Page 66 of The Shake Off

There’s no way she couldn’t smell sex in the air.

But Nathalie had walked in, and the first thing she’d seen had been Ace smiling so naturally he was all she had eyes for. Mine, however, rolled so hard they almost stuck.

Was there no one unaffected by him?

I quickly glanced down at his pants, where thankfully nothing seemed too obvious, or maybe the black trackpants were hiding them.

Nathalie’s head moved between Ace and me. “I’m so sorry, did I interrupt?

“No, not at all,” Ace answered before I could, with that smile that ensured he got whatever he wanted. “I just swung by on the way to practice to bring Payton her favorite cupcake.”

Oh dear God.

Nathalie’s mouth dropped open. “How kind. I’m Nathalie.”

“Payton’s boss. I’ve heard so much about you. It’s great to finally meet you.”

My lip curled in disbelief. He was laying it on thicker than… actually, I dunno if there was anything thicker than the way he was smiling at Nathalie right now. If we were in a Disney movie, a little sparkle would have hit his tooth while he was backlit by a rainbow.

“I hope you got the bag of merch Payton brought for you.”

Nathalie’s eyes widened, her head still flicking between the two of us. “Yes, yes I did, thank you. It’s why I came down; I’ve been out of the country. It’s so generous, I can’t thank you enough.”

“Happy to help, just let Payton know if there’s anything else you want. If you ever need tickets…”

She clasped her hands to her chest in a way that I never imagined Nathalie Cheung would do. I almost wanted to shake her or slap some sense into her. Both even, especially when she started giggling like a schoolgirl.

This woman had met world leaders, academics, pioneers of industry, and yet here she was, drooling like a twelve-year-old at a Harry Styles concert.

“That’s very kind. Wow, I never expected… anyway, I came down here to say thank you, but also to let you know you’re being moved this week.”

Maybe I wouldn’t jump out of the window after all.

My eyes widened and I forgot Ace was standing there. “You’re moving me to the fiftieth floor?”

She nodded, with a smile.

“Thank you so much, Nathalie. This is amazing news, I’m so grateful to you.”

“H.R. will touch base today, but I wanted to give you the heads up.”

I grinned as widely as I could. Ace might be annoying, but I wouldn’t have my promotion without him. “Thank you, again.”

“I’ll see you around,” she smiled, glancing over to Ace one last time, and paused with her hand on the door frame. “In fact, my husband and I are having a small get together at our house next month, we do it every summer when the kids are in camp. It’s casual, we fire up the grill with some friends, have some drinks... Why don’t you both come? Payton, we can talk plans for your future.”

I grabbed the edge of the chair behind me, right before I blanked out.

I couldn’t be certain – except I was absolutely certain – I’d just been invited to the Nathalie Cheung’s legendary summer soiree. I’d never met anyone who’d attended, so anything I’d heard was the stuff of legend, but safe to say it was attended by the literary elite.

As I hadn’t heard from Nathalie since I’d dropped off the signed memorabilia last week, nor had I checked with her P.A. to see if she’d gotten it for fear of looking too needy, I’d slowly been convincing myself of the possibility I wouldn’t be moving anywhere.

Now here I was, minutes away from the most intense orgasm of my life, and I’d been invited to Nathalie Cheung’s for her summer soiree and I was moving to my dream job.

Maybe there was something in this mojo thing of Ace’s.

However, Nathalie Cheung’s plus Ace equaled a recipe for disaster. Thankfully, baseball players never got any time off.

“Yes, I’d love to, though I’m sure Ace will have a game, but please count me in.”

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