The Boss Project

Erin glanced at Will then me. “I hope you don’t mind if I steal her for a few minutes.”

We both shrugged, but it was Will who spoke. “Steal away.”

Erin looped her arm with Evie’s, and the two of them continued chatting as she guided her away. Will and I watched as they walked over to a group of women sitting at a table.

Will leaned toward me. “Tinkle tinkle tinkle.”

I looked at him like he had two heads. “What the fuck?”

“Just like my brother and his piss with the dog.” Will sipped his drink with a gloating smile.

I rolled my eyes.

“Not that I can blame you,” he said. “My date looks insanely hot tonight, doesn’t she?”

“Don’t be a dick.”

“Why am I a dick?”

I ignored him. “Why are you so late?”

His shit-eating grin spread so wide, it looked like his annoying face might crack. “Evie needed a little help getting into her dress.”

I scowled at him. Luckily, the emcee came over the speakers and asked everyone to please find their seat. We’d bought a twelve-seat table at the event, so I had no choice but to sit with Will. Four other people from Crawford Investments and their dates or spouses were already seated, so I made the rounds and said hello to everyone before sitting down. The spot between Will and me was empty when Evie walked over a few minutes later. I stood and pulled out her chair since her date was too busy flirting with a woman at the next table to even notice she’d returned.

“Thank you,” Evie said as I tucked her in.

The emcee took the stage, and for the next half hour, we listened to speeches about all of the things Home Start had been able to accomplish over the last year. Well, most of us listened. Will was too busy typing into his phone. I was reasonably certain, based on the glances being exchanged, that he was texting with the woman at the table next to us. Luckily, his date didn’t seem to notice. When the speeches finally concluded, they opened up the dance floor and said dinner would be served shortly.

Will wasted no time pulling back from the table and standing. “I’m going to dance.”

My jaw flexed, assuming he meant with the woman he’d brought tonight. But instead, he walked over to the table next to us and took the hand of the woman he’d been flirting with.

I frowned, but Evie at least pretended to be a good sport. She smiled as we watched Will make a spectacle of himself, twirling the woman around on the floor. When a second song started and Will pulled his partner close, it felt awkward, so I tried to distract Evie.

“I should have warned you about Erin. If you so much as look in her direction, the next thing you know she has you opening your wallet or working for her.”

“Oh, no. I’m happy to volunteer. Home Smart is an incredible organization. I really need something like that in my life.” Evie smiled. “Thank you for inviting me.”

I thought it was strange that she thanked me since I hadn’t been the one to invite her. But she probably assumed the company paid for all of the seats, which it had. “My grandmother is the one who told me about the program,” I said. “Some of the people she’s worked with got housing through Home Start.”

“Ah. I should’ve known Kitty was involved somehow.” She smiled. “I’m sorry I made us late. Will feels horrible about ripping my dress.”

“He…ripped your dress?”

“Oh, I thought you knew. He said he was going to text you to let you know we were going to be late. I was all dressed and ready, but I needed to use the bathroom before we left. My zipper was stuck, so I asked Will to see if he could get it. He did, but he tore the zipper right from the seam. I only had this dress with me at my sister’s, since the majority of my clothes are still in a storage unit. So I had to wait for her to come home and sew it for me. I don’t have a clue how to sew, especially not the fabric of a dress. Then when she finally got me fixed up, and we were about to leave, one of my contacts popped out.” She shook her head. “So it worked out well that you asked Will to pick me up. Otherwise, I would’ve made you late, too.”

“I asked Will to pick you up?”

Hearing the question within my question, Evie paused to study me. Her brows drew together. “He said you had to come early, so we’d meet you here.”

I was missing something. First she’d said I invited her, and now she thought I’d arranged to have Will pick her up. Something was off, but I’d been hanging out with Will for too long to not know that the best way to handle it was to go along with things.

So I nodded. “Right. Some of the sponsors come early to work the door, greeting people with the staff of Home Start.”

When the second song ended, Evie excused herself to go to the ladies’ room. Will walked back over to the table a minute later. He sat in Evie’s chair next to me, rather than his own, and leaned down to speak quietly next to my ear. “I’m going to duck out early.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”