Page 111 of Nothing to You
“We were talking about Huddle Hope,” the woman said.Only when the speaker squirmed and rose a little higher did she figure out which woman was talking.Young.Blonde.Probably perky.“With Ms.Radley.”
Only when the others looked did he feign interest and glance over his shoulder.
“I wasn’t lying,” she said.
“No, I see you.Why are you spinning your wheels in here when you could be pedaling Huddle Hope?”
“Because someone got me involved.Someone wanted the work off his desk and onto someone else’s.”
“And this is the result,” Rourke said, scanning the new faces.“Interesting.I’m sure all of you will excel.Or not.If you don’t, it’s not my fault, I didn’t pick you.”
“Mr—”
“I’m going to need the room,” Rourke said, startling everyone, including her.
“You need—”
“Yeah, everyone out, come on.”He clapped his hands and gestured to the door.“Everyone leave the room.Now.”
The newbies scrambled to gather their things and filter out.
Leon went to Rourke.“Do you need us to—”
“I don’t need you to do anything except leave,” Rourke said.“All of you means all of you.”
He stepped back and Leon chilled, his eyes moving over her as he went out after the others.
Eventually, the door closed.
“That was rude,” she said when he touched his watch and the transparent walls became black.
Light flickered on.“I got a call from that place you liked for your mom.”
And that was another surprise.“I thought you cleared them out for sex.”
“We can do sex in a minute.It’s the third one, the fourth one maybe, I don’t know.The one with the pool.”
“It was a water feature, and they said their waiting list was astronomical.”
“Not anymore.It’s done.We’re in.”
And that narrowed her eyes.“What did you do?”
His lopsided grin was fooling no one.“I did what I do and made it happen.”
“You’re not the only rich guy around.The waiting list probably includes a lot of wealthy names.We can’t be the only people interested.So, I ask again, what did you do?”
He shrugged.“I’m updating their security.”The next sentence came out in a rushed mumble.“And building them a new wing.”His volume rose again.“You’re in, baby.We’re in.Show some gratitude, take off your shirt.”
“A new wing?”She couldn’t believe it.“What does that mean?What will that cost?What if my mom hates it and wants to move after a week?”
“Money is money, it’s not what’s most important.If she doesn’t like it, we’ll move her to somewhere she does like.Still a good thing.Their waiting list numbers will drop because they’ll get more people into the new wing.It benefits everyone, not just us.You’ve really got a hard on for this charity stuff, Radley.”
“I didn’t ask you to—you’re seriously building them a new wing?”
“Not with my own bare hands.It’ll take some time for the planning to go through.I’ve already lined up an architect and we get first dibs on choosing a room for your mom in the new place once it’s up and running.”
“First dibs.”
