That piece of shit!
He knew after she’d tried to leave last night that she’d try again. As soon as she left the apartment, he made it so she couldn’t access it again without him. What an absolute psychotic bastard.
A flush stained London’s cheeks and I could see the telltale signs of her fuse readying to blow, but Ramsay placed a calming hand on her shoulder. “That’s no problem, Andrew. I’m sure it’s a misunderstanding. London will give Nick a call.” He nodded politely and guided us back toward the exit.
Trusting he had a plan, we followed.
As soon as we were outside, I cursed. “What now?”
Ramsay held up a finger, telling me to wait before he again pulled out his phone. I smirked. Him calling in resources was becoming almost comical. As if he saw the thought in my eyes, his gleamed with warm amusement. I almost melted right there on the sidewalk. This version of Ramsay, this not hiding how he felt about me Ramsay, was going to be my undoing.
“Key cards use either a magnetic strip, NFC, or RFID technology,” he said, as if I knew what any of that meant. “Jay can find out what system this building uses, but it doesn’t really matter if the code is transmitted via radio waves or not. We need access to the building’s digital database. Jay can hack it, switch it back to the old code, and we can get into the penthouse with London’s original key.”
Grinning as he hit the call button on his phone, I mused, “I hope you pay this Jay very well.”
“Oh, I do.”
Then something occurred to me. “You two didn’t … you know?”
“Really?” London nudged me. “Can you be a jealous girlfriend later?”
“I’m not his girlfriend,” I replied without thinking, my eyes darting to Ramsay.
He scowled. “Jay’s just a friend. And no, you’re nothing as simple as my girlfriend. But when this is all over, I hope you’ll consider being my woman again.”
The way he said “my woman” in that growly, deep accented voice … I was inappropriately turned on. “Why is that hot?” I asked London as Ramsay started to talk with Jay. “That shouldn’t be hot, right?”
London gave me a sad shrug. “It was hot.”
Oh God, what a serious idiot I was being. I reached for her hand and squeezed. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be.” She tightened her fingers around mine. “After everything you’ve been through, I want nothing but the best for you.”
“We all okay?” Ramsay asked as he snapped his phone shut, eyes darting between us. And I knew he saw everything. He always had.
“We’re good. What’s next?” London demanded.
“We walk out of sight of the building for the next fifteen minutes, giving Jay time to do what she needs to do.” He gestured with a nod down the street and we followed.
Two young women in exercise gear walked toward us and one of them spotted Ramsay and nudged her friend. Their mouths parted as they stared at him like he was a big ol’ water bottle after an intense workout. Eyeing his tight ass in his dark jeans, his broad shoulders in his navy T-shirt, I was equally thirsty for him. Ogling him continued to keep my mind off the shittiness of London’s situation.
“Hey.” One of the women nodded at Ramsay as she passed, her lips curling in invitation.
To my delight, he didn’t acknowledge her, not even to be polite.
“I’d climb that man like a tree,” her friend groaned as they passed me and London.
“He’s not exactly inconspicuous, is he?” London whispered, threading her arm through mine.
“Nope.” It made me wonder how he managed to be invisible as a spy. I guess, for him, that wasn’t part of his skill set. Or maybe it was. I couldn’t imagine ever not noticing him when he was in the room.
“Are the women on your island as thirsty for him?”
“No one who’s been obvious about it,” I murmured back. “It’s more tourists and visitors who flirt with him. But we don’t have to talk about me and him right now.”
“I need to talk about something or I might scream. Nick blocked me from getting into an apartment I naively thought was ours, not his, and somehow, it’s almost as bad as him punching me in the face. Anyway, distract me. Are you two back together?”
I wanted to press her about her feelings, but I granted her wish and didn’t. “I don’t know. We had a lot to talk about this morning and then this … so … I don’t know.”
