The soft clinking and clanking of the cutlery against the ceramic plates echo from every corner of the room, muffled by the hum of people conversing over dinner. The waiters are dancing between tables with trays in their hands, carrying desserts, beverages, or dirty dishes. Despite the evening gliding away to embrace the night, only a few tables are empty, cleaned, and ready for the next guests for the following day. People seem to plan to leave this three-star restaurant nearing the closing time.

Cobie shoves the last scoop of her cheesecake sundae into her mouth. When the cheesy ice cream melts on her tongue and caresses her taste buds, she groans inwardly. The whole meal she just had was heavenly. She has to fight the urge to pick up her dessert bowl and lick it clean. She would have if Luke and Georgia weren't sitting in front of her right now.

"Gosh, I ate too much!" Georgia says, half giggling before waving her wine glass at Luke. "This is your fault, Mister. You brought us to this deli-sinfully-cious restaurant when I was starving! I've never eaten this much since I was a teenager!"

Luke chuckles. "How can it be my fault? Gigi, you have been nagging me to bring you to this very restaurant every time we have a client meeting here."

"That is so true. But I gotta be honest that I wish you took me here when it was just the two of us." Georgia smirks. "You know, as if we were on a date or something."

Luke raises one eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Look around us, this is a freaking romantic restaurant and set for couples having a candle-light dinner. What a waste."

At Georgia's remark, Cobie roams her eyes over the restaurant interior. Georgia is right. Everything about the design screams an intimate atmosphere. The vintage brick walls stand elegantly against the beaming golden light from the gigantic chandelier in the center of the room. Tall half-moon windows line up on the side of the room, displaying the mountain view which is blanketed by blinking house lights in its valley.

Stirring the rest of her Mojito, she has a few questions floating inside her head. What kind of restaurant did Luke and Georgia go to when they were on a business trip together? What would they do for the rest of the evening if they spent the night like now? Have they...ever slipped and crossed some boundaries?

"On the contrary, I'm doing this because Evans is with us right now." Luke's voice pulls Cobie's mind back to their table.

Georgia frowns as her red lips purse. "Are you saying this is a three-way date?" She gasps. "Very naughty, Mister. So, where do we start?"

Cobie winces. "Ugh, I'm not sure I want to hear this."

Luke barks his deep laugh. "Georgia with her port. Never been a good combination," he says, turning his head to Cobie. "You need to play deaf for the rest of the evening if you want to preserve your innocence, Evans."

"Right. My innocence. Not sure if I even still have it in me." Smirking, Cobie averts her eyes to him.

Their eyes meet, and she instantly forgets how to breathe.

"Innocence is subjective. Your definition of innocence and my definition of innocence can be very different, though," Luke replies, keeping his gaze on her.

Cobie is not sure what's going on, but he can't break eye contact. His stare is captivating her, making her unable to move. She doesn't even dare to blink, as if the pair of intense hazel eyes is sucking her in, threatening her to admit defeat. Defeat in what? Are they even in some kind of a battle right now? She can barely think.

"Okay," Georgia interrupts, leaning forwards and bouncing her gaze to Luke and Cobie, "are we going to talk about the definition of innocence here right now? On Friday night? If so, lemme add one more vocabulary for you two to discuss: pathetic."

"Right." Luke breaks the staring contest, picks up his scotch glass, and chugs down the rest of the contents, a faint smirk on the corner of his lips. "It's not the best topic to discuss on Friday night, I suppose."

"Nope," Georgia replies, popping the p. "I'll tell you what's best for Friday night. Let's pay the bill, get out of here, and hit the club."

"Sounds good, but I'll pass on the club part," Luke says, sweeping his eyes around the restaurant before waving his hand to a waiter. "Lemme get the bill first."

"Oh, come on! Don't be such a party pooper. It's been a crazy week for the three of us. Since we nailed today's presentation, we deserve to celebrate it while we are here! Let's have some fun!"

Luke grins, half wincing. "Honestly, what I need now is my eight-hour sleep. That's how I celebrate my victory. Guess I'm getting old."

"You're barely thirty. It's nowhere near old." Georgia rolls her eyes.

"I'm nowhere near young, either. You two should go. The nightlife in this city is too fabulous to miss."

"Says an old man who prefers his bed to a three-way date," Georgia retorts and glances at Cobie. "I'm going out. Are you up for having some fun, girl?"

To be truthful, her answer is no. This week has been crazy, and all she wants is to jump into the shower and snuggle under the bed cover with a remote control in hand. But it means she will have to take a taxi ride to their hotel with Luke. A twenty-minute ride only with him, which she'd rather not.

Since the day she lied to him about the email, Cobie has been playing hide and seek with her boss. It's getting harder to hold a conversation with him the way she used to. Maybe she's just being paranoid, but being around Luke is making her guards up to the maximum level. Maybe he knows she wasn't telling him the truth, and he is now up for her lying ass. But she's not giving it.

Rule number two of how to not fall for him: Do not look him in the eye longer than necessary. Yet she broke it tonight, giving Luke easy access to push his way in. He was assessing her, probing her, and trying to break her walls. Yep, that man is not stupid, but Cobie will not cave in.

"Sure. I'm game. Let's hit the club," she replies to Georgia, ignoring Luke's eyes boring into the side of her head.

One thing that Cobie regrets about the dinner is that she didn't drink enough alcohol, and it takes more time for her to loosen up under the blaring music and the rapidly blinking disco lights. In her defense, dealing with Luke and Georgia required a sober mind. Luke wasn't the only one who watched her every move; Georgia also occasionally shot her the 'I see you, gal' look. Being a lightweight, Cobie needed to make sure the alcohol wouldn't ruin her shields of lies in front of the two.

Luckily, it's not something she needs to worry about now. Luke isn't here, and Georgia is drunk as fuck. Whatever she says won't stay in Georgia's mind. Even if it did, with a little tweak of counterstatement, the girl wouldn't be so sure anymore.

The gin that Cobie chugged down once she entered the club starts to work its magic. The constant beat of the music is starting to crawl into her veins, prompting her to sway her body, following the rhythm. Her heart is thumping against her chest, taking her away from her worries and problematic situation with her boss. In front of her, Georgia wiggles her hips while throwing her head side to side, causing her blonde hair to dance wildly around her bare shoulders. The girl looks like a drunken goddess.

Some guys try to join them, subtly pressing their fronts against their backs as they dance together. Not that it bothers Cobie, but when things get a bit out of hand, Cobie pulls Georgia closer to her and the girl instantly presses her forehead against Cobie, acting as if they're lovers. Most of the time, it works to shoo away the uninvited parties who want to look for an easy lay.

Until it doesn't.

"I always fantasize about having two lovers in my bed," a deep voice vibrates from the guy's mouth pressed on Cobie's ear. "They can satisfy each other while I fuck them in turn and make them scream. What about that? Would you two be those lucky lovers?"

Cobie scoots away from the creepy guy. "No, thanks."

The guy moves closer, his eyes traveling down Cobie's body. "I like small girls. They're tight."

"Fuck off!" Cobie glares at him while dragging drunk Georgia farther to the other side of the dancing floor, but the guy is following them. Once he's about to hover over Cobie's back, Georgia narrows her eyes on him.

"Hey! Piss off!" Georgia pushes Cobie to the side and shoves the guy's chest. The perk of being a tall girl, she can easily come face to face with him at the same level of height. "Listen, you piece of shit! If a girl says no, it's time for you to get your filthy ass out of here! Want me to say it again? We don't want your rotten dick nor your ugly face, you dumb ass! You hear that? Now, why don't you go and fuck yourself!"

The music coming from the club speakers is deafening enough, but Georgia's voice hits a whole new level of ear-splitting sound. People around them begin noticing the commotion and in one blink of an eye, Georgia and the creep become the center of attention. As annoyed as Cobie is at the guy right now, the way Georgia handles him makes her lowkey pity him.

Glancing at the eyes around him, the guy walks backward before glaring at Georgia. "You're a crazy bitch!" With that, he turns around and disappears into the crowd.

"Are you guys okay?" The questions come from around them, prompting Cobie to nod and gesture a thank you with her mouth. But then the change in Georgia's expression catches her attention. The girl looks pale, even under the red laser light against her face.

"Are you okay, Georgie?"

Georgia frowns. "Uh, I'm not sure."

"Let's stand aside." Cobie grabs her arm and herds her out of the dancefloor. "Or do you need a toilet break?"

"Yeah. That might be a good idea."

In the next fifteen minutes, Georgia is on her knees on the toilet floor, puking her guts out. Cobie is standing behind her, holding her hair backward while trying hard not to gag from the vomit odor.

"There goes all your dinner," Cobie mumbles when Georgia spews again for the fifth time. Or is it the tenth time? Cobie has lost count. "A couple-hundreds bucks of dinner."

"Is that" —Georgia hiccups— "supposed to make me feel better?"

Cobie shrugs. "I guess not. I'll shut up."

"Thank you."

After Georgia has no more food to puke out, they leave the toilet booth, ignoring the glares from several chicks who are lining up to use the toilet. One girl groans when she enters the booth and yanks the door open again. Cobie winces while dragging wasted Georgia outside.

Since it's still 1 after midnight, finding a taxi isn't an issue. Most people won't leave the club before 2 A.M unless they meet someone who agrees to do something more fun behind the closed bedroom door. Sometimes, they won't even manage that far. The very reason why Cobie never approaches a wobbling car in the parking lot.

"Poor Luke. His money ends up in a club toilet bowl." Georgia giggles as she rests her head backward once they are on their way back to the hotel. "I will never hear the end of it."

"You don't have to tell him. I won't."

Georgia closes her eyes. "Nah. We tell each other everything. No secret. It's been like that for years."

"Oh, wow. That is" —Cobie purses her lips— "very dedicated working relationship."

"Luke and I are good friends, you know?"

"I bet," Cobie replies, turning her head to the window, staring at the city nightlife that is still pretty much busy. This city is at least three times bigger than where she lives right now. But as much as she enjoys a big city, she's not sure if she wants to live in it.

"Luke is the most amicable man I've ever met. I admire him. Gosh, I love him. He makes me feel appreciated and he's very gentle." Georgia pauses and opens her eyes. She frowns from the glaring city lights before immediately shutting her eyes again. "I want him to notice me as more than just a good friend or a bad-ass secretary for once."

"Hasn't he already?"

"Maybe. I wouldn't be so sure. He's nice, but he's really closed up when it comes to love life."

"What do you mean by closed up?"

"Like, he doesn't believe in love, or commitment, or whatever."

"So, he's not interested in dating anyone?"

"Oh, he is. I'll tell you a secret, yeah? I tried to seduce him one night, and we finally kissed."

"What?" For some reason, Cobie's heart skips a beat as if a slow blow hits her chest.

"Well, I kissed him, he didn't push me away but didn't kiss me back either. When I realized he didn't respond, I pulled away, and then the embarrassing moment kicked in."

"Oh my god. I'm sorry."

"So, do you think sending him that email, fantasizing about him was embarrassing enough? Nuh-uh."

"That's not how it actually happened."

"Whatever. Just saying that what you did is nothing. It was just a plain mistake, and Luke knows that."

"Good to know." Cobie nods, looking back to the street. She knows Luke knows it was an accident, but that's not what makes Luke breathe down her neck at the moment.

"You're welcome," Georgia mumbles, her voice faltering. After thirty seconds of stillness between them, Cobie thought she was falling asleep, but then the girl murmurs again. "And Luke is mine, yeah? You gotta take a number."

"Uh, okay. But I thought he would never date anyone from the office."

"You'll be surprised..." Georgia frowns, but the frown gradually disappears from her face while her eyes remain closed.

"What do you mean?" Cobie asks, but the girl is already breathing slowly with a soft snore. When the taxi takes a turn at an intersection, Georgia's limp body shifts to the side and falls on Cobie's shoulder. In the next second, her head lands on Cobie's lap. "Alright then. Sleep well, Georgie."

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