Time is running out on Declan’s deadline. Finn’s expecting results, and so far, I only have a location.
I shake my head and lick my lips and…earthy honey.
My dick twitches. Fuck. I need to get out of this room. Otherwise, I risk jacking off until my skin chafes off.
I text Maeve.
Meet for a quick lunch and then I’ll tag along until quitting time?
Her response is immediate.
I’d like to meet for a quick something, but I guess lunch will have to do.
More blood shoots to my groin. Hurrying before I change my mind, I power down my computer, grab my suit jacket, and hustle out the door.
Serving as Maeve’s shadow—watching her run this glamorous, exotic hotel—encourages me to invest all my money in her. Every fucking penny.
She exhibits unprecedented fire and business sense. I don’t know anyone who’s in a career that they could say they’re passionate about or deem their calling. Until I started tailing her, I always thought that bullshit only happened in movies.
This goes on for days, with me tagging after Maeve like a lovesick neighbor kid she babysits.
I monitor the cameras when I can, track Declan and his boys—who are pretty much holed up in the penthouse the entire time—and in between all that, we work, eat, and fuck. And we only stop to eat because all the screwing works up an appetite.
Thank you, Chef Douchebag, for all the haute cuisine.
I’m heading back from the chair room—a space devoted solely to hundreds of chairs used for special events—when I spot her and Lenora deep in it. I can’t hear what they’re saying, but the conversation definitely isn’t about business.
I clear my throat audibly as I approach. “Ladies.”
“Kellin.” Lenora cocks her head. “I was just telling Maeve that, thanks to an extra pair of hands, we’re somehow ahead of schedule for the wedding.”
“Is that so?” I focus on Maeve. “It’s pretty sunny today. Would be a shame to let it go to waste.”
I do my best not to cringe.
It’s pretty sunny today? Who the fuck is this guy? What am I even suggesting?
Maeve brightens, drifts closer to me, and absently adjusts my tie, her fingers brushing over my chest. When she realizes what she’s doing, she jerks away, linking her hands together. “Funny you should say that.” She nods at Lenora. “You have me on speed dial if you need me.”
Lenora winks. “See you tomorrow, boss.”
Maeve’s eyes catch mine and drink me in.
“Wanna see something?”
Why does that sound so suggestive? My dick twitches, and I shift my stance to hide the reaction. “Definitely.” Even if it’s not sexual, I’m practically drooling to see anything and everything she wants to show me.
She beams. “Great. Go change into workout clothes and meet me here in twenty.”
Chapter 28
Maeve
With his generous donation of time and energy, Kellin saved us from our usual pre-wedding insanity. His assistance demonstrated that, with a third set of managerial hands, I might be able to breathe a little easier and actually create a life outside the Cypress.
Granted, I never even considered—let alone wanted—one before this tall, muscular, and devastatingly handsome man with just the right amount of stubble clinging to his angular jaw strutted into our lobby.
That jet-black suit and crisp white shirt…
