Problematic Summer Romance (Not in Love, #2)(18)

“Yeah. I’ll sleep great tonight. What’s up, Sul?”

Her husband, a stocky, silent, constant presence at her side, grunts at me. I care deeply about you, it means, but do not ask me to string together a sentence.

“Where’s Her Majesty?” I ask.

“She’s in love with the scent of jasmine, so Hark brought her over to the tree to see the flowers up close. Hey, Kaede? There’s someone here who wants to see you!”

When Kaede notices me, her face lights up, brighter than the lanterns. Little hands grasp in my direction. “Hey, princess!” I wave, ignoring the man carrying her.

“Ma-da,” she squeals, which is as close as she gets to my name. She is, somehow, the perfect mix of her mother and father: light brown hair and dark eyes, small and plump. Kaede was my first exposure to small children. “I think I want one of these,” I told Minami the day she was born. “Or three. And I want them to be like her.” That’s how I became Kaede’s official babysitter. In the weeks since returning from Switzerland, I’ve watched her nearly every day. Which is, according to Minami, “A lot of unpaid labor. Wouldn’t you rather be out partying?”

“At eight thirty a.m.?”

“Or—I don’t know. Skateboarding? Making prank calls? Engaging in nuclear fission? I don’t know what twentysomethings do these days.”

“Are you kidding? I love hanging with Kaede. She’s my bestie. Aren’t you?”

Kaede grinned, toothy, and held out her octopus plushie to me—a most resounding yes. The problem is, I may be her bestie, but I’m not the only one.

“So Maya is here, and I’m old news, hmm?” A deep, fake-gruff tone, followed by a light tickle on her round tummy that has her pealing with laughter. Tragic, how much she likes Conor. I thought children come with a built-in jackass detector, like dogs. Then again, Tiny, too, often seeks snuggles from the enemy.

“Hey, baby girl.” Kaede’s little arms wrap around my neck. Conor’s hand brushes against the back of mine, then lingers there to make sure that the baby is well supported.

“Careful,” he murmurs, not letting go. “She’s gotten heavier.”

“I’ve got her, I—” It’s a huge mistake, looking up at him. Meeting his eyes. There is something in there, a guarded, hidden, resigned kind of sadness that reminds me of the first time he handed Kaede to me. “I’ve got her,” I repeat, firm.

Conor nods, slowly, and returns to his seat.





Chapter 8




I sit with Kaede in my lap, and she gives me a beautiful, snotty kiss. “Sorry.” Minami wipes my cheek. “We’re working on her penchant for sharing bodily fluids. You know everyone here, right?” Minami asks.

“Yup.” Despite my better judgment, my eyes are already flying to Conor, who has fallen in conversation with Nyota, and Avery, and…And? “Actually, not the blonde.”

“Oh, right. Tamryn. You’re going to adore her, she’s lovely. Irish. I can’t wait for you to hear her and Hark talk to each other.” Plates stuffed with bread, eggplant rolls, and sun-dried tomatoes are deposited in front of us. “Oh my god, this looks amazing.”

Everyone laughs, eats, sips from constantly refilled glasses. I focus on cajoling Kaede into not playing with the pepper shaker and accept a few bites of shredded chicken. Take a deep breath. Inhale the burning scent of citronella and land a blueberry jet plane inside a very eager mouth. My eyes, though, keep straying to Tamryn. Her long face, wide lips, fair complexion. There’s something about the way her features come together that takes my breath away. This is someone who could easily make money off her looks. She laughs at the chatter buzzing around her and plucks a roll from Conor’s plate, easy, intimate.

“He said what?” Nyota is asking from the other side of the table.

“I think COB reminded him of the inevitability of death.”

Conor shakes his head. “Avery, if you bring this up at the next board meeting, I will rename Harkness after you.”

“He’s actually gonna go through with it,” Tamryn says. Her eyes catch me staring, and she grins, kind.

I flush. Ferociously. Am relieved when someone says, “So, Maya. I hear we might be colleagues.”

I turn to the man sitting at my right. “Oh my god. Paul?”

“Yup, that’s me.”

We maneuver into an awkward hug above Kaede’s head.

“How long has it been?”

“A while. I think since that time—”

“Do not mention the mac and cheese.”

“—you puked mac and cheese all over me.”

“That’s definitely not true. We’ve met at least twice since, and on both occasions you reminded me of that incident.”

“Touché.” Behind wire-rimmed glasses, light blue eyes squeeze into a smile. That’s when I parse his words.

“Wait, what do you mean, we’ll be working together?”

“You’re coming to Sanchez, right? Their semiconductors are state of the art. You’ll love it there.”

He’s talking about the California company that’s pioneering new chip technology and offering me a frankly unprincipled amount of money to go work for them. “How do you know that—?”