“Dinner plans tonight?”
“I had planned to go home and order delivery.”
“Let’s grab a bite tonight. Are you packed for your trip?”
She nodded. Of course, she was. Kendra probably had her bags packed at the beginning of the week. Her apartment had been tiny, but it was spotless and meticulously organized. As was her office here.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. Two friends having dinner. Is that a problem for you?”
That’s when I realized that this was going to be a problem. Employee or not, I wanted to be with Kendra tonight, was with her last night, and wasn’t looking forward to her time in St. John. I didn’t feel like that about other employees, and I never felt that way about other friends.
“No. But you’re in this tight circle of two who know about Lucifer. So as long as you know I’ll be going home to him tonight, we’re good.”
I swallowed. And my dick twitched, beginning to swellin my dress pants. What she had meant as a cute little quip drew the perfect image of her sexy little body spread wide and fucking herself to multiple screaming orgasms on her bed. Shit, I even imagined the scene on my bed.
And yes, I was jealous of a piece of plastic. And Connor. How the fuck did that loser deserve to be in the same room as her? Thank God she recognized her worth and sent him packing.
“Let’s get Italian tonight. I’ll make reservations and send you the time later.”
She nodded. “If we’re done, I’m going to get in a workout. Hopefully, I’ll be able to sweat out the rest of the wine from last night.”
“Okay.”
One word was all I could manage as images of Kendra sweating in the team gym swamped my mind. No, Hawk, you couldn’t follow her down there.
I spent the rest of the afternoon Christmas shopping on Newbury Street. My mother always knew when I had someone else pick out her Christmas gifts. She told me not to bother if I ever got too busy to select her present on my own. In her own words, she got enough meaningless jewelry from my father; she didn’t need more from her son.
My parents had their quirks, but I still loved them. While neither of them had aspirations to work within the organization, they were more than happy to live off the trust fund my grandparents had organized for them. The same was true for Colby, though her side gig as an influencer was surprisingly lucrative.
It didn’t escape me that I had been born into immenseprivilege and essentially inherited a baseball team. But I intended to prove that I deserved it, whether through the team’s success or the organization’s culture. I understood what I had been given, and fully intended to set the standard.
ELEVEN
kendra
I spentthe flight to St. Thomas thinking about my dinner with Hawk—a dinner that was not supposed to be a date but felt very much like one.
Well, except for the fact that I had enjoyed talking to Hawk and there had been no creepy requests for blowjobs. Nothing like Tyler or Connor. Or, God forbid, Tucker. Whenever we had gone out together, he’d find some way to make me feel like I did something wrong. With Hawk, it was easy.
Kylie sat next to Luc on the flight, an arrangement that was entirely accidental. I was still the only one who knew about their relationship and planned to keep this secret for her. At this point, I needed to earn back my sisters’ trust, and if that included lying to the rest of my family, that’s what I would do. We had a few minutes before we needed to put our phones in airplane mode, so I took advantage and sent her a quick text.
Me: Can you be friends with a man?
Kylie: Are you attracted to that man?
I sent her a photo of Hawk from the cover spread they had used in Forbes magazine. Shit, that image didn’t do him any justice.
Kylie: No, are you insane? You fuck that man, or you marry him. He’s not friend-zone material.
Me: He’s been my wingman. We had dinner the other night. Oh—he’s also my boss.
Kylie:…
That was all we were able to say before we had to turn off our phones, and neither of us had the chance to continue the conversation after we arrived. To be fair, Kylie and Luc seemed to be trying their best to hide their emotions. This week should be interesting. On the bright side, neither Sam nor Kelsey seemed to notice what anyone else was going through.
My youngest sister was blissfully happy, and she deserved it. My parents were enjoying the first real vacation in forever, and I could see how overwhelmed they already were. Sam’s wealth alone was staggering. And his family consisted of supermodels and ballplayers—such a difference from our little family from South Boston.
