“Where was your mind?” I ask as he throws back a shot of whiskey without so much as flinching. I’d like to say it’s because it’s the expensive stuff, but I know it doesn’t matter. He could drink the cheapest stuff and have no reaction; that’s what yearsof drinking does, and while he might not drink as much now, there was a time when he used to.
“Would it have anything to do with aLittle Beauty?” His eyes snap up to meet mine, narrowing as his jaw sets.
“Protecting her is also my job, is it not?”
I’ve hit a nerve. I can hear it in his tone.
Good.
“It is, though I was unsure if the nickname came with the job or simply was an added bonus.” He sets the glass down harder than I’m sure he meant to before stalking toward my desk.
“Did you actually have something worth talking about, or did you call me here to play silly games?” He leans in, bracing his hands on my desk so that he’s half leaning over it.
I don’t miss the way his eyes fly to my monitor or the way his nostrils flare seeing Kat in bed. Tonight she’s alone. We have to let her get some rest once in a while, but I wish I didn’t have to, especially now. How would he have reacted if he had looked over and found her getting fucked, the way Alex and I had shared her last night?
“There’s nothing wrong with wanting Kat, my friend.”
He growls, forcing his gaze away from the monitor and back to me.
“I don’t want her.”
I don’t even try to hide the smile that tugs at my lips.
Does he believe that?
He’s so damn stubborn; I bet he does.
I recline back, holding my hands up in a show of surrender.
“If you say so.”
“I do,” he growls, and I nod.
We can come back to this conversation later; we have all the time in the world.
“How goes our search for the trash?” I refuse to give him a name. He doesn’t deserve one, just like he doesn’t deserve each breath he’s currently being gifted by the gods.
But those won't last long; his days are numbered.
Desmond is set on this whole vacation thing, and much to my dismay, everyone else seems to agree that it’s a great idea.
It’s not that I don’t want to go or have us spend time together away from work and everything else, but I literally just signed a contract to say I’m not with them for money or their name, and now I get to benefit from exactly that.
Not to mention, I don’t love the idea of being out. I know I need to get over it, but all I can think about is Addy and how I might be putting her in danger.
“Will it make you feel better if I tell you we won’t even be in this country anymore?” Alex’s question stops me short as I move around my bathroom, looking everywhere.
It does actually.
But also, “That seems like a lot for a little vacation, Alex.” I move to the drawer below the sink, going so far as to remove everything from each before I groan in frustration and shove it all back in.
What is happening?
“It’s not, though. You need to get over this aversion to our spending money on you. It’s never going to stop.” I hear him as he gets closer, and a quick glance back shows him standing, gloriously naked. His shoulder rests against the doorway as he looks down at me, and at least I threw on that robe Nathan gave me last week.
Not that it hides much, but it's still better than being completely bare.
Alex cocks a brow at me. “Like what you see, love?”
