I smiled tightly. “Just great,” I said.

“You two are so sweet together,” Lizzie said. “And that kiss in the lobby. Whoo,” she fanned herself off, smiling. “I don’t know if Jonas has kissed me like that in a long time.”

Jonas raised an eyebrow and gave her a “to be continued” sort of look.

“You know how it is,” Dean said. “We’re like bunnies, me and–” he grunted as I punched his leg under the table.

Alec hadn’t touched his salad, but for some reason, he was holding his knife upright in his fist. Definitely a 90’s movie bad guy. “And you think you two… bunnies will be able to focus on work this week? Even though my brother so graciously bunked you together in the same room?”

“They’re adults,” Jonas said, giving Alec a look of annoyance. “They aren’t kids sneaking out for a sleepover.”

“And they’re our employees,” Alec said.

Dean cleared his throat. “Technically, I’m a consultant. A contractor, if you will. There’s nothing in the company bylaws against a contractor dating one of your employees. I checked.”

Did he? I waited for one of the bosses to contradict him, but they didn’t.

“I do admit the situation is a bit unusual, but Dean is very valuable to me. Pearl, too,” Maxwell added as more of an afterthought.”

“I fail to see why,” Alec muttered. His gaze was on Dean, and I wondered what bone he had to pick with Dean. So far, everybody seemed to love Dean. Alec might have been the first person I’d seen look at him with anything but open admiration.

“I don’t see what is unusual about it,” Dean said. “If we were married, would it be odd? I mean, the two of us have basically already agreed we’re tying the knot as soon as we have a date set for the wedding. Unless we get pregnant first, I guess.”

I choked on my water. Lizzie bulged her eyes at me for confirmation.

While still coughing a little, I nodded. “Yep,” I rasped. “It’s true. Practicalloy married already. Not pregnant,” I added when I saw the inquisitive look from Lizzy.

Dean gave my thigh a squeeze and there was too much going on to slap his hand away. I barely noticed.

“See?” Jonas asked. “He’s right. If they were married you old grumps wouldn’t give a care in the world. And from the sounds of it, they’re one step away. So it’s settled.”

Alec gave an unimpressed lift of his eyebrows and finally jabbed his knife into his salad. I expected him to, you know, maybe pick up the fork and start eating. But nope. He apparently just wanted to stab the lettuce and leave his knife there like some kind of shiny, wobbling warning.

Maxwell raised his palms in a gesture that seemed to say it wasn’t particularly worth discussing further.

“So, finish the story,” Lizzie said. “Pearl has always been coy when I ask her how you two met. It was always, ‘oh you know massage artist this and emotions and it happened so fast.’ But how did it all happen? Give me the minute by minute.”