Page 43 of Everything She Wanted

“I bet you say that to all the tech bros,” he replies, and I want to exit this conversation.

She laughs, and it sounds like silk. “You’re in the top five for sure. Who’s this you have with you?”

“Nisha, I’d love for you to meet Wanda. She’s going to be on the Women in Tech panel tomorrow, and she runs her own headhunting firm.”

“So lovely to meet you, Nisha.” She holds out her hand, and I take it, not liking that I like her already.

“I only take on female clients, but if I ever decide to take on men, Nick will be at the top of my list.” She winks at me, and I’m not sure why it makes me envious. “I hope the panel can go ahead, actually. We just had a last-minute cancellation from one of the panelists.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” Nick looks at her and then at me, and I can see a thought forming in his head.

“Nisha here is so passionate about empowering women in the workplace. She even did a podcast recently about women in tech. If you need someone, I’m sure she’d be happy to help.”

First of all, I had no idea he knew about that. And second, is this really happening to me again? At least this time, it’s something I actually want to do. Well played, universe.

Wanda turns to me, and her gaze assesses me in a different way than before. “Is that something you’d be interested in?”

I hesitate. I have no experience, and I don’t want to screw up, but I also can’t miss this chance.

“Actually, I would love to help, but I’ll be honest, I’ve never done anything like this, so I understand if you want someone with more experience.”

She eyes me kindly. “I’m looking for passion more than experience, and I get a sense you have it.”

She smiles at me, and light, bubbly hope froths in my chest. “If Nick recommends you, then I don’t need to hear anything else.”

I fight down the jealousy that she trusts Nick that much and instead feel the joy that he would do this for me.

“The panel starts at ten a.m., and if you give me your email, I’ll send you the questions in advance so you can prep.”

“That would be so amazing, thank you,” I gush.

“No, thank you. You saved me from potentially having to cancel.”

I give her my details and she heads toward someone else she recognizes across the hall. I can’t help but radiate happiness, and I know who to thank for that. I want to throw myself into his arms, but I know that would be wildly inappropriate. Instead, I touch his arm and look up at him.

“Nick, thank you. This is just so incredible. I can’t tell you how much this means to me.”

He looks at me and my heart skips a beat. “You don’t need to thank me.”

“I do.”

He gives me his most radiant smile, and I can’t help but be enamoured with him.

My phone vibrates, and I quickly scan the screen and see that it’s an email from Wanda. “Wanda just sent me the details.”

“Great. Why don’t you go prep, and I’ll take care of the networking for this evening.”

“Oh my gosh, really? That would be so amazing.” I squeeze his forearm that I’m still holding on to.

“I’ll walk you out.”

When we reach the lobby, I can’t help myself: For once, I don’t overthink, and just wrap him in a hug. He puts his arms around me, and I can’t think of anything else. We hold on too long and I should pull away, but his body is so solid and comforting and I want to just stay here forever. I can feel his breath on my neck, and his heart seems to be beating just as fast as mine. Suddenly, I get conscious of the fact that we’re not the only ones here, and I pull back.

“I better go prep.”

He bites his lip as he looks at me, and I feel unsteady on my feet. “I’ll see you later.”

He watches as I get in the elevator and the doors close, and all I want is more reasons to have his arms around me, even though I know that’s the last thing I should want.