Page 47 of A Hard Sell

Thomas told them about Harvey’s famous temper, and the time he had fired nearly the entire branch over a bungled farming equipment campaign. “If you even so much asmentiona thresher around him now…” Thomas shook his head. “Watch out.”

“Ilona is a little intimidating, but at least you know she’s not going to snap and fire you on the spot,” Rory said.

Finn laughed. “I don’t know about that. Luka, remember that copy editor who was messing around with half the assistants?”

“What? No.” Luka frowned, trying to recall.

“It must have been before you came. Yeah, it turned out this guy had slept with like five different women in the span of two months and none of them knew about the others. He got fired the second Ilona found out, officially for not disclosing any of the relationships.”

“Oh.” Luka gulped. Finn didn’t know he had spent several months fucking Morgan. He could feel Thomas’ eyes sliding over to look at him.

“Speaking of sleeping around”—Finn took another slice of turkey—“you seeing anyone these days, Luka?”

Oh, that smirk of his…The heat crept up Luka’s face again.Damn it, why do I blush so easily?“Nope.”

“I don’t want to be that person, but you know what? My cousin Dimitri just broke up with his boyfriend. I think you’d like him,” Rory piped up.

“Uh…” Luka swallowed hard. “No, thanks. I’m good.”

“He’s cute, too!” Rory added. “I promise. He grew up in Paris, has an accent and everything. He also has like four dogs, but who doesn’t like dogs, right?”

“No, it’s just… Thanks, but I…”Oh God. Help.Luka floundered.

“You have your eye on someone else?” Finn finished.

Luka gave Finn his best murder eyes. “No,” he said with gritted teeth. “I’m just not…interested in dating anyone right now.”Ah, fuck.

“Oh. Okay.” Rory smiled over at Thomas. “What about you?”

Thomas froze, eyes wide. “Um…I don’t date much…since I move around so often.”

“Don’t you get lonely?” Rory asked.

“Well… I— No. I mean, yes, but…”

Rory chuckled. “It’s okay. You can let me know if you change your mind.” They scooped up a forkful of stuffing. “Either of you.” Then they caught Finn giving them a tiny head shake. A glimmer of understanding crossed their face. “Or not,” they added.

Luka was torn between relief that Thomas hadn’t said anything about Morgan—he still hadn’t mentioned their night out together—but also disappointment that he said he didn’t date. Not that hewantedto date Thomas, because that would be a bad idea. Terrible. Obviously.

When they finished their meal, Rory brought out the dessert. “Apple or pumpkin?” they asked.

“Both, please,” Luka and Thomas replied at the same time. They smiled at each other.

Rory cut them a generous slice of each while Finn added whipped cream. The room was quiet as they dug in.

“Did you make this, Luka?” Rory asked after a few bites of the apple pie. “The crust is amazing.”

“I did, actually,” Luka said.

“Remember the time you made potato salad for the staff picnic?” Finn asked.

“No!” Luka shook his head hard. “No, I do not. Moving on.”

Thomas looked at Finn with interest. “What happened?”

“He gave us all food poisoning.” Finn snickered.

Thomas froze with the fork halfway to his mouth. Luka covered his face with his hand. “Fuck.”

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