I really should have read that contract through to the end.
This trip is way more important to me than I realized.
“If you’re curious, the bonus is ten thousand.”
I try to stop my smile with a bite to my bottom lip, but I fail. Keats sees it and smiles too.
“Let’s do our part to get everyone that bonus.” His gaze drops to the front of my red blouse before it shifts to my face. “Thanks for your help with the Callahan mess.”
“I’m just doing my job.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow, Maren.” He exhales. “Enjoy your evening.”
“I will.” I take a step back.
“Do you have plans?”
I’m taking Dudley to Donovan’s vet clinic for a consultation about the microchip, so technically, that’s a plan. “I do.”
I watch his eyes narrow. “I hope a good time is had by all.”
The tone of his voice makes my heart do a little flip in my chest. He’s jealous. I hear it. I see it in the way his lips part, and his eyes widen.
“Goodnight, Keats.”
He stays in place for a second, before he opens his mouth, only to slam it shut. A brisk nod is all I get before he’s out the door and headed to the elevator.
Chapter 25
Keats
At some point, I’ll realize this is a hell of a bad idea. I’m not there yet, and that’s why I’m standing on the corner, keeping an eye trained on the double glass doors of Maren’s apartment building.
I hung out with Pace for a few hours after I left the office.
I ordered some food and sparkling water. Pace wanted beer, but alcohol and a phone with a camera, don’t go together in his world.
He’s blaming the dick pic on consuming too many tequila shots last night. I’m blaming it on his ego.
Both likely played a part.
After we wrote a statement that conveyed his genuine remorse for being so irresponsible, we posted it online. Then, we got to work rehearsing what he needed to say to his mother.
When he called her, all of our practice went to hell. She laughed it off and told him to keep it in his pants in the future.
He will. I hope.
The calendar shoot will take place later this month with Noah Foster at his studio. He’s the best photographer in this city. He’s shot nudes in the past. It was women years ago, but he agreed to take on the task of strategically hiding a dozen dicks behind sports equipment.
He’s doing it for free, so I’ll send a bottle of champagne to him and his wife as a thank you.
The proceeds from the calendar are going straight to an organization that funds research into prostate cancer. It seems fitting, given the circumstances.
Pace’s father and my grandfather both succumbed to the disease, so this clusterfuck has turned itself around in the best way possible.
My phone buzzes in my jacket pocket, so I yank it out.
I glance at the screen.
Berk: Do u like pink unicorns or blue ones???!!!
I scrub at my forehead. “What the fuck?”
I type out a response.
Keats: Where’s your dad?
Berk: Doing dishes!! I’m hiding!!!!
I read that and then try to decipher the string of random emojis that follows.
Keats: Put the phone down, Stevie.
My phone rings.
I laugh as I answer. “Your dad is not going to be happy.”
“Ever?” she screams into the phone. “If he had someone to kiss, he’d be happy.”
I close my eyes. I want him happy too. I don’t know if a woman is the key to that or time.
“Where are you?” she questions. “I need to see Dudley.”
“Need or want?” I glance at the front of Maren’s building.
“Both,” she screeches. “Bring him over.”
“I will soon,” I answer. “I’ll talk to Maren and set something up.”
“What color is her hair?”
I laugh. “Why?”
“Tell me.”
“Red.”
She squeals. “I want red hair.”
“Stevie?” I hear Berk’s voice bellowing in the distance. “Who are you talking to?”
“Keats,” she yells into the phone. “He said I could have red hair.”
I chuckle. “I didn’t.”
“You’ll say yes if I ask,” she retorts.
“No,” I answer succinctly. “You’re the most beautiful girl in the world exactly the way you are.”
A tap on my shoulder turns me around in an instant. I come face-to-face with my assistant. Dudley is on a leash at her feet.
Maren’s gaze narrows as she looks at my face. “I’m sorry to interrupt.”
Disappointment or maybe frustration swims in Maren’s eyes. She heard me. She fucking heard me tell Stevie she’s beautiful, but she doesn’t know I’m talking to my niece.
“I need to go,” I say into the phone.
“I love you more than unicorns,” Stevie whispers.
It catches my breath because I don’t hear it that often. I bite my bottom lip before I reply, “I love you too, Stevie. Goodnight.”
***
Maren smiles. “You were talking to your niece?”
Shoving my phone into the inner pocket of my jacket, I laugh. “She had a unicorn question.”
She half-laughs. “Unicorn?”
“Do you like blue or pink unicorns?” I scrunch my nose feeling the familiar itch that comes whenever I’m within a foot of Dudley.
Maren must see it because she steps back two steps. “If I had to choose, I’d go with pink.”
As hard as I try, I can’t hold back a sneeze. “Me too.”
“Bless you,” she says softly. “I’m surprised to run into you here.”
I can’t tell if it’s a genuine statement or a roundabout way of accusing me of stalking. I answer as if it’s the former. “Pace lives a couple of blocks from here. I just left his place.”
Maren glances at her building. “Is he doing all right?”
There’s no concern woven into the question. I don’t peg Pace as her type, but I have no real sense of what she finds attractive in a man.
“He’ll survive,” I chuckle. “Shit like this happens. There’s always a way to recover.”
“You swore.” She points out as she looks at Dudley. “I should take him home.”
“Have you had dinner?”
She drops her gaze. “I’m not dressed for going out.”
Ripped, faded jeans, a white sweater, and a pair of sneakers are the perfect dinner attire, so I tell her as much. “You look amazing. We can share a pizza.”
Hesitation sits in the air between us as she sucks in a deep breath. “I’m not sure.”
I frame the invitation in a different way because I can’t tell what’s holding her back. “There’s a big project coming up in a couple of weeks, and I could use your help. We should discuss that.”
Talking about the charity calendar will happen tonight, but I want that to drift into a conversation about her. I want to know more about her.
I press my hand to the bottom of my nose as I feel a sneeze coming on.
“Let me take Dudley up to my roommate.” She steps around me. “I’ll be back in five minutes.”
I sneeze one last time as I watch her hurry toward her building.
I’ve never looked forward to eating pizza with someone as much as I am right now.
Chapter 26
Maren
I tell myself that pizza with my boss is no big deal.
I ate a meal with Royce Knott once. Technically, I ate, and he talked. That business dinner started with him drinking two glasses of vodka as if they were ice-cold water on a sweltering summer afternoon.
As I picked at the crab cake I ordered, he talked about the woman who broke his heart. It was a brief glimpse behind the façade of the man I worked for.
The next day, I attempted to offer words of comfort, but
he laughed it off, telling me that alcohol made him delusional.
We never spoke about it again, and that meal was the only time I saw him outside of office hours.
Keats is different. His personal life is forever cataloged in search results online.
“What kind of pizza do you like?” Keats asks the innocent question as we walk side-by-side toward a restaurant that Arietta recommended.
I tried to change my clothes into something more business-like, but Arietta bounced around in front of me, blocking me from going down the hallway to my bedroom. Dudley got in on the action, jumping up on her legs, causing her to giggle uncontrollably.
I was the one who fell on my ass when I kicked off my sneakers as I was putting on a pair of nude heels I had left in the foyer.
It was the light moment I needed to chase my anxiety away. By the time I got back down to the lobby where Keats was waiting for me, I felt more relaxed than I had when I spotted him on my way home from seeing Donovan.
“We should order a number fourteen,” I say with a smile.
Keats glances at me as we pass a couple holding hands. “I’m in. You’re the expert since I’ve never been to this place.”
I haven’t either, but Arietta has. She’s told me to order the number fourteen just as I was getting on the elevator. I asked what was on it, but she told me to trust her. I do.
“I’ve never been either.” I wave a hand to wave at one of my neighbors as he steps out of a barbershop with his cell phone next to his ear.
Keats waves at him too. “What do you mean you’ve never been?”
I gesture toward the right with a jerk of my thumb to signal that we’ll be rounding the corner soon. “My roommate said this is the best pizza in Tribeca.”
“You’re putting a lot of trust in her or…him.”
I hear the question woven into the statement. Keats is curious about who I live with. He must know that I’m not involved with my roommate. When we were at Nova, I let it slip that I don’t have a boyfriend.
“Arietta is her name.” I glance at him. “She’s very trustworthy.”
A grin perks the corners of his lips. “We all need someone like that in our lives.”
I’m curious who that person is to him. Is it his brother? Maybe a close friend? Could it be his dad?
“How long have you known Arietta?” he pronounces her name carefully.
I keep in step beside him. “A year. I think she loves Dudley more than I do.”
He lets out a laugh. “She’s running even with Stevie then. She adores that dog. She’s looking to see him soon.”
That doesn’t surprise me. Donovan is always telling me how many kids come into the vet clinic with their parents when the family pet is having a check-up. Animals can enrich a child’s life. My dog, Bailey, did that for me. She was there to greet me whenever I got home from school, and she curled up next to me on my bed at night.
I cried for weeks when she died. I was twelve. My mom promised she’d get me a new pup, but I didn’t want one. Bailey’s place in my heart belonged just to her back then.
“Maybe we can set something up soon,” he continues. “We can do it at my place. You can bring Dudley over, and we’ll have dinner. You, me, Berk and Stevie.”
“You’re allergic,” I point out, still unsure if meeting his family is the right move.
“I can manage a few hours with the furry monster.” He laughs. “I’ll pop an allergy pill or two.”
I point as we near Frinzi’s Pizza. “There’s the place.”
“So far, it looks like a good choice.” Keats smirks. “People are waiting to get in.”
I spot a familiar face in the line. Panic rushes through me. I admitted to Bianca that I like my boss. In less than two minutes, I’m going to be standing three feet away from her.
I steady myself with a deep breath. Bianca won’t say anything. She’s one of only a handful of people who knows my deepest secret.
As we get closer, I study her profile.
Bianca is beautiful. She’s shorter than me. Her body is curvier. Her brown hair reaches past her shoulder. Her blue eyes are as bright as the sky on a sunny afternoon.
Today, she’s wearing a black skirt and a light blue blouse. The black heels on her feet are higher than mine.
Just as we near her, she glances in our direction.
Her face lights up instantly.
“Maren!” she says my name with enough excitement to turn the head of everyone in the line. “It’s you.”
I rush to her, drawing my arms around her. “It’s so good to see you.”
As her hand pats the middle of my back, she lowers her voice to barely more than a whisper. “How are you?”
“Good,” I reassure her. “I’m really good.”
Still holding tightly to me, she whispers, “Are you on a date with your fake boyfriend?”
That sets me back a step. With a slight shake of my head, I smile. “It’s a working dinner.”
She jerks a thumb over her shoulder toward a man in jeans and a white button-down shirt. “It’s a blind date for me. Kieran is his name.”
I raise a hand to wave to the bearded blond-haired man.
“Hello.” Keats moves to stand next to us. “I’m Keats Morgan. You must be someone important to Maren.”
Offering her hand to him, Bianca tilts her head. “I’m Bianca. Maren is important to me too. Very important.”
Keats smiles. He understands the message woven into her words. Bianca is as protective of me as I am of her.
He takes her hand and shakes it. “I’m her boss.”
Bianca’s blind date wanders over. “Hey, all. I’m Kieran Ratchford. Should we get a table for four?”
Bianca shoots him a look. “No.”
Kieran’s brow furrows. “Why not?”
I know the answer to that. Bianca wants me to have time alone with my boss. I see that in the way she’s smiling at me.
“I changed my mind. I’m craving sushi,” she says as she gazes up at Kieran. “That works for you, right?”
He grins, and with a wink, answers without an ounce of hesitation. “Whatever you want.”
Chapter 27
Keats
It’s been a productive night so far. I’ve gotten a glimpse into Maren’s personal life. I heard about Arietta, her roommate, and I had the pleasure of meeting Bianca. I didn’t get an explanation for who she is to Maren, but I can tell the relationship is close.
Maren scrunches her nose as she looks at the paper menu that was placed in her hand once we were seated at a table in the corner.
Only one menu was offered. Maren grabbed ahold of it. I have no issue with a woman who knows what she wants, including what pizza she thinks the two of us should be dining on tonight.
“Number fourteen is a mystery pizza.” She taps her finger to her chin. “Are you allergic to anything other than Dudley?”
I laugh. “Other dogs and cats.”
Her face brightens with a smile. “I think we should trust Arietta and go with the number fourteen. The food smells delicious, so it can’t be a bad choice, right?”
I nod, even though I have no fucking idea what I’m agreeing to. I’m struck by how beautiful she looks with the small candle on the table between us illuminating her face.
I’ve met plenty of attractive women in my life, but Maren is different. She has a glow about her. Maybe it’s from inner peace or pure happiness. Hell, I can’t tell what it is, but I like it.
She orders the pizza and two bottles of domestic beer when the server revisits us to collect the menu.
“You like beer, don’t you?” She smiles. “Did you want something else?”
A kiss. Fuck, I want to kiss her.
“I’m easy.” I lean back on the wooden chair. “I eat whatever I can get my hands on.”
Even in this dimly lit space, I can see that she’s blushing.
I’d eat her all day and night if given a chance. My dick agrees. I shift on my seat t
o try and calm the bastard down.
I shouldn’t be rocking a hard-on during our business dinner .
Maren picks at a fake arrangement of flowers in a tall vase sitting on the edge of the table. I pushed it aside as soon as I sat down so I could have a clear line of sight. I want to soak in the view all night. I could stare at her for hours.
“What did you want to talk about?” she quizzes.
Marriage, kids, where she likes to vacation.
I swipe a hand over my forehead. I need to fucking stop. Being this infatuated with my assistant is a red flag.
The server returns with two bottles of beer and a basket filled with breadsticks.
I snatch one to keep my mouth busy. This is the first time I’m worried that my desire will outrun my brain and I’ll blurt out something I shouldn’t.
Maren watches as I chew. “Does it have to do with Pace and that picture?”
“His dick?” I ask as soon as I swallow.
She lets out a stuttered laugh. “Yes.”
“What a fucked up mess that was.” I shake my head.
“You swore,” she points out. “You owe…”
“A hundred.” I nod, taking another bite from the breadstick.
“I read the statement Pace posted to his Instagram account.” She touches the edge of the basket with her fingernail but pulls back. “You wrote that, didn’t you?”
I swallow the bread with a sip of beer. “How could you tell?”
“It was balanced.” She rests her forearms on the table. “I think if Pace had been in charge, it would have been something like, ‘ You’re lucky you saw my penis, but it won’t happen again. Or it might .’ And he would have added the emoji with the tongue sticking out and an eggplant one too.”
I huff out a laugh. “That’s fucking hilarious, Maren.”
She laughs too. “Have you read his posts? I lost count of how many eggplant emojis he’s posted over the past few months?”
I laugh harder. “You’ve been stalking him?”
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