Page 52 of Drop Shot
Elias looks to me, letting me answer since so far all the focus has been on him.
I shake my head. “It’s very new, actually. We’ve been together two months now.”
“It was after the game with Trager at Delray Beach,” Elias says. It’s the first time we’ve put a specific timeframe on this whole farce. “Whimsy picked up on how I was feeling after everything and we realized we have more in common than we thought it fell naturally into place from there.”
“So, Whimsy,” Julia addresses me. “Are you still working as Elias’s assistant?”
I shake my head, but then realize I need to speak out loud. Not everyone will watch the video footage on YouTube.
“No.”
Elias reaches for my hand. “I didn’t want to put Whimsy in an uncomfortable situation where she felt like she might have to keep up a ruse in order to keep her job.”
“You all have known each other for several years now—when did you first meet? Were there sparks even then?”
Elias looks to me, arching a brow. I wrinkle my nose at being thrown under the bus.
“This November will be five years since we first met. It was an interview with him and his manager. His manager wasn’t too keen on me, I think he was afraid I might be a fangirl, but I honestly didn’t know who he was at the time. But the job sounded right up my alley. So no, no sparks or anything like that.”
Elias puts an arm around me, and I try not to squirm at the way he stares at me.
It’s intense, like he’s seeing straight through me to my soul.
“Not even one little spark, Whim? I’m offended.” I feel my cheeks heating. He grins, pointing at my flaming face. “Hold on. There’s something there. What is it?”
Julia joins in. “Ooh, I’m sensing something juicy here.”
I cover my face with my hands, trying to hide myself as I say, “I thought he was hot.”
Elias’s hands tug at my own, carefully pulling them away from my face. He holds them captive in his big palms so I can’t hide.
Elias’s grin is so big that it threatens to engulf his entire face. “You thought I was hot?”
“Yes,” I mumble, looking down.
“I take it this is the first you’re hearing of this?” Julia prompts, voice dripping with curiosity.
“Yes.” His voice gets impossibly smugger.
“Don’t let it go to your head. You know you’re hot.”
“Sure,” he agrees. “But maybe I like hearing it from you.”
Julia makes a small gasping sound. “You two are so adorable.”
Her interruption reminds me of the fact that not only are we being audio recorded, but there’s a camera rolling too.
“What was your first impression of me?” I ask, trying to infuse my voice with a teasing edge. “Did you thinkIwas hot?”
He cocks his head to the side, studying me. His brows lower, a serious glint in his gaze. “I thought you were beautiful, but most importantly I thought you were brilliant.”
My tummy dips.
Julia is visibly swooning.
The rest of the podcast wraps up over the next twenty minutes. I’m thankful to finally be done with it and not make any major mistake.
“Did I do okay?” I ask the moment we’re alone in the elevator. “I didn’t expect that to be so nerve wracking.”
