“Oh,” Danica said with a strained laugh, brushing her palms against the skirt of her dress, “I ran here straight from work. Hope I haven’t already missed too much.” She turned to Luke. “What have you two been talking about?” Her eyes were opened wide, as if she were trying to send him a message.
“Felicity told a joke about the difference between optimists, pessimists and financial advisors,” he said. At least he assumed it had been a joke.
“I’d love to hear it someday.” Danica kept her gaze focused on Luke. He didn’t mind. “Did you talk about the open position?”
“No,” Felicity said. Luke jerked his head in her direction. He’d almost forgotten she was still standing there. “We did not. I have some questions I’d like to ask.”
“I’m sure you do.” Danica finally took her gaze away from Luke. The absence hit him like bedcovers yanked off on a cold winter’s morning. “That’s why I’m here. To help answer them. But—” She stopped, her gaze focused on a point over Felicity’s shoulder. “Hey, isn’t that Cinco Jackson over by the bar? You know, the business reporter for the Silicon Valley Weekly? I love his work.” Danica waved at the reporter, who remained focused on his drink.
What the hell was she doing, trying to attract the attention of a journalist? Was that why she was here? His gut said no, but he suddenly realized he and Danica hadn’t really spoken since the kiss. And they needed to. It was way out of bounds for him to kiss a contractor. He couldn’t and wouldn’t blame her if she went to the press despite the NDA. “Danica, can we talk first—”
She trod on his toe. Good thing she wore flat black shoes that looked like ballet slippers. “Hmm, he’s not looking our way. I’d love to meet him. I don’t suppose you know him, Felicity?”
Two spots of red appeared on Felicity’s cheeks. “As a matter of fact, I do.”
“You’re so lucky!” Danica gushed. “I heard from a friend of a friend—on the down low, mind you—that he’s engaged. I’m so jealous.”
Jealous? What the... He opened his mouth, only for Danica’s heel to connect with his foot again. “Felicity, are you okay?” Danica asked. “Did your champagne go down the wrong way?”
Felicity was indeed sputtering. “Engaged?” she managed to get out. “Where did you hear that? No one knows—” She clamped her lips shut.
Danica clasped a hand to her chest, her eyes wide with amazement. “It is true?” she gasped. “But how do you... Oh! Don’t tell me! You must be the fiancée!”
Luke managed to move his shoe before Danica could step on it once more. “I gather best wishes are in order,” he said, shooting a warning glance at Danica. She needed to cut back on the enthusiasm.
Not that Felicity seemed to notice Danica was overdoing it. The redhead resembled a fish realizing too late the baited hook had been swallowed. “I—I didn’t confirm that.”
Danica put a conciliatory hand on Felicity’s arm. “Don’t worry. We won’t say anything.”
“But I didn’t—”
“You don’t need to,” Danica said. “You haven’t stopped looking at Cinco Jackson since I mentioned him.”
“I—” Felicity tore her gaze away from the reporter and shrugged. “Fine. It’s true. And this is the strangest job interview I have ever been on.”
“It is unusual,” Danica agreed, her smile still five hundred watts bright.
“It’s the Ruby Hawk way,” Luke interjected. “If you’re not comfortable in out-of-the-box situations, you won’t be comfortable working with me.”
“Out of the box certainly describes Luke’s methods.” Danica gave an emphatic nod.
“This was a test?” Felicity asked.
“Luke gets ambushed all the time by people wanting to pry confidential information out of him. We needed to see how you would react in a similar situation,” Danica said smoothly. “Do you still have questions for us?”
Felicity’s gaze ping-ponged between Luke and Danica. “I have a million, but not about the job. I think we all know I just took myself out of the running.” She laughed, her shoulders falling. “It’s actually a relief. I guess I can tell you now. Cinco just accepted an on-air job with a New York City station. We move in a few months.”