Total pages in book: 63
Estimated words: 59445 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 297(@200wpm)___ 238(@250wpm)___ 198(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 59445 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 297(@200wpm)___ 238(@250wpm)___ 198(@300wpm)
“You know,” Asher said, nodding toward Brynn. “Brynn just completed her masters in marketing.”
I snapped my head to Brynn, utter shock rolling through me. “You did?”
She laughed, the sound sliding along my bones like warm honey. “Yeah,” she said matter-of-factly. “What do you think I do all night while you’re off galivanting with Lena?”
I wasn’t with Lena every night, but she wasn’t wrong. I did spend at least a few nights a month with her when our schedules lined up, but it wasn’t anything serious. It never had been.
I sat back a little in my chair, a sense of shame making my gut twist. How had I not known? Why didn’t she tell me? I would’ve helped her, paid for it—
“And that look is why I kept it a secret,” she said, shifting on the chaise lounge and hitting me with that smile of hers. Fuck, if I wasn’t already sitting she would’ve knocked me off my feet. “You’d try to help. I wanted to do it on my own.”
I nodded, words utterly failing me as a slew of possibilities formed in my mind. Even if I lost this hand, I could pass the marketing firm over to Brynn and she could absolutely get it up and running before March. Seven months was more than enough time, but giving her that responsibility would mean she’d spend less time with me…as my assistant, and that wasn’t all too thrilling.
But, douchebag Doyle could easily be bluffing like he’d done four other times tonight.
“Call,” I finally said, throwing in the chip with the terms on it.
My stomach dropped the second Doyle grinned like some demented version of the Cheshire Cat. “Flush,” he said, rolling over two spades to match the three face up in the center of the table.
“Fuck me.” I smacked my hands against the cushioned rim of the table, Gareth muttering his condolences before pushing away from the table.
“Tough luck,” Ethan said, clapping my back as he followed Gareth out of the room. Asher did the same, but Crossland was too busy making out with his date to even notice the last hand was over.
“I’ll prep my lawyer for the transfer in March,” Doyle said, collecting his chips just as Serenity came back with his gin and tonic. He ignored her, pushing away from the table without a care in the world.
Serenity hesitated with the drink in her hand for a few moments before she threw back the contents, her eyes going wide after she swallowed. “Don’t tell him I did that, please,” she said, concern lining her features.
“Never,” I said, and Brynn nodded her agreement before Serenity offered us a shy smile and hurried out of the room.
“You okay?” Brynn asked me after I’d remained at the table for a few minutes too long.
“Fucking hate losing to that guy,” I grumbled, finally pushing away from the table.
“Well, you didn’t lose just yet, not the marketing firm anyway.”
I looked down at her, offering her my hand to help her off the lounge. She slid her hand into mine, the feel of her skin sending electric shocks up my arm. Fuck, I couldn’t imagine how good she’d feel if I hauled her against me, slipped my hands beneath that dress and—
Stop. You can’t keep going there.
Right.
“Lucky for me I have an ace up my sleeve,” I said, finally letting go of her hand as we headed toward the door.
“Oh yeah?” she asked. “What’s that?”
“You.”
“I just don’t think you fully understand the benefits, Weston,” Lena said as she climbed out of my bed.
I threw the comforter off of me, the post-coital release completely lost as she launched into another lecture. Lena Nelson had been my steady bed partner for the better part of two years, but that’s all we were. She’d agreed to it before I’d ever so much as touched her—I wasn’t an asshole, I just didn’t want to be attached. And in the beginning, she’d been more than fine with that, but now…
Fucking hell, now all she did was talk about what a marriage would do for us.
“Beyond us being an absolute perfect match in the bedroom,” she continued, slipping into some clothes, “we’d be perfect in the boardroom too.”
I headed into my bathroom, just as much to get a reprieve as to get a quick shower.
She was way off base. The sex was just that—sex. A release for the both of us. And she was fine company to keep. Hell, she even understood the demands of my numerous business endeavors because she was heiress to her father’s tech company, but I didn’t want anything serious with her. And serious was all she’d been talking about recently.
I stepped under the scalding hot water, washing myself as quickly and thoroughly as possible before stepping out and toweling off.
When had Lena caught feelings? Our schedules rarely aligned for any true quality time and if we weren’t running into each other at functions, then we were doing what we’d just done—a quick fuck that left both of us satisfied.