move that somehow established them as a couple.
“We could go,” he said in a voice low enough so that only she could hear.
Charlie shook her head. As much as she wanted out of here, the idea of emerging from this pool with these women watching horrified her. No, she’d wait them out. Even if it meant sticking around here until the skin on her fingers puckered.
“What’s the story on you two?” Shellie asked after she and Jamie had a quiet discussion between them while coming down the stairs into the pool. “How did you meet?”
Oh. They hadn’t discussed that. Why hadn’t they come up with a story?
“Nicholas and my boss are best friends,” Charlie blurted out before Nicholas could speak. The goal was to avoid him talking at the same time with a different story. Sticking to the truth was the safest bet, she figured, even if it wasn’t glamorous.
“No, sweetie, tell them the real story.” Nicholas moved closer, putting his arm up on the side of the pool so that his hand draped down onto her bare shoulder. “We were at a party at Derek Hughes’s house. You know, the guy who’s been all over the news lately?”
“The missing billionaire dude?” Jamie asked.
She and Shellie were gradually wading toward Charlie and Nicholas. Charlie wanted to drop a big rope down the center of the pool to keep them on their side, but she knew that was unreasonable. They couldn’t hurt her. Not physically, anyway.
“Who?” Shellie gave Jamie a confused look.
Jamie turned to look at her friend. “Derek Hughes. He’s this guy who runs a huge yacht company. He escaped to Hawaii when someone called him ‘hot’ on their website. Anyway, they tracked him down and he’s fine, but he’s…fine.”
Charlie felt like she should know what Jamie was talking about, but she didn’t really keep up with Silicon Valley gossip. She preferred reading a good book to scrolling social media feeds.
“You know him?” Jamie turned her attention to Nicholas, giving him a starstruck look she hadn’t had before. Before, her stares at him had seemed a bit on the predatory side.
“Sure.” Nicholas shrugged. “Silicon Valley’s a pretty small town, especially with us all working in the same industry. Anyway, Charlie was there with her boss and his girlfriend. I saw her from across the room, and that was the end for me. I knew I’d never look at another woman again.”
“Aww. That’s so sweet,” one of the other women gushed, swimming over to tread water next to Shellie and Jamie. Neither Shellie nor Jamie shared similar sentiments. Instead, Shellie scrutinized Charlie and Nicholas.
“Is your boss worried you’ll quit?” Shellie asked, staying in place as Jamie and the other woman swam off a little. They were discussing how long they could hold their breath underwater.
“Me?” Charlie asked. Shellie was looking at her, but the question seemed out of place.
“Yes. You know, when you marry his friend here. Is he worried you’ll quit?”
“I doubt it.” Charlie shrugged. She tried to imagine what her boss would think if she really was marrying Nicholas. “He’s happy for us. Besides, he knows how much I love my job.”
“And your job is…?”
Still assessing. Charlie felt like she was interviewing for a position at a big company. It was a very uncomfortable feeling.
“I’m head of HR for TravTech. It’s an app development company. They have the top tutoring app in the world.”
“HR. Is that…human resources?”
“Yes.” Charlie answered the question very matter-of-factly, daring Shellie to say something negative about it. “Payroll, benefits, that sort of thing.”
“Don’t let her fool you,” Nicholas jumped in to say. “She’s Justin’s right-hand person. Without her, that place would not be able to run.”
“That’s awesome,” Shellie said. But she looked bored.
Truth was, Shellie didn’t really care what Charlie did for a living. Charlie wasn’t even sure this assessment had anything to do with high school. It felt like they were trying to figure out how someone like her had landed an amazing man like Nicholas.
After a long, weighty silence, Nicholas spoke up suddenly. “I’m feeling a little tired. Plus, I could use some alone time with Charlie. You ready to go back to the room, sweetie?”
Normally, she’d be all too eager to get away from Shellie, but that meant stepping from the safety of the water. She looked over at Nicholas, who was giving her a questioning look.
Somehow, he figured out exactly what was bothering her. “I’ll go grab us some towels.”
Nicholas turned, managing to lift himself out of the water while making