Page 24 of The Charm Offensive
He shrugs. “Stanford stuff. WinHan. The work I do at the foundation. You, obviously.”
“I’m both flattered and confused. You say words? Out loud? Entire sentences? Is this Dev fellow some kind of wizard?”
“No, he’s just good at making people feel comfortable.” Because that is literally his job, and Dev is kind of amazing at his job. “He’s super into the whole fairy-tale thing, and he gets angry if you call the show fake, and he washes his face with hand soap, but I think you’d like him.”
“Hmm.” Parisa reaches for her glass of wine. “And he’s pretending to like puzzles andThe Expanse? He either takes his job very seriously, or he’s secretly trying to fuck you.”
Charlie’s blush is conveniently concealed behind the lavender cream. “Dev is not trying to—” He stops, wonders if Dev is still awake on the other side of the wall. He probably is. Dev is always awake. “He’s not trying to do anything with me.Jesus, Parisa.”
“I promise you, at least half the people you meet are secretly trying to fuck you, Charles. You’re just too innocent to notice.”
“You know, the other nice thing about Dev is that he doesn’t mock me incessantly.”
“Not to your face, anyway.”
“That’s fantastic for my self-esteem, thank you.”
“Oh, you love it when I mock you.”
“I cannot imagine what has led you to believe this about me.”
Parisa throws her head back and laughs. The mask cracks in lines around her mouth. “Okay, okay. So are these practice dates helping?”
He thinks back to the Group Quests the past two days. “Well, I held Daphne’s hand yesterday, and then I kissed Angie without having a panic attack about it, so yes?”
“Guard your hearts, ladies! Casanova is on the loose.”
“You can’t help yourself, can you?”
“Do you like any of the women?”
“I like most of the women, honestly.”
Parisa makes a highly suggestive hand gesture. “Not like that,” he snaps. Then, evasively, “I should go. I need to wash my face.”
“Take me with you,” she demands. He huffs and carries the phone into the bathroom. “You don’t have crushes on any of the women?”
He props the phone behind the sink and turns on the water. “I didn’t come here forcrushes. I came here to show the world I’m nice and normal so I can work again. Work is what matters.”
While he splashes handfuls of water in his face, Parisa says, “Believe it or not, there is this newfangled thing where people have careersandromantic relationships.”
“I’m sorry to destroy your romantic delusions, but I don’t have those feelings for any of the contestants here.”
“Yeah, but would you know if you did?”
He pauses in the middle of pat-drying his face. “What do you mean?”
She switches to her gentle, coaxing voice. “I mean, you haven’t seriously given dating a chance. Do you know how to recognize it, when you’re interested in someone? The butterflies and the stolen glances and the feeling of wanting to be near them?”
“I… I don’t—”
“Who are you talking to?”
Charlie jumps, drops the towel, and turns. He left the bathroom door open, so Dev stands leaning against the doorframe in plaid pajama bottoms and a USC Trojans T-shirt.
“Nothing. No one.” Charlie jabs at the screen of his phone, hears Parisa shout, “Don’t you dare hang up on me Charles Michael Winshaw,” before he manages to end the call.
“It was just Parisa,” he tells Dev. He knows there is no way to conceal his blush now. He just doesn’t know why he’s blushing.
