was about to agree to. "Fine. Sure. Dinner."

Kevin's eyes lit up, and his smile only grew. He'd probably been sure I was going to say no.

"Great," he said. "I can pick you up."

I shook my head. I really didn't want him coming to my place and trying to talk his way in or poke around or whatever. "No, that's fine. Just text me the details and I'll meet you there."

The firm stare I leveled at him hopefully impressed the fact that if he argued I wouldn't come at all.

It clearly did the trick, and he nodded. "Sure. Seven?"

"Seven's fine."

"Probably the earliest you've left work in ages, right?" he teased me.

I rolled my eyes, but he was right. He didn't have to know that, though. "Goodbye, Kevin," I said, turning again to leave.

"See you tonight!" he called after me.

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