Page 59 of Recklessly, Wildly Yours

She nods. “I figured this is part of his campaign to make himself look like the injured party.”

“God! How can someone be such an asshole?”

“The world is full of them, Maddie,” she says casually and I get the impression she’s used to this kind of stuff.

“So, what, do we just sit back and let him get away with this? Or do we, I don’t know...is there anything we can do?”

“My advice is we go high. Ignore it and carry on as we are. No good will come from us playing tit for tat.”

Leigh scowls. “I hate this. It’s so unfair.”

“I agree,” Judy says, “But it’s the nature of this business. People will forget and life goes on. We just have to give them a better story to be interested in, which we are.” She looks at me. “People are interested in your story, Maddie. A woman finding herself, coming into her power. I think we should stick with our plan.”

I force the heavy weight from my chest, trying to rid my body of the anger consuming me. My thoughts are the same as Leigh’s, that this is unfair, but I’ve seen enough over the last three years to know Judy’s right. “Okay, we stick with the plan. And maybe I surrender my phone to you guys so I don’t accidentally make a post about what an asshole Tucker is.”

Leigh holds her hands up. “Don’t surrender it to me. None of us will have a job after I’m done posting exactly what I think of Tucker.”

“Right,” Judy says, taking charge, “I’ll change your password if need be. Now, let’s get back to focusing on what we need to get through today.” With that, she brings us back to the task at hand, my next interview, and I leave thoughts of stabbing Tucker behind.

It’s a long day and I don’t return to my hotel suite until seven p.m. I’m hungry, but mostly I just want to collapse into a bath, close my eyes, and forget all the things I have to do tomorrow.

Hayden called a few hours ago to let me know he’ll fly in tomorrow morning for a meeting with Darren and his lawyer. He’s gone over the contract and advised that terminating my contract is possible. He also asked me to forward him all the contracts I’ve ever signed for work so he can start going over those too.

I need tonight to psyche myself up for this meeting. Not that I’ll be in attendance, but I have no doubt Tucker will retaliate in some way. Leigh told me she’s more than happy to take one for the team and personally deal with Tucker if he does. After joking about that, she’d given me a stern look and said, “Tonight is not the night to raid the minibar. Do I need to stay over to ensure you wake without a hangover tomorrow?” I’d had to spend a good five minutes assuring her I had no intention of binge drinking.

Walking into the sanctuary of my hotel suite is my favorite part of the day. The silence is everything I’ve craved for hours. I kick off my shoes and strip out of my clothes as I walk through the living room into the bedroom and then the bathroom. I run a warm bath and release a calming breath as I slide into the tub.

Usually, when I have a bath, I listen to music or a podcast, but not tonight. I just can’t take any more noise today. Instead, I rest my head and close my eyes, enjoying the peace and quiet.

I’m about ten minutes into that peace and quiet when my phone sounds with a text. Chastising myself for not switching it to silent, I begrudgingly check the message. When I see Ethan’s name, I can’t read it fast enough.

Ethan: This is a secret message that the feds can’t read: it’s time for you to wrap that filthy mouth around me.

I blink at the text, my heart speeding up at what I think he means.

Me: It’s not a secret message without brackets, Black. They can read that. Abort.

Ethan: {Get your ass to your door, Miller. I’ve come to collect my payment for your orgasms.}

Me: You’re here?

I’m already out of the bath, scrambling to wrap a towel around myself so I can run to the door.

Ethan: Yes.

I pull the door open just after his text hits my phone and holy hell, this man is sexy. He’s standing in front of me wearing jeans that hug his quads and a casual black T-shirt that I’m all kinds of desperate to peel from his body. But it’s the smile on his face and those blues of his that steal my ability to think straight. The way he’s looking at me...like he sees everything he’s ever wanted to see...I think I would do anything to have him look at me like this every day.

“Hi,” I breathe, my first real smile of the day spreading across my face.

His arm is around my waist before I know it and he’s pulling my mouth to his so he can kiss me. And god, he’s everything I need right now. Everything.

He kisses me how he prefers, long and deep, before letting me go and rasping, “Jesus, I needed that.”

My arms are around his neck as I stare up at him, the butterflies in my stomach going crazy. “You should do it again.”

His eyes cover every inch of my face like he’s taking the moment to learn all the contours of it, all my tiny details, before trailing down my body. Then, his arm tightens around my waist and he pulls my mouth back to his, and the rough groan he makes as he kisses me curls desire all the way through me.

This kiss starts slow but quickly ignites into burning passion. His lips are white heat against mine, his tongue exploring, possessing, claiming. I cling to him, my fingers threading through his hair, pulling him closer, needing to feel every inch of him against me.

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