Page 80 of Just a Heartbeat Away

“Friend of yours?” Greg asked.

“What? Oh. Sort of. I just know him from these happy hours. So, you’re a sub?”

Via felt a buzz in the pocket of her trousers. And she knew, she justknew, that it wasn’t from Fin. There were a few other people who texted her on a regular basis. But some sexy, haughty, spine-dancing sixth sense told her exactly who’d just texted her. And she could feel his eyes on the side of her face as she made small talk with Greg.

She kept her eyes on Greg’s face while he answered her question, but she couldn’t for the life of her have repeated a single thing he’d said. In fact, it was as if Greg had started speaking French. She waited a few more seconds, nodding politely before she pulled the phone out of her pocket, taking a sip of her beer at the same time. She kept her face completely neutral as she opened the text from Seb. Not only did she not want him to see her giggling like a schoolgirl at any text he sent her way, the rest of these ladies at the table had such a nose for gossip, they’d be on her in a second about what cute guy she was texting with.

Got yourself quite the fan club, Miss DeRosa.

She looked up at Seb, who was grinning at her across the table.Could say the same for you, she texted back, noticing that if Rachel leaned any closer to Seb, her breasts would actually be resting on his arm.

“Hey, Sade, how’s the wedding planning going?” Via asked, leaning back so as not to cut Greg out of the conversation completely.

“Oh, a whirlwind. Romantic. Stressful. The whole nine.”

“Did you invite everyone from school?” Cat asked Sadie.

“Sure did.”

“Jesus. That’s a lot of people.”

“Well, certain family excluded, we wanted a big, honking celebration. The gaudier the better.” Sadie shrugged. “Wasn’t that long ago it wasn’t even legal. We’re ready to sing it from the mountaintops.”

“I love it,” Via said, grinning at Sadie. “Is it gonna be traditional? Wacky? Whimsical? Hippy dippy?”

“Yes,” Sadie answered, making Via tip her head back and laugh. Her phone had buzzed a few seconds ago, but she could show a little restraint, couldn’t she?

She let the conversation flow on around her, like she was a rock and it was a stream. She finally looked down at her phone. And then she laughed out loud.

You mean Grace and Shelly?

She rolled her eyes again, before her gaze fell on a very interesting sight. Geeky Greg was leaning back in his chair, talking to Rachel. And she was talking back. She was still sitting way too close to Seb, in Via’s humble opinion. But she was tilted away from him.

I think I spoke too soon. Greg just stole your girl.

She caught his eye and looked pointedly at the two people sitting between them, Rachel and Greg.

I’ve gotta say,Seb texted back almost immediately.Greg’s kind of blowing my mind right now.

Via bit her lip to keep from grinning like a giddy, flirty fool.Greg’s got game.

Then they were both laughing. Looking down at their phones, sure, but laughing together, even from across the table.

Seconds later, Via got another text, but it wasn’t from Seb. It was from Cat. Via raised her eyes to her colleague sitting on the other side of Sadie and opened the message.

I think he came here tonight for you.

Via’s breath caught in her throat and suddenly she felt a little ill. Flirting with Sebastian was one thing. Having her coworkers knowing and discussing it was a whole other bowl of soup. Via scooted her chair back and squeezed Sadie’s shoulder. “Just hitting the bathroom real quick.”

And then she was gone down the back hall and into the bathroom. She looked at herself in the mirror over the sink and almost groaned. She was pink-cheeked and messy-haired. Her lipstick was long gone, and her eye makeup was just a touch clumpier than she liked. She looked like a teenager who’d just gotten free tickets to a band she was dying to see. She looked like she’d just been kissed for the first time. She looked like—

The bathroom door swung open, and Cat strode in, chagrin in her eyes and both hands extended toward Via. “Oh, honey, I didn’t mean to embarrass you.”

Via held her hands out for Cat and let herself get swallowed up in a hug. “It’s okay.”

“No,” Cat said vehemently, pulling back from Via and squeezing her shoulders. “It’s not okay, I should have kept my big trap shut. None of that is my business.”

“No.” Via waved her hand. “There’s nothing there that could even be your business. There’s nothing.”

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