“Carter, I can’t accept that.”
“Yes, you can.A gift to a friend from a friend.”
The way he stepped closer to her made her take a step back, but she opened the lid of the box and gasped.“A key?”
“Yes, it’s a little charm to put on a bracelet.I wanted you to know that I’m not going to kick you out of here.You have the key.”
“Oh Carter.”She didn’t realize how much having this space of her own meant to her until she heard him say it wasn’t going to be taken away from her.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.Merry Christmas, Josie.”
“Merry Christmas.Come by for a cinnamon bun before you leave.”
“I will,” Carter flashed her again and gave her a wave.
Josie slipped the key in her apron and caught Avery’s eye as she stepped back into the kitchen.With Carter realizing that he had overstepped and her kitchen in order, and the hot guy who refused to give up, this was going to be a great Christmas.
23 ARES
“This is good stuff.”Drustan held a glass of red wine high and it caught the light of the golden chandelier hanging from the ceiling.
Across from him, Xander sat with his back against the upholstered seat, with a view of the door.Ares was on his left, giving him a view of the open kitchen.He kept track of the executive chef, noticing how efficient she was as she checked plates before sending them out.Watching Josie’s friend Cecilia work held his fascination more than the conversation did, but Xander kicked him under the table.Ares raised an eyebrow, but he took a sip of his own glass.It had been work enough to get Xander to come to dinner tonight.
The fine dining restaurant was a well-known hangout of celebrities and politicians, and it wouldn’t have been Xander’s choice.
But Drustan wanted to celebrate the project’s early projection numbers and have a meal with them before Christmas.
“It’s four hundred dollars a bottle.It better be good,” Ares said, though with how the raspberry taste lingered on his tongue, it reminded him vaguely of cough syrup.
Drustan slapped the table, making their glasses shake.“At least it’s on my dime this time, am I right?”
“We appreciate the invite.You didn’t have to, Drustan.”
“Too bad you hardly ate anything, Ares.I might be offended if it didn’t save me a bundle,” Drustan slapped Ares on the back.
Ares pasted on a smile, giving a shrug, but he caught the heads turning from the table across from them.
A man with a shaven head in a black suit and a woman in a black dress, wearing flats, appeared to be in an intimate conversation.He was sure that was River Stone’s people, keeping their tail on Drustan.
“I have plans later,” Ares said.
“Oh yeah?Do they involve that brunette who walks with a cane?What’s her deal, anyway?”
Ares forced himself to take a sip of the wine because he hated that Drustan had seen Josie.
“She’s a good friend of ours.That’s her deal,” Xander said.His brother had finally surfaced from his anxiety to respond to the conversation.
“Only wondering.”Drustan shrugged.
Ares shifted in his seat, remembering Xander’s reasons for not wanting to get into business with Drustan.Drustan was known to cut people off if he didn’t like what they did and his father was known for making competitors technology crash, but his brother never raised concerns that Drustan was more than the bumbling alpha hole that he appeared to be.
“When did you see Josie?”
Drustan gulped down half a glass of wine.“Tuesday?You know when I met with you for lunch?She was just leaving.”
Ares’s stomach churned, and he wished he’d eaten more than salad.This week, he and Josie had hardly spent any time together, but had managed quick lunches and takeout dinners together.Josie had met him at Axis Management lots of times.Drustan seeing her meant nothing, but the fact that he brought it up made him suspicious.Xander rubbed off on him like that.
