Lila leaned in, her grin widening. "And me, Doctor Playboy? How'd we meet?"
Ethan smirked. "The Avant-Garde exhibit. You were pretending to be the artist's muse."
Lila burst out laughing. "And you were pretending to appreciate abstract art."
"Touché," Ethan said with a laugh.
Finally, his gaze softened as it settled on Claire. "And Claire… we met at the conference on advanced medical technologies. You were presenting your research, weren't you?"
Claire nodded, her expression softening as a small smile tugged at her lips. "And you stood up during the Q&A and completely tore apart my methodology."
"Constructive criticism," Ethan corrected with a chuckle. "And it worked, didn't it? We spent hours debating over dinner."
"You mean you spent hours trying to charm me," Claire said, though the faint blush creeping onto her cheeks betrayed her.
"And succeeded," Ethan replied, leaning back with a triumphant grin.
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