Page 38 of A Hard Fit

“As ready as I can be.” Luka topped up his coffee and filled another mug from the cupboard. He looked a little tired, too.

“We’ve got this. Aleandro is going to love it,” Finn said.

“’Course he will!” Rory chimed in. “You’re both brilliant artists.”

Finn looked down at his shoes, cheeks flushing.

“Thanks, Rory. I guess we’ll find out soon!” Luka smiled and left with his coffee.

Rory leaned over to whisper, “He got a mug for Thomas, too. Cute.”

“Yeah, he’s pretty smitten.”

Rory picked up their coffee, eyes sparkling. “Anyway, text me when you’re watching episode two.”

“I will.”Just try to stop me.

* * * *

Aleandro Sartini was a warm, grandfatherly figure, straight out of a post-war English manor house—three-piece suit, pocket watch and everything—with dramatic Dracula-style black hair streaked with gray. His wife Penelope was a little cooler, beautiful but straight-faced with her hair pulled back in a firm twist. A third woman with long, wavy strawberry-blonde hair, who Ilona introduced as Georgia Black, the head of marketing for Sartini Wines, was with them.

Finn felt like he pulled off his presentation okay. He knew his team was strong, and even if he was a little scattered himself lately—a large portion of his brain filled with Thrill Island, not to mention a muscly god and his slinky python—the work spoke for itself.

Luka was awesome—man, that guy was good at getting people excited about his ideas. And Rory was brilliant, of course, rattling off an insane array of marketing figures from memory. Aleandro was clearly impressed, and the office got back to work after the meeting, happily abuzz.

Finn got a text from Tawney after lunch, and he headed straight to Luka’s office. “I hear congrats are in order?” he said. Tawney had let him know that Luka was officially co-leading the Sartini campaign with Thomas.

“Oh, yeah, thanks.” Luka tried to look modest, but was beaming.

“Good for you, bud. That’s great.” Finn looked at Thomas’ empty chair. “So things are going good working with him?”

“Mmhmm,” Luka squeaked. “Good. Great. I mean, fine. Yup.” He cleared his throat. “Hey, I’ve been meaning to ask. What’s your Halloween costume this year?”

Finn shrugged. “Don’t know yet.” He usually picked up something last minute from a costume shop that they still had in his size.

“What? Your party is a week away!”

“I’ll figure something out. What are you dressing up as?”

“Tawney and I are going as Danny and Sandy.”

Finn smirked. “You’re Sandy, obviously.”

“Obviously.”

“Poodle skirt or spandex?”

Luka sighed. “Spandex, even though…”

“Even though her transformation is super problematic?”

The next sigh was louder. “Yes, Finn. Let me have this. I look fucking hot in my costume.”

“I have no doubt. Is it…is it crazy if I ask Rory to do a costume with me?”

“The only thing crazy is how late it is to be finding a costume, to be honest.”

Finn imagined Rory frowning in confusion again when he proposed the idea. “No. I can’t. It’ll freak them out.”

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