Silence.
“And he’s, um, tall. He’s tall.” I nod. Oh, God. I’m babbling. Chloe is scary when she’s quiet. “And he’s Irish!” I remember. “You would have the cutest babies.” That was probably too far.
“So what’s his name?” Chloe turns to Sandra, ignoring me completely. “Or do you even know? Sometimes she makes up things in her head that aren’t actually happening. Is there a guy you like?”
“His name is Gabe,” I answer for Sandra as we exit the apartment, choosing to focus on tonight’s goal instead. There’s plenty of time to work on Chloe’s love life. “He’s not her boss, because I’m dating her boss and that would be super awkward, but he’s a vice-president at Clemens Corporation, which makes it a little bit naughty, don’t you think?” I don’t wait for anyone to answer me. “Sandra wants to do dirty, dirty things with him on his desk.”
Sandra blushes and shakes her head before stopping herself. “How could you possibly know that? You’ve seen us together one time.”
“I’m observant.” I shrug.
“Well, it’s irrelevant,” she says, straightening, spine straight as we walk. “It’s not appropriate. And I’m not his type,” she adds in a soft voice.
“We’ll see about that,” I respond. We’ve made it back to the hotel lobby and I spy the man himself waiting for an elevator to the party space on the second floor.
We’ll just see.
Thirty-Six
“Gabe!” I call out cheerfully, waving when we’ve gotten a dozen feet away. He’s about to step onto an elevator, but he stops, turning toward the sound of my voice. He smiles politely as the elevator closes and leaves without him. I’m sure he’s trying to place me because Sandra’s correct. I’ve only seen him once.
His eyes move from me to Chloe and Sandra, and as I’d planned, he does a double-take when he sees Sandra. Tonight might be easier than I’d thought.
Chloe pushes the elevator call button while Sandra covers the formal introductions. If Gabe thinks it’s weird that I was calling his name across the lobby when I’ve not technically been introduced to him, he doesn’t show it, likely because he’s a little distracted with Sandra.
“So you came alone?” I ask as the four of us step onto the next elevator. Sandra and Chloe shoot me simultaneous looks of ire, clearly unimpressed with my segue from introductions to fact-finding.
Gabe glances in my direction, then back at Sandra. “I did.”
I nod to Chloe with a discreet tilt of my head and widen my eyes, as if to say, See, I was right. Chloe tilts her head back and shrugs. She knows I’m right, but it’ll kill her to admit it. I hope Gabe and Sandra have a big wedding so I can bring Chloe as my plus one.
“See you later!” I call out as we all step off the elevator on the second floor, grabbing Chloe’s arm in the process. “I’m going to find Sawyer so I can introduce him to Chloe,” I explain, and then I make a run for it. I imagine it’s much the same way a mother feels when she drops her child at kindergarten for the first time. I stop the moment I find a hiding place so I can peek back and make sure Sandra’s stayed put where I left her, with Gabe.
“He’s totally into her. You see it, right?”
“Yeah, fine. He’s into her,” Chloe admits, begrudgingly.
“They’re so cute they’re going to need a couple nickname. Sabra! Sabra’s perfect. Coined it!” I do a little raise-the-roof motion with my hands to celebrate my brilliance.
“Sabra is a brand of hummus.”
Oh. Maybe not so brilliant then. I drop my hands and frown.
“He’s hot,” I observe from our vantage point. “The nerd glasses really work on him, don’t you think?” He’s dressed up tonight. The last time I saw him he was in jeans with his shirt sleeves rolled up. “He’s wearing the hell outta that suit.”
“I can’t argue with that,” Chloe agrees, peering around the corner with me.
“What is she doing?” I grumble. “Her flirting skills are atrocious.”
“What did you expect her to do? Drag him into the coat closet?”
“I would love it if she did, but right now I’ll settle for more eye contact. She’s staring into her drink.”
“Yeah, she is. Oh, no, incoming.”
We watch as a tall blonde joins Gabe and Sandra, and we both groan when the intruder puts a hand on Gabe’s arm and Sandra takes a visible half step back.
“You stupid bitch, take your hands off Sandra’s man,” I whisper, even though Chloe is the only one paying attention to me.
“He’s not interested in the new blonde, look at him,” Chloe observes.
“Of course he’s not, but Sandra’s gonna bolt in less than a minute. Just watch.”