Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 101840 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 509(@200wpm)___ 407(@250wpm)___ 339(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101840 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 509(@200wpm)___ 407(@250wpm)___ 339(@300wpm)
She tilted her head. “And your new mistress is handling it all?”
I felt a cold flush roll over my skin like a rogue tide. “My what?”
“My replacement. Your new assistant. Gotta say, I’m a little jealous.”
I tried blowing out a breath of relief without changing my expression. Minnie was still pissed I hadn’t brought her. “Don’t be. He’s annoyed to be doing menial tasks. The man’s a diva.”
She knew I was teasing. “Where’d you find him anyway?”
“I told you, I met him in a bar a while back, then ran into him on that flight from Atlanta. He was looking for work. I needed someone friendly and gregarious for a short-term gig, so I figured it was a win-win.”
“You really need to leave the hiring to me. Straight talk, Locke, he does not sound like a cherry.”
I held in a laugh and hoped my face wasn’t turning red. “No. No, he’s not a cherry.”
“I could have picked you a cherry for that job, too.” She sniffed. I didn’t mind it when she was territorial, but in this case, it was a subject that needed to be closed.
“This is a personal event, Min. You know that. It’s not Maris stuff. Besides, you have enough on your plate as it is.”
“Speaking of my not needing to sully myself with your personal nonsense… Willow’s been trying to get ahold of you,” she said, giving me a pointed look. “Want me to forward her to Mr. Davis? Let him handle your personal business?”
Before I could call her out on her petty jealousy, Jett came wandering into the suite, sweaty in running clothes and with the tinny sound of bass-beat music coming from his earbuds. He moved past me into his bedroom as if I wasn’t even there.
Thankfully, the laptop camera was angled away from where he’d passed.
“No,” I said, clearing my throat. “Just ignore her. Or give her a professional ‘Mr. Maris is out of the office’ type response. Believe me, she knows we’re not in a relationship. She’s just not happy about it.”
Which was an understatement. The woman had blown up my phone before I’d finally blocked her number.
Minnie looked a little too gleeful. “Professional disdain. Got it. What else?”
“Will you please order Celeste lunch from Soletti’s? If she already has plans, she’ll eat it tonight.”
She looked up from her tablet. “I thought Celeste was headed to the Caymans with her friends?”
“Shit. Right. Okay, can you find out where she’s staying and send some flowers and a bottle of Dom to her room, please?”
She nodded. “I’d ask what you did to piss her off, but apparently, I’m not to involve myself in your personal—”
“Jesus, Min,” I snapped. “Fine, okay? I hired the guy because…” A million words came to mind. He challenges me. He’s hot. He makes me insatiably curious. He gives incredible head. He’s kind. He cares. He’s a terrible liar. He’s fucking beautiful.
I want him.
Jett chose that moment to come back out of the room, this time dressed in stylish but simple twill shorts, a solid-color T-shirt, and leather flip-flops. Clothes Minnie had arranged.
He moved quietly past me and out the door to the suite, once again ignoring me or giving me space and privacy for my call.
“Because there’s just something about him, Min,” I finally said in a low voice. “And I need to figure out what it is.”
I focused back on her after trailing him with my eyes. The look on her face was one of surprise but also affection and understanding. “Oh,” she said.
I blew out a breath. “It’s not a thing.”
“Mmhm.”
“Don’t do that. I’m serious. You know how I feel about relationships. And Locke Maris is hardly going to come out as… what? Bisexual? Give me a break.”
“What the fuck does that mean?”
I closed my eyes and remembered she, herself, was bi, even though the last three people she’d dated were men. She’d dated a woman in high school for three years. It was just that I hadn’t liked Heather, so I tended to forget about her.
“You know what I mean,” I said.
“I do, but you’re still an ass. And I think your bad attitude is coming from fear. You can be bi without telling anyone about it, Locke. You can also be bi without doing anything about it.”
Of course, she was right. And I could admit to myself there’d probably been other times I’d been physically attracted to men in my past, but I simply hadn’t felt strongly enough to acknowledge it, let alone act on it. There’d always been plenty of women to hold my attention instead.
“Can we please stop talking about it? I’m bi. Okay? There. I said it. It’s just a surprise, is all. And learning this about myself doesn’t change my stance on relationships.”
She blew out a breath, the air making her bangs flutter. “No. I get it. Maybe it would have been different six months ago, but now we definitely don’t have time for anything serious.”