Any Way You Want Me by Jamie Sobrato Page B

researching.”
    “Mmm. Want to be my research buddy?”
    “Only if I get to do my own research, too,” he said, waggling his eyebrows. “So you’ve been at Virtual Active since college? About four years?”
    “Five years. I made it through college in three years instead of four.”
    “Oh, yeah? So you’re a genius or something?”
    “I’m just impatient, that’s all.”
    “And modest. I’ve heard through the grapevine that you can write circles around all the other programmers in the office.”
    “Who’s been telling lies about me?”
    “You’re like an urban legend. Yasmine Talbot, code-slinging superbabe.”
    A bubble of laughter burst out of her. “Stop. That is not how my co-workers see me.”
    But she knew he was right. It wasn’t hard to become legendary among a bunch of guys whose lives—and in some cases sex lives—existed mostly within a computer.
    “So what do we tell everyone at this party about us? That we’re shacked up for the weekend?”
    “How about that we’re co-workers, and this is our second date—on Christmas Eve because we’ve both been orphaned by our selfish vacation-crazed families.”
    “Is that what we call this—dating?”
    “We could say we’re just screwing, but…I don’t think there’s an actual word for what we’re doing—or if there is one, it’s not something we should be saying in polite circles.”
    “So this Cass? She’s your best friend?”
    “Yes, and she’s also on my shit list for making me leave my apartment tonight.”
    “I promise we can make up for lost time later.”
    She smiled. “I guess there’s really no hurry, right?”
    “Right. If we don’t slow down a little, I’m going to be useless by tomorrow,” Kyle said.
    They reached Cass’s building, and Yasmine led the way up the steps. They were ushered inside Cass’s apartment by a woman Yasmine didn’t recognize, and the place was filled with merry-looking couples.
    Cass immediately spotted them hanging up their coats and headed over. “Hi! Nice to meet you,” she said to Kyle, her smile plastered on and her tone relentlessly cheery.
    This was a sure sign that she intended to corner him before the night was through and grill him about his intentions and his pedigree and pretty much anything else she could find out. Later, she’d spill it all to Yasmine like a cat bringing home a prize rodent for its master. Cass did this to all of Yasmine’s dates.
    Kyle smiled and shook her hand. “Thanks for having me over,” he said, and it was clear Cass would have no trouble getting him to confess his entire history.
    For now, though, she excused herself and hurried off to the sound of crashing pans in the kitchen.
    “That better not be my bûche de Noël, ” Yasmine called after her.
    She spotted a few friends talking near a sparkling Christmas tree and led Kyle in their direction. Would everyone be able to tell right away that they were imposters as a couple? That they were more familiar in bed than out?
    She smiled and tried to think happy couple thoughts.
    “Hey, Yasmine, I’m on your team for Trivial Pursuit,” a woman she knew as Nora, from Cass’s office, said. “She’s a total brainiac,” she added to her boyfriend, Lionel.
    “I was hoping in the spirit of the holidays, we could skip the Trivial Pursuit for once,” Cass called from the kitchen.
    “With Yasmine, that’s simply not an option,” Nora said, and she was right. A party was not complete without at least one Trivial Pursuit game, and usually a major argument breaking out over a Trivial Pursuit game.
    She introduced Kyle to the group, carefully avoiding giving any more information than his name. Everyone’s gaze raked over him, and she could see a few of them trying to decide which question to ask first.
    Nora, never one to tiptoe around the subject, dove right in. “So you two are dating?”
    “Um, sort of,” Yasmine said.
    “How long?”
    She glanced at Kyle, hoping he’d have a good lie for an