The Baby Pact (Babies and Billions #5) - Holly Rayner Page 0,13
than sitting around her apartment alone being sad.”
Kaylie nodded. “But I hope none of the partners get wind of how drunk she is.”
Rhea raised her eyebrows.
“Except for you, obviously,” Kaylie amended. “I guess it’s fine if you know.”
Rhea nodded. She had only been made partner at the Green Destiny Group—one of the city’s top architectural firms—about a year ago, and the title still felt new and exciting. As eager as she was to prove herself and impress the other partners, though, she would never sell out a friend.
“I’ll cover for you,” she told Kaylie. “Get her in a cab.”
She finished applying her new foundation, packed away her makeup, and headed back out the door and toward the party.
The company had rented out a ballroom in one of the nicest hotels in Baltimore, and though Rhea had spent her whole life attending fancy parties, she had to admit that this one was one of the nicest. Waiters circulated throughout the room with bite-sized morsels on trays, and it was all Rhea could do not grab handfuls of the succulent foods.
She accepted a glass of champagne from a passing tray. Someone had had the idea to add a drop of green food coloring to make the drink match Green Destiny’s signature color, and Rhea thought it was a nice touch. Maybe it wouldn’t have gone over so well with another group of people, but the Green Destiny crew were very used to green drinks—the cafe in their building served green smoothies, and green fruit juices were available in every kitchen.
She returned to her table, which she was sharing with the other two partners, Tomas Reyes and Gregory Stein. Though the prospect of being the only female partner at the firm had made her nervous, it was going better than she had anticipated. Both men seemed to respect her ideas and treated her as an equal.
Tomas, who had brought his wife along to the party, looked up as she sat down.
“There you are,” he said. “Cecilia was just asking whether there would be a dessert course.”
Tomas’ wife glared at him and swatted his arm playfully. “You make me sound like Marie Antoinette,” she said. To Rhea, she added, “Tomas told me that you’d handled the menu, and I was interested in what that consisted of.”
Rhea nodded, smiling. “It wasn’t difficult,” she said. “This is my first time helping to plan one of the quarterly parties, so Tomas and Gregory gave me the easiest job.”
Gregory burst out laughing. “She thinks we gave her the easiest job!”
“They gave you the jobs they didn’t want to do,” Gregory’s wife, Bernice, said. “They were being lazy.”
Rhea laughed. “I suppose I should have guessed. Maybe next year I can teach them how it’s done, since they have so much trouble with it.”
The wives laughed. “I like her,” Cecilia said.
“Rhea, didn’t you want to bring a date tonight?” Bernice asked. “We would have loved to meet your spouse or partner.”
“Oh, no, I’m not married,” Rhea said. “And I’m not seeing anyone either.”
“Rhea’s married to the job,” Tomas said knowingly.
“That,” Rhea informed him, “is a sexist thing to say.”
“What? How is that sexist? I’m affirming your right to be dedicated to your job.”
“You’re saying that if I’m not married to a man, I must be married to something else, because it’s inconceivable to you that a thirty-five-year-old woman could just be unmarried.”
Tomas grinned. “Rhea’s been putting us in our place when it comes to sexism in the workplace,” he told his wife.
“Good!” she said. “Someone ought to. Well done, Rhea.”
Rhea smiled. “It’s a running joke, but the truth is that Tomas and Gregory have been great to work with,” she said. “I couldn’t have asked to join two better partners.”
“So what’s next for Green Destiny?” Bernice asked.
“We just signed a contract to design a bunch of locations for a coffee shop concept,” Rhea said. “They’re a really crunchy business, and they want to make sure all their builds are fully eco-friendly. They’ve already bought up a bunch of old warehouse spaces, and we’re going to convert those into the shops. It should be a really exciting project.”
Bernice wrinkled her nose. “Warehouses?”
“We’ve got some fun ideas for beautification,” Rhea assured her. “We’re going to knock out one of the walls on each of the buildings to let natural light in, and we’re going to utilize a lot of plants and greenery for decor.”
“With a wall knocked out, how are you going to discourage thieves?” Cecilia asked.
“We’re stealing an idea from the