Page 10 of Serving the Maestro

“If anybody should be worried, it’s Danny.” Cam grinned at me, mirth in her eyes and completely unaware of my discomfort. “Greg’s gay.”

“Oh.” Shooting a look at Danny, I caught sight of the blush on his cheeks and the echo of laughter in his eyes. “Danny does have a nice ass,” I pointed out.

Cam pretended to smack me with her playbill. “Mine. Go flirt with your date.”

“Yes,” Burton said, angling in his seat to face me better. “Come flirt with me. I promise I’ll be as easy as you want.”

The comment made Danny laugh, but Cam’s glance at me looked uncomfortable. Having her fuss over me wouldn’t make the play go by any quicker, so I just smiled and shrugged.

The lights dimmed as an announcement came over the speaker. I returned to my seat, and as I settled in, Burton leaned closer. “Speaking of nice asses...”

I bit back the retort on the tip of my tongue.

Instead, I gave him a blank look. “Hmm? Oh, look. It’s starting.”

I had practice when it came to rebuffing assholes. Any woman with a job in the gaming industry dealt with shit. Many still assumed tech and gaming were careers for guys, like having a dick was some imaginary joystick that made them more qualified.

Cam tended to be more in your face about brushing off jerks—or calling them out, while I kept altercations low-key, avoiding them altogether if possible.

Being stuck in a private booth with a groper on my left and my pregnant best friend on the right made it hard to avoid the douchebag gracefully.

Halfway through the first act, I had to smack away the hand he put on my knee, wishing that Cam hadn’t found me in the bar. I could have spent the evening flirting with the hot guy I’d mistaken for my blind date.

Why couldn’t I get hooked up with somebody like that guy instead of...Burton?

I was attractive. Successful, too. I wasn’t hung up on my age or the fact that I’d noticed tiny lines fanning out from the corner of my eyes earlier this year. Smile lines, right?

But no matter what happened, I always found the assholes. I knew good guys existed. Cam had one—Danny was devoted to her. She made more money than he did, which didn’t bother him.

He had already made arrangements to take some time off the first month after the baby was born, so Cam wasn’t going it alone.

I’d never been one for anything long-term, true. But there were times when it would be...nice to spend some time with a guy who wasn’t constantly looking for excuses to paw me and was entirely focused on what he wanted. Most were ignorant of whether or not I was interested. Then if we ever made it to bed, they were clueless if I was even aroused.

Again, the gorgeous guy from earlier came to mind, a frisson of heat shivering through my veins. The look in his eyes had been one of interest, and for the first time in forever, I’d actually felt a tug of heat in return.

I’d pretty much given up on sex a while back.

My last encounter had...sucked. The guy and I had both been attracted, and after a couple of dates, we had sex.

It ended three minutes later, three minutes of him lurching inside me, fingers digging into my hips, and then he’d climaxed, climbed off me, and grabbed his clothes, barely pausing long enough to throw away the rubber.

That was when I decided I was done trying to make the relationship thing happen.

I should have stood by that decision and refused this bullshit blind date.

As the curtain descended for intermission, I deliberately turned my back on Burton and smiled at Cam. “Ladies room?”

* * *

“He’s obnoxious, isn’t he?” Cam said.

This was our fourth trip to the Ladies room so far—we’d gone once more during the second act of the play, again after it ended, and here we were now, in the restroom of my favorite restaurant, all to get a break for Burton McGrabbyHands.

“Obnoxious is one word to describe him.” Since Cam had already picked up on the problem, I saw no reason to dance around the subject.

I wished I’d stuck to my decision to go home after the play, but I thought surely, Burton wouldn’t continue to be such a twat once we were seated at a table and talking.

Plus, I was starving.

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