Celia knows it, too, and she steps forward with one hand on her hip, tilts her head back, and looks Noah in the eye. "I've always liked you," she says. "Back then, before all the shit went down, I thought you were good for her. And even though I wanted to fucking kill you when you hurt my girl, I kinda got why you did it. Doesn't make you not an asshole, but I kinda understood.
"But I'm telling you right now that if you hurt her again, I'm going to rip your nuts off." She smiles prettily. "I just want to be clear."
"My nuts and I thank you for the warning." His gaze shifts to me. "I promise, it won't be necessary."
"Hmm."
"Later," I say, resisting the urge to roll my eyes at my friend.
"Tomorrow," she says. "Lunch. Your hotel. Both of you. We have catching up and planning to do. 'Cause we're gonna be so famous. Matthew Fucking Holt," she says. "I can't even."
Since I can't either, we grab each other and hug again. And when she releases me, she whispers, "I wasn't sure about him being back, but I think it's good."
"I know it is," I say, then give her another squeeze before I pull away. Noah takes my hand, and we start toward the exit.
We don't, however, make it. We're stopped by Lyle's voice over the loudspeaker, and when we look for the source, we see that he's standing on a makeshift stage near the craft services table. Most of the guests surround him, including the SCF kids.
"I have a couple of very special announcements," he says, and Noah catches my eye, his look a question.
I want to leave, but I don't want to be rude. And so I shrug, disappointed, and hold onto his hand as we listen to Lyle give a quick speech about SCF, the kids, and the Youth Advocate program.
"He's right," I say. "You'd be a benefit to the program."
"It's on my radar," Noah says, and I know better than to push. Instead, we listen to the rest of Lyle's speech. When he's done, he thanks everyone for coming, then asks for a few more minutes of our attention.
"We have something special to announce," Lyle says, holding his hand out to Sugar, who joins him on the stage. "Last night, I asked the love of my life, Sugar Laine, to marry me. And I'm thrilled to announce that she said yes."
The audience erupts, and when Lyle pulls Sugar close and kisses her very thoroughly, a few catcalls and wolf whistles are added to the mix.
When the crowd dies down and Lyle and Sugar come off the stage to mingle, we go over to congratulate them and say goodbye. "You inspired us to go celebrate," Noah says, looking at me with such obvious heat and purpose I can feel my blush rise.
"It was great meeting you," I tell Sugar as I hug her and Lyle goodbye in turn. "And congrats again."
Once again, we head for the exit gate, and once again, we're stopped. This time by Damien, who's accompanied by his wife, Nikki, a former Texas beauty queen, who I recognize from years of seeing the two of them in magazines and on the internet.
"Heading out?" Damien asks after introductions are made all around.
"We have some plans this evening," Noah says, and I try to keep my expression bland, so as to not telegraph exactly what kind of plans he's talking about.
"I won't take up much of your time, but in case you're planning on working tonight--" His expression suggests that he knows very well that we won't be. "--I wanted to tell you to hold off. I've been talking with the CEO of the Israeli company, and for a variety of reasons, we're considering a co-venture."
"Oh." Noah catches my eye and frowns. "What does that mean for us?"
"It means we're putting the marketing on hold." He turns to me. "We'll pay out the full contract with Crown Consulting, of course. And we'll bring Crown back on board when the new deal is ironed out, if your schedule permits."
"Wow," I say. "Thank you." Not only for the promise of future work, but because a lot of companies would have haggled over whether full payment for this contract was still due, and under the situation he describes, it's a close question. I appreciate Stark not fighting that battle, especially since the income is so important to me.
"Is this because of the possible leaks?" Noah asks. "Because I've been meaning to mention something."
Damien frowns. "Not directly. But what's going on?"
Noah tells him about the green pickup truck that he keeps seeing near his condo and office. "It's probably nothing to do with Red Brick. But it's bothering me, so I thought I'd mention it."
"Doubtful it's relevant," Damien says. "But I'll have someone check it out."
Noah nods, and Nikki steps closer to me. "I wanted to say I'm sorry we didn't get a chance to talk more, but I'm sure we'll see each other again."
"Enjoy your evening," Damien says as he puts his arm around Nikki and pulls her close. The intimacy between them is so palpable it makes my heart ache, and without thinking, I reach out and take Noah's hand. That's what I want, I think. That's how I feel.