face. What did she say about you?”
“I’m creative with an excellent sense of style and a good feel for what people might like.”
“I concur. So the bad news is?”
Teddy looked down at his lap. “Together we’re a disaster.”
“I thought we were pretty good together,” Romeo said mildly.
“I thought we were spectacular. On a personal basis. But professionally? Joyce thinks we distract each other in a way that hides our best qualities rather than revealing them.”
“That’s bullshit.” Romeo said it quietly, but his expression was fierce. “She gave us dumbass tests that have nothing to do with anything. What does tromping through a stupid forest in February prove? Or trying to stop an imaginary werewolf epidemic, for God’s sake? Her tests were the problem, not us. We are not a disaster.” He took Teddy’s hand and kissed the back of it.
Honestly, Teddy agreed. Sure, maybe he and Romeo would have succeeded at their tasks had they been alone rather than together, but that wasn’t important in the long run. He would rather sprain his ankle with Romeo than hike a hundred miles without him.
“She’s Joyce Alexander,” Teddy said. “She’s certain she’s right. And she’s the woman with the money.”
“But you said she’s going to back the project.”
“Yeah. With a caveat.”
Romeo groaned. “I don’t like caveats.”
“She’s only in if one of us goes.”
“Which of us?”
Teddy’s answering laugh lacked humor. “Either. She said either of us is fine—just not both of us.”
“Then—”
“I guess Lauren’s supposed to decide.”
Romeo threw his head back against the seat and closed his eyes. “Shit.”
It was Teddy’s turn to kiss Romeo’s hand. “Don’t worry. She’ll choose you.”
“I don’t—Why would you assume that?”
Teddy had given this considerable thought as he’d walked back to the hotel from Target. “For one thing, a big chunk of my job is done. I’ve designed the basic look of the vase and set up a solid marketing plan. For another, Lauren will have no problem finding someone else to take over the marketing at this point. She’d have a hell of a time replacing you, though. Your work is the heart of the project.”
“Uh-uh. I’m just coding, man. You’re the one making the vase beautiful—and that’s the whole point of a vase, isn’t it? And you’re the one who can convince people that they absolutely must buy this vase or they’re just gonna keel over and die.”
Teddy didn’t want to argue about it. “It’s up to Lauren anyway.”
“Guess so.”
“I’m sorry that I—”
“Don’t start that again. Whatever mistakes we made, we made together, okay?” Romeo leaned as close as his seatbelt permitted, but that wasn’t good enough for Teddy, who scooted into the middle seat, buckled up, and leaned against Romeo’s solid shoulder.
Neither of them slept, exactly, but they did doze, perking up enough to eat pretzels and drink water as the flight attendant came by. They munched on a few of their Target snacks as well. Teddy thought about how miserably cold it probably was back home, and how distant spring seemed. But he pictured a balmy day in early summer, before the humidity truly set in, when he could take Romeo on a day cruise in the lake. A few weeks earlier, Teddy had spotted a pair of Esteban Cortazar board shorts in one of his favorite resale shops. He hadn’t bought them for himself—they’d only make his legs look stubbier—but with their mixed paisley print in oranges, yellows, and pale blue, they’d be spectacular on Romeo. Not too many people in Chicagoland were in the market for shorts right now, so maybe the store still had them. If Romeo liked them, he could wear them on their boat ride, and—
And that was all a pretty dream, but summer was months away. By then, Teddy might be nothing more than a vague and distant memory to Romeo. The guy who’d messed up with Joyce Alexander, who’d been a fun quick fling but nothing else. The guy who was probably spending the summer behind a cash register, ringing up clearance bathing suits and beach towels.
“Romeo?”
“Hmm?”
“Are we...” God, he shouldn’t ask this. He should just let it be, because saying the words was like opening the door for disaster. But he couldn’t stop himself. “Will you want to see me after we get home? Outside of work, I mean.” Not that the work part would last much longer anyway.
Romeo looked stricken. “Of course! I thought I’d been clear about that.”
“Sometimes people say things in the heat of the moment. Postcoital moments especially. But after the hormones