Lucy didn't sleep much. How could she? Her ex, Damon "I-Steal-Ideas-And-Souls" Brooks, had texted her out of nowhere. After ghosting her and gutting her startup pitch to launch it as his own with his new Silicon Barbie fiancée, now he wanted to "catch up."
Catch up on what? How well betrayal pairs with oat milk lattes?
She stared at the text again the next morning. "Would love to reconnect. No hard feelings, right? Coffee tomorrow at 10? Me and Aria would love to see you."
Aria. The Aria. The girl who took Lucy's app, her boyfriend, and probably her favorite shampoo brand endorsement.
Lucy wasn't going. Except… she was.
Because she was done running from her past. Also, she wanted to look stupidly successful while doing it.
So she threw on the power suit. The red one. The one that screamed "I am thriving, not crying."
And when Cole knocked on her office door that morning, holding coffee (not pumpkin spice—he listened), she looked up with a tight smile.
"Big day?" he asked.
"Just meeting the ghost of heartbreak past and his plagiarist Barbie bride. You know. Tuesday stuff."
Cole raised a brow. "Want backup? I could pretend to be your overly affectionate boyfriend. I do accents."
Lucy laughed despite herself. "What accent would you use?"
He cleared his throat. "Probably French. Women love a Frenchman."
"You're impossible."
"And yet, here I am."
She eyed him. He would be good backup. Especially if she needed to look like she'd leveled up. But…
"Thanks, but I got this. Alone."
He nodded, though something flickered in his eyes.
10:01 a.m. Lucy walked into Brew & Byte, the techiest café on this side of downtown. Every table had built-in chargers, and the cold brew came with nutritional data.
Damon stood up the second she walked in.
"Lucy! You look—wow."
She wanted to respond with a witty insult. Instead, she said, "Damon. Aria. Fancy seeing you in the real world and not in my nightmares."
Aria giggled like betrayal in a bottle.
"We're so glad you came. Damon's been saying how much he regrets how things ended."
"Regret doesn't really cover it," Damon added. "I was immature. And what we had—"
Lucy held up a hand. "Please don't. I'm here because I wanted closure, not clichés."
They exchanged a glance. Aria's smile tightened.
"We actually had a proposal for you," she said. "A business one."
Lucy blinked. "Excuse me?"
Damon pulled out a sleek tablet. "We're launching a new platform. Something… in your wheelhouse. And we want you to be a part of it."
Lucy stared. Was this some twisted full-circle moment? Or just a trap with an NDA?
"Why would I help you?"
Aria smiled. "Because your original idea still had heart. We just think you lacked the infrastructure to build it out. And well—"
"You stole it and now want to pay me to make it better?" Lucy snapped.
Damon shifted uncomfortably. "We were young. But now, with your skills and our funding—"
Lucy stood. "I'd rather pitch an app that counts my eye-rolls. It'd break the App Store."
She turned to leave—but stopped when she saw who'd just walked in.
Cole.
Holding two coffees.
He spotted her instantly. Read her face like a neon sign. Walked right over and handed her a cup.
"You looked like you might need this," he said, eyeing Damon.
Damon stood slowly. "Who's this?"
Cole held out his hand. "Cole Rivers. Her partner. Business and otherwise."
Lucy nearly choked on air.
Aria's smile slipped. Damon's face twitched. And Cole just smiled like the charming, annoying devil he was.
"Well," Lucy said, recovering, "thanks for the chat. But I already have a team that doesn't stab me in the back."
She walked out with Cole, heart pounding. Once they were outside, she turned to him.
"You followed me."
"Technically, I followed my gut. It said 'trouble' and 'bad ex energy.'"
"You didn't have to—"
"I wanted to."
That quiet settled between them. A pause too soft for sarcasm.
"Thanks," she said.
"Anytime. Especially if it involves awkward exes and dramatic exits."
But she didn't laugh.
Instead, she looked at him.
Really looked.
"You meant it? About being my partner?"
He nodded slowly. "I've been in this with you longer than I thought."
"That scares me."
"Same."
They stood there, two caffeine-fueled idiots, hovering at the edge of something terrifying and honest.
Then Lucy's phone buzzed again.
This time? An investor she hadn't pitched yet. They wanted a meeting. Tomorrow.
And they mentioned seeing her name trending on social media…
She opened the app.
#LucyBurns #BossQueen #StoleTheShow
Cole peered at the screen. "Uh oh. What did you do?"
"Nothing. Yet. But I think we just got our big break."
Cole grinned. "Then let's not waste it."
But in the distance, a shadow loomed. Damon was watching from the café window.
And he wasn't smiling.