Page 79 of Hot Mess
“Thanks.”
When I shook his hand, the feel of his slightly rough, warm skin against mine made me die a little inside.
And I felt a hollow sense of disappointment in myself.
Because while it was incredibly important to me to be loyal to my sister—and to my professional integrity—this was exactly my weakness in life: doing for others, even if it meant depriving myself of whatIreally wanted.
And what I wanted, as his hand slipped from mine, was Ashley Player.
As my lover, not as my client.
We stood in silence for a moment, staring at each other. I didn’t mean to stare.
But why was he staring?
I couldn’t get any words out of my mouth.
“So,” he said, “I guess you’re hired.”
And I totally freaked out.
“You really don’t have to decide that now,” I backpedaled, and he frowned. “There’s no pressure to commit here. Just think about everything we talked about, okay? Take a look at the paint samples and, um, sleep on it.”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “You did all this, and now you don’t want to get paid?”
“I’m in no hurry.” I should’ve been. I should’ve been looking to close this deal. But I didn’t.
Really, why did he look so surprised?
Threesomes, sex swings… St. Andrews cross? He might as well have just had someone tied up in the bedroom when I walked in.
He wanted to scare me off, right?
Well, it worked.
“Just… think about it,” I repeated.
Then I bolted out the door.
Holy shit, was I an idiot.
As I jabbed the button for the elevator, I told myself I was crazy, actually, for even feeling conflicted about this at all. It didn’t even matter that hemightend up my client and I was torn about wanting to jump his bones.
It didn’t matter that I was attracted to him.
He’d hooked up with my sister.Thatwas all that mattered.
And actually… he didn’t just hook up with her.
As far as I knew, he’d gotten a tattoo of her name somewhere on his body, andasked her to marry him.
MaybeI could work for him. But no matter what, I couldn’t let myself forget those little details.
Chapter Eleven
Ash
The next night, Danica asked me to meet her for dinner. She called it a “professional meeting.”
