Gwen slid across the leather seat to sit next to Nina. “He wasn’t thinking about it in terms of me. He was thinking about product image and business.” She sighed. “Which isn’t all bad. Guess I never noticed how myopic he can be.”
“That happens when the sex is good.” Nina leaned forward and told the cabby Aubrey’s address.
The great sex hadn’t been the only reason she’d ignored that Leo was too self-involved, but she didn’t want to think about it now. She believed Leo when he said he hadn’t thought that he should have called to warn her. He’d assumed that Gwen would treat the situation the same as he did: business. Tonight had been business. The potentially personal nature of the evening didn’t occur to Leo until he saw Gwen’s reaction. Ishy meant nothing to Leo, and knowing that somehow hurt more.
“15 CPW,” the cabby said, pulling into the private entrance.
Gwen hugged Nina. “Thank you.”
“No problem. I’m here, Aubrey is here.” Nina smiled. “Of course, she wishes the baby was here.”
“Don’t we all,” Gwen said. The baby. Yes, she didn’t want to leave New York until Aubrey’s baby arrived. They’d all been waiting for what felt like forever.
Nina waved and slid out of the car. Gwen told the cabby her address, then leaned back and waited for the cab ride to end.
*
“Our numbers are the shiznit!” Todd lounged in a chair in Leo’s office, wearing an eye-watering combination of a pink fedora and red glasses. “Beyond our expectations. We’ve already recouped our startup.” Todd held up his hand for a high five and Ilko slapped his palm.
Leo was just as pleased as Todd and Ilko. He had reviewed the app’s earnings report, and it had clearly taken off since the launch party two weeks before.
“We want to move on to the next app,” Ilko said, running her fingers through the front of her dyed purple mohawk.
“Send me a proposal. Similar to ACA?” Leo poured himself a cup of coffee from the carafe on the low table and leaned back into the leather sofa.
Ilko shot Todd a look. He grinned. “A little different. Maybe even a bit racier than ACA. This one is called Afternoon Delight.”
Leo took a long breath. Yes, the app would probably make millions. But he didn’t want to be the poster boy for fast hookups for the rest of his life. He was finished being the poster boy for anything. “That sounds promising. TF might invest, but I’m not going to be the face of the product again.”
“Dude, no offense, but you’re way too old for our demographic. Nope, we got this. Already talking to some early twenty-somethings to be the face of the campaign. Couple of YouTube stars with outrageous numbers of views and followers. They’re perfect—got the skills that pay the bills. Right, Ilko?”
Ilko nodded. “But thanks for the offer. We’ll get you a write-up. Would love for you guys to be the backers on this. We dig how you guys r-o-l-l.” Ilko stood and so did Todd. Were those lederhosen he had on? And wooden clogs.
Leo didn’t dare open his mouth, since he wasn’t sure how he was still managing to keep a straight face, as his app developers exited his office. Sure, if they wanted to collaborate with Travati Financial, he’d always look at what they had. They did good work. But he was done being a part of the promo. He just wanted to be the guy who fronted the money.
“Got a minute?” Justin looked in through the office door. Walking in at Leo’s nod, he lowered his voice. “I know they made us a shitload of money, but dude, what are those two wearing?”
“Who knows? Creative types, I guess.”
“Creative? Come on. That guy is wearing wooden shoes.”
“And lederhosen.” Leo stood and walked to his desk. “What can I do for you?” He set his coffee mug on the nearly empty desk. Neat and clear of clutter, just as he liked it. “How’s it going at home? What are you, four days past the due date?”
“Five, but who’s counting?” To everyone’s surprise, even when Aubrey had gone off of bed rest with her doctor’s blessing, the baby still hadn’t shown any indication of wanting to come out. Justin rolled forward onto the balls of his feet and stuck his hands in his pockets.
Big brother was nervous. Leo hadn’t seen that move since Justin was once almost expelled from high school. Bottle rockets were not meant for gym class.
“So listen, we’ve got a bit of a…challenge.” Justin’s mouth thinned into a grimace. “And please keep in mind we are dealing with an amazing talented woman who is incredibly smart and loving but is currently in the throes of going on ten months of pregnancy hormones and is nearly a week past her due date.”