Page 24 of Not Bad for a Girl

He nodded. “I’m sorry about the way Melvin treated you today. I can’t imagine how frustrating that must have been.”

I thought for a second, unsure how to respond. I hadn’t told him my official role on the team, and I didn’t know if he’d realized yet that there wasn’t an Ana on the Artemis roster. Before I could think of what to say, he touched my hand lightly.

“Speaking of…” His eyes focused on some point above my head.

I whipped around to see Melvin standing in the door of Cisco’s bar, looking around. When he saw us, he headed our way.

“Damn it, damn it,” I said under my breath. “Left my fedora at home.” I could feel my lower back start to sweat. I let my curls fall over my face and shifted slightly, doing my best impression of Cousin It.

“Shane,” Melvin said brusquely. “I carved out a few minutes to come here before I’m out of pocket for the next little bit. I’m looking for Indiana Aaron. Have you seen him?”

I held my breath, hoping the change in hair would disguise me, but he barely looked my way.

“I keep missing him,” Melvin said.

“No, you don’t,” I said loudly. I was suddenly so tired of the whole thing. “Indiana was at the meeting this morning. And Indiana is here now.” I kept my face turned partly away from Melvin but couldn’t keep the annoyance out of my voice.

“Indiana?” Shane repeated, then glanced over at me. He looked back over at the guys, then again at me. “Indi-ana,” he repeated, and my body went cold. Shane looked directly into my eyes, and that same unreadable expression passed over his face. He glanced up at Melvin, then back at me. After a beat, he straightened his shoulders and gave Melvin his full attention. “He was here just a minute ago. We played a game of pool, and he kicked my ass,” Shane said, then ducked his head. “He said he might fit in another game. Or he may have taken off already. He’s…he’s the emergency backup goalie for the Colorado Avalanche. They have a game tonight.”

I choked and almost swallowed my tongue. What were these words coming out of his mouth? Now Indiana was on a professional hockey team? When did he have time to do anything work-related? Behind the curtain of hair, I held my breath, and my eyes watered. For a brief second, I wondered who Indiana was and if I was ever going to meet him myself.

Melvin sighed and leaned against the bar. “Whiskey straight,” he told the bartender. He stayed focused on Shane, oblivious of my identity crisis or choke fest. He paid for his drink and took a long swallow. I noticed he didn’t tip. “I wish I could catch him.”

“But you said hello to him before the managing directors’ meeting,” Shane said. “Remember?” He turned to me and caught my eye. “You remember, too, don’t you, Ana.” It wasn’t a question.

Melvin squinted and nodded while I tried hard to keep my stomachcontents down. “Of course, I remember,” he said. “I just mean…never mind. You said he might still be playing pool?”

When Shane nodded, Melvin drained his drink and took off toward the pool tables.

I stared at Shane. “Did you…actually play pool with Indiana this evening?” I asked tentatively.

He shook his head. “I haven’t yet, but I will later if she wants to.”

I swallowed hard and tried to calm the sudden puddle of dread in my stomach.

“You were going to tell him who you were back at the meeting before he made an ass of himself, weren’t you?” he said.

I nodded. “Why did you cover for me?” I asked, my throat raw.

“Why not? Melvin’s the worst. But Iama little confused.” His cheeks colored, and it looked like it was his turn to be nervous. “I don’t want to make any assumptions, but there seems to be a discrepancy, and… I’m from New York City, and we hate all people equally, and I have—” He stopped himself. “I don’t want to be insensitive.” He ran his hand through his hair, tousling it in an adorable way. “I sound so stupid. Let me restart.”

I decided to take pity on him. “It was just a misunderstanding at first. He assumed I was male because of my name when I corrected his work in an email. But there’s a context to all this. When I corrected my supervisor at the main office in person, it didn’t go well, and I got transferred to Artemis. With Melvin, he seemed to think I was brilliant. And then I realized maybe his gender assumption was the reason.” I swallowed. I didn’t want Shane to think the worst of me, so I tried to pick my words carefully. “I was going to tell him the truth, but Heidi—you’ve met Heidi, you know how she is—got hold of him first. She said I was full of charisma and talent and masculinity.”

“I agree with the first two,” Shane broke in.

I smiled and looked down at my drink. “After talking with her, he started trusting me with more leadership and bigger responsibilities. He never would have done that if he didn’t think I was a rugged Hemingway dude-bro; you saw the way he treated me in person. And I’m not that person. As much as it hurts to admit, Evan’s right—I’m more Dora the Explorer than Indiana Jones. I watchBridgertonand eat ice cream in my pajamas,” I confessed, then took a breath. “And I’m not normally a risk-taker. For example, I love fish but nottofish. I have a fully cycled twenty-gallon tank at home. But I worry about the responsibility of caring for a life that depends solely on me, so I haven’t gotten a fish yet.”

His eyes widened as he looked at me in disbelief. “There’s a lot to unpack there.”

“Trust me, I know how it sounds. But when it comes to work, I can be a badass. I want to be treated fairly, and I want a promotion I deserve, and I don’t want to be seen as a little girl who needs help all the time. Men are always asking if they can just speak to my husband instead of me.”

“Do you have one of those? A husband?”

“Nope, and if I did, I’d never admit it to those assholes. Do you?”

“Do I what?”

“Have a husband?”

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