Adrienne sighed. “Tyler Knight?”
I laughed. “Well, how about that.”
“Only I would do this,” she said, shaking her head as Bayleigh dropped off the new round. Adrienne picked the glass up with long, dark fingers and took a sip.
I watched her curiously. “You’re not what I expected.”
She laughed “Yeah, well, I’m off duty.”
“Or on,” I added, motioning to her costume.
Her smiled curled up in amusement. “So, how’s it going with Pharaoh?”
“Good question. I haven’t heard from Jack in six hours, so that’s probably a bad sign,” I joked.
“I’m pretty confident he’s got it in the bag. But don’t tell Work Adrienne I said so.”
I chuckled. “Deal.”
“He’s in Atlanta?”
“He is. We’re waiting to find out more, but he’s been released.”
“Well, at least there’s that. But let’s leave work at work for tonight, all right, Steve Rogers?” She raised her glass, and I raised my bottle, touching the rim to hers.
“Whatever you say, Selena Kyle.”
Cam
I leaned on the bar, trying to listen around Martin to whatever the others were talking about, but Tyler’s back was turned, and I couldn’t hear anything. With every passing second, my curiosity — and frustration — grew.
“So,” Martin started, “how do you like working here?”
I broke my gaze — which was locked on the back of Tyler’s head — and smiled at Martin. “It’s my dream job. I get to run a bookstore, which makes my nerd heart sing Disney songs. I’m lucky Cooper chose Shady’s to visit for his comic needs.”
He nodded. “That’s right, Tyler told me Cooper Moore owned the place with a friend of his.”
“Rose,” I added. “I was actually Cooper’s comic dealer before all this. Now he helps me order for the store.”
The conversation lulled, and I trained my ears toward Tyler, catching him laughing.
“Bayleigh seems cool,” he said and took a drink.
I sighed and looked back at Martin, mustering a smile. “She is.”
“Have you known each other long?”
“Just since she started here, a few months ago,” I said shortly, not meaning to be short, but Adrienne was smiling widely at Tyler, and I wondered what they were talking about.
He smiled, a warm expression that transformed his face into something a little more handsome than it was before. “Does she, ah … have a boyfriend?”
My smiled tightened. “Sorta.”
His smile fell. “Oh. Yeah, I mean, that makes sense. I would have been surprised if someone hadn’t snapped her up.”
“Me too,” I muttered absently as Tyler laughed. Adrienne did too, and with that, I found myself unable to keep still any longer. “I’m sorry, would you excuse me for a minute?”
“Sure,” he said amiably, if not a little crestfallen.
I smiled and touched his arm, relieved, thinking again about a proper match I could make for him. “Thanks, Martin.”
I slipped off my stool and walked around to the back of the bar to check the sales on the computer in an effort to look like I actually had something to do, then made my way to Greg and Bayleigh to check on them. Once my fake-important walkabout was complete, I headed back over to the group, though instead of taking my seat next to Martin, I stood just behind Adrienne and Tyler, who had angled in to face each other while Sarah checked her phone on the other side of her. She smiled gratefully at me for saving her from the third wheel seat and swiveled around on her stool.
Everyone else did the same except for Martin — Bayleigh had come his way again and was leaning on the bar, laughing with him about something.
My mood soured a little tiny bit, but I smiled anyway.
“You guys doing okay?”
“Great, actually,” Adrienne said, leaning toward Tyler. “Tyler and I actually figured out we know each other.
“Kind of,” he added. “She’s Pharaoh Carson’s rep.”
“Ah,” I said with an understanding nod. “Hopefully the mess has blown over sooner than later, right?”
Tyler smiled. “Jack’s the best at what he does, so I don’t doubt it will be.”
“Maybe I can smooth things over with my boss on the matter too. Team effort, right?” Adrienne took a sip of her drink. “Cam, I’m so jealous that you have such a cool job. This is way better than sitting in some office in Midtown every day in heels and a pencil skirt.”
“Amen,” I said with a laugh, raising my glass as I looked Adrienne over again. She was drop-dead gorgeous — she could have easily been a model. Her face was perfect, from the structure itself to her impeccable makeup, her dark hair spilling out in waves from under her Catwoman mask. And of all the women in Wasted Words dressed in spandex, she was the only one who didn’t have an errant lump or bump — just the soft, sultry curve of her breasts to her hips.
She was beautiful. Successful. Nice. And she was into Tyler.
He was into her too.
They’d be an ideal match.
I smiled at her, playing it all out in my head. In part, it made me feel a little sick, sort of like looking down off the top of the Empire State Building, dizzying vertigo. I didn’t quite understand it, though I recognized it distantly as some form of jealousy — not the ragey type, just more of a … longing, I guess you could say. But I shook my head, stepped back from the ledge, and put on my matchmaker hat. Because Tyler deserved the absolute best, and this chick was the cream of the crop.