Going Down: The Elevator Series by Katherine Stevens

back toward the kitchen without a word.
    “‘Much obliged?’” I raised one eyebrow.
    “‘Sister wife?’” Cole raised both eyebrows.
    Maggie waived her hand dismissively. “I was flipping back and forth between Gone with the Wind and Sister Wives this past weekend.” She no doubt felt this was all the explanation necessary for her outburst.
    I hoped to avoid small talk, so I picked at an invisible stain on the white tablecloth. In my peripheral vision I could see Maggie shooting daggers with her eyes, willing me to speak, but I could be every bit as stubborn as she was.
    “So, Cole.” Maggie finally caved. “How are you liking it so far?”
    “Fantastic! I’m getting settled, in and I’m ready to get to work.”
    “Well, I know we’re excited to have you on the team as well. Right?” Maggie kicked me under the table.
    “Totally.” I sound like a high surfer. This lunch could not end soon enough.
    I felt the weight of Maggie’s stare pushing against my forehead, but I really needed to focus on the nonexistent smudge. She reluctantly caved again. “I know I can speak for Cici when I say we’re so happy to have you at Grantham. I saw you’ve worked for a couple of smaller firms since graduating. It seems like we’re all in the same boat and advancing to the big leagues now.”
    I saw my opportunity and took it. I couldn’t let it go that he glossed over going to one of the most prestigious universities in the country. “Cole, Maggie tells me you graduated from Yale. What was it like to attend such a quaint local Connecticut school?” I asked, echoing his words from last night. Sugar would melt in the presence of the sweet, innocent smile plastered on my face.
    He choked on his water briefly. “Well, my dad has been a professor there for as long as I can remember, so it’s really just another school to me. They have a great business department, so it was a good fit.”
    “So, then you probably wouldn’t even think to mention your Ivy League pedigree to someone if you were getting to know them? You would just gloss right over that part?”
    “I suppose it’s something I would mention in the context of an interview, but not really during a dating scenario, for example.” A less perceptive person might not notice his clenched jaw. As it were, I was hyperaware of everything happening in the general area between his hair and the soles of his feet. “My alma mater has little to do with the substance of my character, Ms. Carrington.”
    I nodded. It was possible I was being a skosh touchy about Cole having a better résumé than me. “Fair point, well made, Mr. Danvers.”
    Before we could launch into another topic, the breadbasket was delivered by our much-deflated waitress. She took our orders and trudged back to the kitchen.
    “I think you broke her.” Sometimes Maggie made people wish their dads had pulled out.
    “I think so, too,” she answered, a bit chastened. “The only way to fix this is to let her marry Cole.” She looked at him apologetically. “I’m sorry, but you’re going to have to take one for the team.”
    Cole looked equal parts confused and scared. “I only took one mediation class in school, but I feel confident there is some middle ground between here and marriage.”
    Maggie shook her head. “No, immediate nuptials are the only answer. I’ll need your guest list by the end of the day.”
    Normally I would be playing right along with Maggie, but I was busy wolfing down bread at an alarming speed. It had been more than twenty-four hours since I’d had anything resembling a meal. Anyway, the carbs displaced the slight jealousy I felt watching the easy banter between them.
    I wasn’t certain how I should act around Cole. I had a mental picture of a Venn diagram with three interlocking circles labeled “Boss,” “Lover,” and “Cole Danvers Fan Club President” all converging with “Me” in the center. I’d like to continue to be all of those things, but I