Page 18 of Boss Level

As the words caught up to my brain, my heart sank. I looked down at my left hand and the engagement ring I’d forgotten to take off. Fuck. I shoved my hands in my pockets. “Do you need anything from me?”

“Uh-uh.” Reese grabbed my wrist and tugged my hand into the open again. “That’s definitely a ring.”

If anyone else did that to me except maybe Xander or Dom, I’d fix them with a deadly glare until they backed away in fear. Not that any of my people would dare. But Reese was a different breed of woman. “It’s only a ring, and I’d appreciate if you forgot you saw it,” I said coolly.

Dustin couldn’t hear us from here, could he? No. He was backstage with sound equipment and wouldn’t hear anything not shouted.

“What ring?” Alys picked up on my less-than subtle request easily.

Reese scrunched up her nose. “Uh, no. Because one, it’s stunning, and two it looks a lot like an engagement ring, and three I love knowing secrets.”

It’s not an engagement ring. I should’ve said that immediately. The denial should’ve been there the instant she said the word, but my retort lodged in my throat. “I can’t tell you. If I tell you, then by the end of the day, the entire office will know.”

Reese didn’t work for me, but she was best friends with one of my artists, she was dating my security guy and my composer, and they were all good friends with other people at the company. It was great that we were all so close, unless there was a secret to keep.

“I swear, no gossip.” Reese made an X over her heart. “I won’t tell a soul until you’re ready.”

“I won’t ever be ready.” I had to give her something, so it would be as much of the truth as I felt like I could get away with. “There’s no engagement. I’m doing a favor for a friend, and when it’s over, we’re going to pretend it never happened.”

“Hmm.” Reese seemed to consider this. “Boring for such a pretty ring. Okay.”

Alys shifted her weight from one foot to the other. “So I should probably not point out that a fake engagement never works in the books?” Her voice was soft. Meek.

“You should probably not point that out, no. And I said it wasn’t an engagement. It’s a favor.” As I talked, I slipped the ring from my finger, and re-affixed it to the chain around my neck. I never should’ve had it on today anyway. Wanting to remember what it looked like on my finger was a bad reason to risk conversations like this. “And you never saw anything.”

“What ring?” Alys repeated, a tiny smile on her face.

Forcing my neck to unknot, I returned the look. “Don’t tell the guys, but you’ve always been my favorite.”

“I never even saw you this morning.” A hint of confidence worked into her voice.

“Hey.” Dustin’s voice over the speakers was much smoother this time. “We working or plotting world domination, ladies?”

Reese looked up. “There’s a difference? Much better,” she shouted. “We need to do a mic check,” she said to me in a normal voice, and grabbed Alys’s wrist to tug her toward the stage. “Your secret is safe. Promise.”

I spent the next few hours checking on everything, and by the time the con opened, thatlittle girl on Christmasanticipation was back.

Actually, scratch that. This time, I was the momma on Christmas morning. Watching people flood to our booth, seeing their reactions to the game, was like seeing the kids unwrap the perfect present.

I stood with my back to the closest pillar, and took a few minutes to enjoy the view and let the crowds rush past. A group of cosplayers stopped near the booth, several of them in X costumers—the lead character from Rinslet’s most popular game franchise.

And no one knew but a few of us, but I’d gotten Chloe to name him after Xander, all those years ago.

I squinted as a woman joined them. She was wearing red and black… Yup, she was the same person I’d seen with Link this morning. I focused on her face.

And she was Fallyn.Oh. What would Elliot say about that?

“Hey, little lady, did you get lost?” The voice was closer than was polite from a stranger.

And I would’ve ground my heel into his toe if I didn’t know him, but Xander’s comment made me smirk. “Nope. I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be.”

“You really are.” He nudged me over to share my pillar, and his arm pressed into mine.

We stood there in silence for a few minutes, absorbing the ambiance and chaos.

“It must be nice,” I finally said, teasing in my voice.

“What’s that?”

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