Page 18 of A Hard Fit

“All right. Gotta shit ton of work to do. Hope this is short.”

Rory had their ‘they/them’ T-shirt on again under a crisp blazer. Two of their ear piercings were now connected with a small chain, threaded with delicate stars.

“Did you get that copyright issue sorted out?” Rory asked, as Finn flipped through his Sartini folder to make sure he had everything.

Finn blinked for a second, pushing an unruly curl behind his ear, then remembered mentioning it to Rory before he left last night. “Yeah, I did. Thanks.”

Their conversation was cut short when Ilona strode in. “Hello, everyone, we’ll get started now.”

Rory leaned over to mutter in Finn’s ear. “Where’s Luka?”

Finn hadn’t even noticed his friend wasn’t there. He swung his gaze around, searching, then took a quick glance at his phone to see if he had missed a text. He turned his head to reply. Rory’s lips were inches away. “I don’t know. Not like him to be late.”

Then Finn’s attention was grabbed by the man who followed Ilona into the room. Sothiswas Thomas Badgley. Never had a nickname fit so well. Big Bad Wolf, indeed. He was stunning—there was no denying it—although a little scary-looking. His expensive suit expertly framed his thick shoulders and the rest of his muscles too, all the way down. A killer jaw, dark brown hair pulled back in a manly bun and a smooth, prowling gait completed the package.

When Thomas introduced himself and talked a bit about his background, his deep rumbling voice and stern expression did nothing to challenge Finn’s initial assessment. But the man clearly knew his shit, touching on all aspects of the Sartini campaign and delivering information in a smooth, efficient and engaging manner.

Then Thomas’ stern brow deepened into a frown when Luka burst in, catastrophically late and visibly sweating. Every head in the room whipped over to stare at him. Luka froze, an agonized smile on his face.

Shit,Finn thought, watching his friend apologize and clamber through the silent room to an open chair next to Tawney. Luka, immaculate at all times, was a disaster. His clothes didn’t match, his hair was rumpled and he even had a crust of toothpaste on one corner of his mouth. Finn tried to get his attention to subtly point out the toothpaste if nothing else, but Luka resolutely kept his eyes down. The chair screeched in the silence when he finally, finally sat.

“Well, now that Luka is settled…” Ilona said. “Please go ahead, Thomas.”

The rest of the meeting was as painful for Luka as his entrance had been. He didn’t seem to be paying attention, and, even worse, his storyboards weren’t ready when Ilona asked. Finn tried not to cringe when Luka stammered an excuse about the subway.

“Well,” Ilona said, shooting him a disapproving frown, “the design team can meet again later today. But I think the rest of us are clear on next steps. Thanks, everyone.”

Luka bolted from the room, Tawney hot on his heels. Finn followed, sticking his head into Luka’s office before Tawney could close the door. “Moreno!”

Luka sighed. “Finn.”

Finn shook his head, grinning. “Jesus.”

“So…” Luka nodded. “It was as bad as I think.”

“Worse! First of all…” He put a hand on Luka’s shoulder and studied him at arm’s length, rubbing his beard. “What the fuck are you wearing?”

Luka looked down at his clothes—a forest-green blazer, burgundy trousers and a crooked yellow button-down dotted with blue flowers, topped off with a coffee stain.

“Second—”

“You know what, you can stop. I was there.” Luka yanked his blazer off while Finn snickered.

“It wasn’t so bad,” Tawney piped up.

The two men turned to stare at her.

“I mean…” she stammered. “We all know that was not usual behavior for you.”

Luka fell into his chair with a groan. “Thomas Badgley does not know that. Thomas Badgley thinks I’m a screw-up who dresses like a sloppy clown, shows up late and doesn’t meet deadlines. Could it be any worse?”

“You, um”—Tawney cringed—“actually have some toothpaste.” She pointed at the corner of her mouth. “Just here.”

“Iwhat?”

Then Ilona appeared in his doorway, as flawless as ever, thick raven hair cascading perfectly into place.

“You don’t even need to say it,” Luka told her, wiping at the toothpaste.

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