Page 26 of Boss Level

I didn’t want that. She’d stop listening, she’d resent me at future meetings, and worst, she may double down on the behavior that was keeping her trapped—

Stop. It wasn’t my place to decide if her relationship was wrong or right, as long as she was happy.

“Okay.” That seemed like the least confrontational thing I could say. “Good.”

Deep creases appeared in Claire’s forehead, and she twisted her mouth. “Good.”

This was when I needed to make my exit.

“Like when he ordered dinner for me the other night. I don’t even like steak,” she said.

I didn’t blame her for being bothered by that. Would saying so make her more or less open to the conversation?

Claire dropped her chin. “I didn’t mean that. Ignore me.”

I couldn’t let it drop. That nagging voice inside saidremember being there?With a controlling father. Not only me, but my mother. “We can talk about it. I’m here to listen.”

“I’m fine. Nothing to talk about.” The way her smile stretched her face was painful to look at. “I need to go. Catch you around.” Claire stepped into the crowd and it carried her away before I could say anything else.

I shouldn’t keep nudging her. We would’ve been fine if the conversation stayed on Batman. If we’d kept talking about geeky things and video games. But no, I had to poke and prod someone I only knew because I was lying about getting married. A woman I wouldn’t see ever again in a few weeks.

The impulse to lean into Xander surged through me. To use him to steady myself. The flash of weakness dragged a whisper of self-loathing behind it. I didn’tneedanyone to make me stronger. I was fine. Especially after a simple conversation.

Instead, I settled for swaying to bump his arm with my shoulder. “Morning,” I said.

“So I hear.” His tone was light. “You get any sleep?”

“After I convinced myself that the game was really back online? Like a baby.”

Xander moved to face me. “Waking up every few hours screaming?”

This was better. This was normal. Casual. Real. “Something a lot like that. You?”

“Like I had your fiancé to keep me warm.” He winked.

I let out a short laugh. “Lucky bastard.”

“You know it. You want me on security?”

I want you on me.

Down girl.Release week stress was no reason to lose control. Of my libido or anything. “That’d be amazing.”

“What are the odds you have a break around lunch? Dom says he’s going to try to get free from the office early, and come visit.”

I was bummed we’d missed out on sexy fun times last night. I shouldn’t care—work needed me, and I didn’t regret for a moment that I’d been available. Besides, I’d gone for years without fucking Xander or Dom, and now after a single night, I couldn’t stop thinking about more.

No reason to drop my panties every time one of them smiled at me, though really I would. As long as the game wasn’t crashing. “I’ll make time. A little after one?”

“Text me, we’ll find you. Until then.” Xander kissed me on the forehead, and headed toward the exhibitor hall.

If I were younger, more innocent, more like Claire, that would make me swoon. But it was the way Xander and I had always been. It was nothing special.

I spent the next few hours in meetings. When one of the bigger MMOs wanted to talk about crossover possibilities, I was all over the idea. When the adult novelty website spent the first ten minutes ignoring me and talking only to Dustin, I shut the conversation down.

Some things in this industry hadn’t changed at all over the decades. Others had, and one of my favorites was that instead of being required to sit through that bullshit and let Dustin do all the talking, I got to remind the other party I was the boss, and show them to the door.

The early end to the meeting meant I had time to kill. How weird was that? I wandered through the exhibitors’ hall, taking in the atmosphere. I’d seen all the booths before the show opened, and talked to a lot of old friends about what they were up to, but seeing it all with the fans around was a different experience.

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