“Will I meet Nadiya, too?” he asked. “You heard your mom. I’m in dire need of a meet-cute.”
Sameera shook her head at Andy. After she’d helped Tom up from the ice for the seventh time, he announced he was done. She made a motion to follow him to the bench, but he shook his head.
“You and Andy should finish up your time.” Tom shot Sameera a look, as if he was trying to communicate something. “Don’t believe anything Andy says,” he added, and somehow, she didn’t think he was joking.
Andy set the pace, a leisurely skate with stops and starts as he tried to find his rhythm. “I should build an ice rink in my backyard,” he remarked as they glided.
“For which house?” she asked. It was a good thing she was a strong skater; it left her mind free to puzzle over Tom’s behavior, and wonder how best to bring up the topic of business with Andy. Maybe she should casually mention the case she’d won last spring involving a commercial client whose business was similar to his.
Andy considered her question. “Maybe the one in Switzerland,” he said, and she smiled despite her ricocheting thoughts. “We didn’t finish our conversation in the kitchen. Also, Tom said you wanted to talk to me about legal representation.”
Her heart stuttered. Was this it? She took a deep breath. Now or never. “Tom happened to mention that you’re not happy with your current team. I work for Greaves, Hargrave & Bury in Atlanta as a commercial litigator, and we would love to sign on to Team Andy.” She winced, but kept going. He seemed to be listening, though he had a strange smile on his face. “I have a few ideas about how you can reestablish your lost market share, and help you rebrand. I have plenty of experience in helping established companies recalibrate and earn back lost revenue, due to competition or real estate issues, anything really,” she said smoothly. With any luck, herspiel would whet Andy’s appetite to hear more while tiding him over until she could get back to Cooke Place and her pitch deck.
Andy had stopped skating to watch her. There was a calculating look on his face that triggered faint alarm bells. Something was wrong. But what?
“Tom really likes you,” he said.
She bit her lip. “I like him, too. He’s been a good ... friend.”
Andy barked out a short laugh. “If that’s what you want to call it.”
She had promised to keep their fake relationship a secret from Rob and Barb, but looking at Andy’s sardonic expression, she couldn’t keep up their ruse in front of his oldest friend.
“We’re not actually dating,” Sameera admitted.
“‘Situationship,’ ‘relationship,’ whatever you want to call it,” Andy said easily. She was about to explain further when he went on. “Do you know what everyone who finds out that Tom is my best friend asks him?”
“For an introduction to you?” she guessed, after he’d paused long enough that she realized he expected an answer. Esa had done the same, she remembered.
“Exactly. They want to pitch me their business plan, or ask me for a loan, or for a donation, or they need ten minutes to ask business advice,” Andy confirmed. “Do you know what Tom usually tells them?”
“He shoots them down immediately,” she said, again thinking of Esa. Tom hadn’t even hesitated with her brother, yet he had offered her a no-strings introduction to his wealthy best friend. The faint alarm bells in her head were growing louder now, and an uncomfortable sensation filled her chest. She had a feeling she wasn’t going to like where this conversation was headed.
“But not you,” Andy continued in a thoughtful voice. “Tom texted me half a dozen times about meeting with you, Sameera. It made me wonder why he went to so much effort for someone he’d only just met. It made me think you must be important to him.”
She felt like a rabbit caught in a cobra’s mesmerizing trap, but she felt she had to protest. Even though she desperately needed Andy’s help,she wouldn’t lie to get ahead, or to save face. Unhappiness and self-loathing lay that way, as she knew all too well. “No, see, I promised to help him film some cooking videos. He wants to grow his social media audience. He’s had some television interest, and his agent thinks if he can get his viewership up, they’ll offer him a job. He said he would introduce me to you in return, as a favor.” She was babbling, and Andy’s skeptical expression made her grind to a halt.
“How many videos have you filmed since making this arrangement?” he asked.
She thought. “Two?” Almost in unison, Andy and Sameera looked to the bench near the skate rentals, where Tom sat waiting after changing back into his boots. He stared back, gaze lingering on Sameera, and with a sudden jolt, she recognized the expression on his face.
He’s jealous. Of me and Andy,she realized with a rising horror.
“Tom really likes you,” Andy repeated now, and the knowing satisfaction in his voice made a prickling sense of unease climb her spine. “I plan to use that.”
“What?” she said, sure she had misheard.
“Sameera, you clearly need me to impress your boss at work, or to win a bet, or to save your job, or whatever the hell reason. I truly couldn’t care less. All I care about is Cooke Place.”
“What?” she repeated. This conversation had set sail for new lands and was disappearing over the horizon, leaving her far behind.
“If you want to be my lawyer, you need to be quicker on the uptake,” he said impatiently. “Look, we don’t have much time. Tom isn’t going to wait around forever, no matter how much he enjoys staring moodily at his girlfriend skating beside his best buddy in the whole world.”
“You need something from Tom, and you want me to help you get it,” Sameera said slowly, realization finally dawning.
“Bingo, sweetheart,” Andy said, grinning, and she had a feeling she was in deep trouble.
Chapter Nineteen
