“And you and Kat?” Hannah asks. “What are your roles in the crew?”
“Well, unfortunately, I’m nothing but a playboy—just coasting on everyone’s coattails, pretty much—not particularly useful or smart—just the eye candy of the group.”
We all laugh.
“Don’t listen to him. He’s wise and powerful beyond measure,” I say.
“Oh, well that’s true,” Josh agrees. “Hannah, you might as well learn it now: I’m wise and powerful beyond anything your feeble mind could possibly comprehend. Let me just say, in advance of whatever pearls of wisdom I’ll bestow upon you one day in the near future: you’re very welcome.”
Hannah laughs. “Okay. Thank you, Josh, in advance. Wow, I’m honored to be in your presence.”
“As you should be. Thank you. And Kat here—well, the list is too long to say it all right now, but I’ll give you the Cliff’s Notes version. She’s our secret weapon. The Party Girl with a Hyphen who also happens to be The Party Girl with the Heart of Gold. Plus, she’s a suicide bomber, a terrorist, and, sometimes, if you really rile her up, a very stubborn cat.”
I giggle.
Josh chuckles and squeezes my hand. “And, she’s got the best laugh you ever heard, as I’m sure you already know. The girl laughs like a dude.”
“I’m well aware.”
I giggle again.
“Hey, I have an item for the toast,” Jonas says.
“Hang on, bro,” Josh says. “I’m not done with Kat.” He looks into my eyes. “She’s loyal. And honest. A force of nature when she wants something. She loves her family. And her hair smells incredible.”
I can’t breathe.
Josh holds my gaze for a long beat. “There’s more, but we’d be here all night,” he says softly. He kisses me tenderly on the lips and my heart bursts out my chest cavity and zings around the bar.
“I wanna salute Sarah for making it through her first year of law school...” Jonas is saying. But I’m only half-listening. I’m caught in an alternate universe with Josh. Yes, Sarah was absolutely right. He’s screaming his feelings for me from every mountaintop the best way he knows how. And that’s enough for me.
“Well, jeez, don’t jinx me. I gotta get through my exams before I’m toast-worthy,” Sarah says.
I manage to peel my eyes off Josh’s face and look at Jonas and Sarah, clasping Josh’s hand.
“But you finished your classes yesterday,” Jonas says. “No reason not to celebrate that.” He grabs her hand and kisses the top of it and she melts.
“Can I add an item to the toast-list, too?” Sarah asks. “I wanna toast Henn and Kat for officially becomingmill-i-on-airesthis week.Congrats, guys.”
“Didn’t you get your finder’s fee money this week, too?” Henn asks.
“Yeah.” Sarah beams a smile at Jonas. “But I can’t even think what to do with it—I want for absolutely nothing these days.”
Henn and I shoot a look at each other like that’s the stupidest thing either of us has ever heard. I’m glad Sarah’s googley-eyed in love and all, but who couldn’t use an extra million bucks, for crying out loud?
“Yeah, congrats to all three of you,” Josh says. He grabs my hand and kisses it the way Jonas just kissed Sarah’s hand, making me swoon, and raises his drink to me. “Which reminds me of a biggie. To Kat. She officially took a leap of faith today and quit her job to start her own PR firm. Congrats, babe. Sky’s the limit.”
Everyone expresses congratulations and excitement.
“I’m so excited for you,” Hannah says. “Even though I’ll miss you terribly.” She sticks out her lower lip.
Of course, I’m not blindsiding Hannah with this news—I told her about my plans earlier today at lunch, and she was full of congratulations and excitement then, too, but she also cried. “Working with you has been the best part of my job,” she said.
“Well, like I said at lunch,” I say to Hannah, “the master plan is to bring you on as soon as humanly possible, Hannah Banana Montana Milliken,” I say. “As soon as I know what I’m doing, you’ll be my right-hand woman.”
Hannah raises her drink. “Cheers to that. Just call me and I’ll come running, girl. Whatever you touch turns to gold, Kitty Kat—I have no doubt your new company will be golden, too.”
“Thank you, honey.”
