down to my chest, and I follow his gaze, seeing my nipples hardening against the fabric of my dress. “See what I mean?”
He jerks his gaze away like his eyeballs are on fire before picking up his teacup and downing the entire thing. He puts the cup down with a grimace. “Fuck. That is hot.”
“What happened to waiting for it to cool down?” I admonish.
“Warren here needed something to wet his tongue. Didn’t you, War?” Harvey jokes.
Warren narrows his eyes on his friend. “I will fire you.”
Harvey chuckles. “No, you won’t. You hate people. You hired me to be your people person so you don’t have to deal with them.”
I glance at Warren. “Is that true?”
“Yes,” he mutters uncomfortably while messing with the buttons on his sleeves.
He looks so awkward sitting here on the silky pillows, his tie looking like it’s about to become a noose. His cheeks are red, his knees keep hitting the edge of the table, and every time someone looks at him, his shoulders tense. For the first time ever, Warren Knight looks totally out of his element, and it’s adorably sexy.
“Harvey has his job, you have yours. You’re a good team,” I say, trying to encourage him. “What’s your favorite part of your job?”
Surprise flits over his face at my question for a half-second. “Entrepreneurship. I like creating new businesses,” he answers after a beat.
I study him thoughtfully. “Yeah, I can see that. It suits you. Is that what the whole dating app thing was about?”
He nods slowly. “Yes.”
“Warren here is moving Knight Enterprises forward.”
Warren only looks slightly mollified. “I try.”
“Look, you’re mingling! You’re doing great,” I praise him quietly.
He looks pained at the realization.
“He can mingle about work because that’s his forte. He has a knack for business,” Harvey puts in.
“Well,” Blue cuts in, “Mr. Hotshot Knight should get a knack for preserving wildlife instead of constructing hotel conglomerates. He should also ensure that his company is giving equal opportunity to females in the workplace, and he should consider—”
“Changing our cotton mills to hemp, yes, I’ll make sure we look into all of it,” Harvey tells her. “But for the record, Knight Enterprises’ employment rate for female executives is fourteen percent higher than competing companies.”
This seems to appease Blue immediately, though she tries not to show it. “Oh. Well. Good. But there’s always room for improvement,” she says with a sniff.
Harvey grins at her. “Indeed. Let me know if you’d like to come in for a consultation. I’d be happy to go over some...numbers with you,” he tells her, his gaze going right past friendly and into flirtatious.
Blue’s lips curl up. “Yeah? Well, I’ll see if I can fit you in.”
“Oh, I’ll fit,” he says with a wink.
My mouth drops open in surprise as my cupid mark tingles slightly. Oh shit, they’re totally flirting. And my cupid powers are responding to it.
“You’re trading sexual innuendos with my date,” Warren drawls, sounding bored.
Harvey shrugs, totally unconcerned. “Guess I’m better at mingling than you are,” he says with amusement.
“He has you there,” I tell Warren.
Just to be an ass, Harvey pulls out his phone and takes several of the candid photos that Tonya required until Warren threatens to punch him in the jugular. In Harvey’s defense, we’re an incredibly photogenic group.
The waitress comes back with a full tray of food and starts piling plates on our low table. Warren and I stare down at our plate of...whatever it is we got, while Harvey and Blue immediately dig in.
Mine looks like some kind of stew, and it smells divine. I glance over at Warren’s earthenware plate, which is full of steaming vegetables and chicken. “Looks good.”
He makes a noncommittal noise as he starts to pick apart the food, going so far as to separate the like vegetables into piles.
Shaking my head at him, I dive into my own bowl and take a bite, glad to find that the temperature doesn’t singe my tongue off. Flavors explode in my mouth. “Oh shit,” I say. “I didn’t know there were so many tastes!” I say excitedly, as I sop up the stew in the flatbread that it came with.
I’m starving, since my vegan sandwich just didn’t cut it earlier, so I keep shoveling more in my mouth before I can even swallow.
It’s right around bite seven that my taste buds catch up with me.
My spoon falls with a clank into the bowl like an A-bomb being dropped to the ground. A mushroom cloud of red stew burbles up, almost