“You good?” he asked softly.
I nodded with the same fake smile I’ve been passing out like bland shrimp sesame crisp at this party. He noticed and shook his head in amusement before leading me to another boring conversation.
We moved through the crowd slowly, stopping every few feet so he could shake hands, trade greetings, and talk numbers. I tuned most of it out. Not because I wasn’t interested—I was—but because I wasn’t here to perform.
I wasn’t on display.
I was here withhim.
And judging by the way his hand stayed anchored to my back, he was just as aware of that as I was.
“So this is the infamous Carmen,” a woman said, sliding up beside us with a champagne flute and too-white teeth.
My face scrunched up, but I tried to smile politely. “Infamous?”
“She’s joking,” Theo murmured beside me, pressing a kiss to the side of my head.
Huh.
“I’m Leah. Theo and I used to work together.”
Doubt: She’s pretty.
Stop.
I nodded. “Nice to meet you.”
Her eyes flicked down to my dress, then back up to Theo. “You picked well.”
He smiled tightly.
Leah addressed me again. “Are you visiting or finally moving over?”
“Visiting,” I said overly sweetly.
“Aw, I know Theodore is dying to have you stay.”
Strangely enough, when she talked to me, her eyes remained on Theo.
“It was all he talked about when we worked together. Kinda annoying to hear about another woman while working with a man, am I right?”
Doubt: Is—is she hinting at something?
My eyes narrowed, and I took in her appearance. She had pretty, beach-waved hair, light freckles, and the cutest crooked teeth that I could tell she’d never been punched in. But by the way she was looking at Theo, that may not be the case by the end of the night.
The bitch was playing a dangerous game.
Doubt: There’s definitely something going on with them.
No, there isn’t. Please shut the fuck up.
Doubt: Alright. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.
If Theodore Clayton ever decided to cheat on me with a White woman, I’d burn all his shit down,Waiting To Exhalestyle.
“I don’t know,” I shrugged. “I tend to be interesting enough that men don’t need to bring up other women around me.”
She blinked. Theo bit back a laugh as he sipped his whiskey.
