LITMIR.BIZ

       Four

      With her heart pumping hard against her ribs, London smoothed her palms along her dress’s full skirt and slowly wound her way back to Harrison. Everly’s texts and subsequent appearance in the restaurant had been disturbing. What they were doing was dangerous enough. If they were caught in some sort of conspiracy, it could ruin all their lives.

      Nor could she ignore the question front and center in her thoughts. Was Everly following her? The possibility made her skin prickle. How else could the other woman have known that London was having dinner with Harrison? And what sort of insanity had prompted Everly to confront London in public like this where anyone could have seen them? Had Everly contacted Zoe, as well? London was tempted to reach out to the third member of their scheme, but that was exactly what she’d railed at Everly for doing.

      Anxiety danced along her nerve endings as she slid into her seat opposite Harrison. London suspected her distress was reflected in her expression because after a quick survey of her face, he frowned.

      “Is everything okay?”

      “Fine.” London forced a reassuring smile. “I just received a bit of bad news about an event I was going to organize.” The lie came too easily, sparking concern over the person she was becoming. “The client had been on the fence about what they wanted to do and decided to cancel.”

      “You seem rattled. It must’ve been a big client.”

      “Not huge, but all my clients are equally important and I’m disappointed that this didn’t work out.” Even though London wasn’t lying, the fact that she was deceiving Harrison left a bad taste in her mouth.

      “Maybe they’ll change their mind.” His winning smile gave her heart a different reason to pound. “I’ll bet you can be quite persuasive.”

      His attempt to make her feel better through flattery was turning her insides to mush and soothing away her earlier distress. She caught herself smiling at him in gratitude as pleasure washed over her. The man had a knack for getting under her skin.

      “If by ‘persuasive’ you mean bossy,” London said, recognizing that she had a tendency to stab directly into the heart of something rather than nibble away at the edges, “then I agree. I come on a little too strong sometimes.”

      “You want to get things done,” Harrison said, nodding. “I get it. Winning is everything.”

      It struck London that maybe they had more in common than she’d initially thought. They shared a love of competition and a matching determination to get across the finish line. Maybe his way of doing things meant he slid behind the wheel of a car and drove at reckless and adrenaline-inducing speeds, making impulsive decisions in the moment, while she tended to be more methodical and deliberate in her approach.