“Liv,” Deiss corrects her.
Her eyes widen apologetically, and now that we’re in better lighting than that at the hotel pool, I can see that they’re purple. They must be contacts, but the knowledge doesn’t help. Her bronzed skin glows.
“It’s good to see you again, Liz,” she says brightly, only allowing her gaze to drop for a second to where Deiss’s hand is still resting loosely around my waist. “How’s the freelancing going?”
“It’s good,” I say, feeling sick to my stomach. “I was actually just about to get back to it.”
“No, you weren’t,” Deiss says. “We were going to get dinner.”
“You should go with Zoe,” I say. “She did just get here. Anyway, I should double-check my wine label and get it turned in. If I don’t, I’ll just spend the rest of the night wondering if they’ll like it.”
“Let’s see it,” Deiss says, starting toward the counter.
I allow him to sweep me in front of him, but his hand stays splayed against the small of my back. My skin heats beneath it, either from the feel of his touch or the burning of Zoe’s eyes.
“Who’s this?” Booker asks as we approach. He scans the length of Zoe appreciatively, slowing as his gaze dips down her tawny legs. “Have we picked up another stray?”
“The name’s Zoe,” she says, tossing her mane of obsidian hair over a bare shoulder with a smile. “I met Lucas and Liz in St. Lulia.”
“Liv,” Deiss says, as I slide the laptop across the counter. “Or you can call her Olivia, if Liv is hard to remember.”
I bite my lip to stop it from curling up, even though they’re both behind me and neither can see my face. Booker is in front of me, and his eyes have widened with interest at the sharpness of Deiss’s tone.
“Ugh,” Zoe sighs. “I’m terrible. Sorry, Liv. Two weeks of vacation drinking has left my brain totally soggy.”
“Well, the rest of you seems to have stayed remarkably firm,” Booker says with a wink. “The name’s Booker, but you can call me anything you want.”
I groan, but Deiss just laughs, reaching around me to flip open the laptop. The label is still up on the screen, and I feel a flush of pride at the sight of it. It looks even better now that I’ve had a little distance from the process of building and erasing and building again.
“That’s amazing.” Deiss leans closer, studying the screen like it’s an exhibit at a museum rather than a label that’s meant to be plastered around a bottle of booze. His hand drapes over my shoulder. “I love how you’ve managed to make it both whimsical and stately at the same time.”
“Thanks,” I murmur, pleased at his assessment. A unique spin on a traditional representation is what I kept trying to accomplish at Infinity Designs, but they never wanted anything new or different. Hopefully, this client will. If they don’t like it, it will be the first project I’ve done this week that’s been rejected. Everyone else has loved what I’ve turned in.
“It really is good,” Zoe says.
Booker laughs at her higher voice, which betrays her surprise. “You thought it would be bad?”
I turn to Zoe. For the first time since she entered, she looks the slightest bit ruffled.
“No,” she says unconvincingly.
Booker laughs again.
“Fine.” Zoe shrugs, an apologetic smile stretching across her face. “You hear that someone is going freelance and you can’t help assuming they’re a novice. You’re not, though,” she says, turning to me. “You’re actually really talented.”
“She’s been doing this professionally for years,” Deiss says. “She’s just switching from doing it for a company to doing it for herself.”
Zoe’s eyes narrow for a split second, and then her smile widens even further.
“That’s great, Liv,” she says, her hand going to my arm. “There’s a ton of work out there to be picked up. In fact, I’m a little overwhelmed myself. I’ve taken on a new beauty line because the pay was too good to pass up, but I could use a partner on it. We should swap numbers, if you’re interested?”
“I’d like that,” I say a tad reluctantly.
I know from our chat at the pool that night that it’s a great offer. Zoe is well past the period I’m currently in, where you present your services in response to posts from average people offering jobs for set pay. She’s worked with big-name companies, many of whom have sought her out, and some of whom she’s even had to turn down due to lack of time.