Page 2 of Just Between Us

“Cole Armas,” Cole says next to Levi. His lips spread into a thin smile, but there is something about it like his jade eyes haven’t quite caught on to the fact that his lips have spread into a smile.

“I know,” I say too quickly, and fight the urge to face-palm. Wincing, I try again. “Sorry, I mean, I’m Kai. I work for the project team. Downstairs.

“Nice to meet you Kai from the project team downstairs.”

He’s mocking me and if I wasn’t so flustered I’d try to say something smart back, but my brain is playing catch-up, nothing coherent forming so all I do is stare with my mouth open. Brilliant.

“I’ll see you later,” Cole says to Levi, gripping the back of his neck to pull him into another kiss. It’s quick but it’s obvious. It’s ownership, and possessiveness and my skin buzzes weirdly watching them.

Get a grip.

Cole walks past me, and I get a whiff of an expensive scent, something spicy with a hint of vanilla, I think, and then he’s out the door, leaving me alone with Levi.

“I thought there were two of you,” he says after a moment.

“Oh, Marie is sick.” I swallow the thick glob of saliva that has formed in my mouth. “She caught a pretty bad flu.”

Levi’s smile falters a little. “Sorry to hear that. I hope she makes a quick recovery.” He says it like he truly means it and strangely I feel my shoulders relax and my stomach unknot. “But it’s great to meet you, Kai. Erica spoke very highly of you.” He gestures to a chair. “Please, take a seat.”

Levi is surprisingly easy to talk to and I quickly realise there was no point in me working myself into a ball of anxiety in the first place. He listens intently, asks the hard questions when needed and nods in appreciation whenever I give him an answer he likes.

The hour we have together flies by and when I make my way back to my desk downstairs, I send a quick text to Marie to check in and let her know it went well. No need to worry after all. She replies instantly with a smiley face and a thumbs up.

She really must be sick; I think Marie can speak for the entirety of this country.

Connor is sitting at his desk next to mine, massaging the purple A-EYE stress ball in his hand into oblivion. It's worn down, mangled from his abuse and he throws it down onto the table when he spots me.

“How did it go? Did he roll his eyes and throw a book at you?”

I laugh, shaking my head. “I half wish he’d done that. I could get a nice payout and move to a sunny island somewhere,” I say. “But nah, he was surprisingly really cool.”

I feel a little bad for calling him a prick in my mind. He was nothing like the spoiled boarding school rich I was expecting. I understand why he’s earned the VP title so young. His mind works quicker than anyone I’ve ever met. When I accidentally calculated a number wrong in my head, he corrected it without missing a beat. Not that it proves he’s a genius, but it was pretty impressive.

Connor nods appreciatively. “Nice one, man. You think the powers that be will give us the budget then?”

“I don’t know, Jones will be a tough nut to crack but Levi was supportive so maybe?”

Even if Levi wouldn’t have any say in the project, he did sound pretty enthusiastic about it. Our team has been working on this proposal for weeks and if we land this, it could mean a good bonus and the promotion Marie has been working her ass off for.

“Wanna grab a drink at Mulligans to celebrate?Henry and I are trying to wrangle a group for a few pints.”

Mulligans is the office watering hole. It’s perfectly placed between several office buildings, the kind of place you could find your next hook-up which translates to the kind of place Connor loves.

“Can’t.” I groan to give the feeling that I hate the fact that I can’t join. “I have a date.”

Connor’s eyes widen and he loudly squeals, stamping his Nike-clad feet on the carpeted floor. I roll my eyes. I haven’t been on any dates since he joined our team a year ago, but he goes on one at least twice a week. I’d hate to see what his dating apps look like, but he is objectively hot with his perfectly chiselled jaw, sandy blond hair and blue eyes. It would be a disservice if he refused to date with a face like that.

“No way,” Connor says. “Kai Thomas is finally back on the scene. Everyone, hide your wives and your husbands. You’re going to be drowning in so much—” he pauses, looking around for any prying listeners and drops his voice, “You know what—you won’t know what to do with it. Just remember to wrap it up, I hear there’s a particularly nasty strain of chlamydia going around.”

I’m laughing before I can stop myself. Of course, he’d know that. “Sage advice as always but a disgusting visual nonetheless,” I tell him.

He raises his arms as if in surrender. “Hey, I’m just telling you what’s going on out there. I can be your Yoda if you’d like. Show you how to use your dick in case you’ve forgotten how.” Luckily, he whispers that last part, so Yasmina who is a desk over doesn’t hear.

I shake my head, turning back to my monitor. “It’s been a while but I’m sure it all still works the same,” I tell him.

Nine months to be exact but I don’t tell him that.

“Oh, my sweet baby Kai, you’d be surprised.” Connor winks.

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