Page 15 of Seductive Hearts

“Is that what you think this is about?” Forgetting the papers, she turned to me with her hands on her hips. “You think we cater to bored women with nothing better to do than throw money around?”

“Calm down.” I sighed. “I was talking about them. Not you. There’s a difference.”

Her head snapped back, and the temperature in the room dropped a few degrees. “I shouldn’t be surprised. Respecting women has never been one of your strong points.”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake.” She was giving me a headache with her holier-than-thou shit. “Are you going to be this uptight for four weeks? Remind me to bring a flask to get through it.” Before she could say a word, I held up my hands. “It looks like it’s going to be a fairly smooth renovation. I’m going to go find a way to make my old man pay for putting me up to this.”

I was halfway to the door before her light footsteps rang out behind me. “Wait. I said wait!” Her almost shrill cry echoed in the empty space, causing me to stop without turning to face her. “I just want this to go well, okay? But I won’t have you insulting our clients.”

“I don’t work for you,” I reminded her.

“Still. They deserve respect. And so do I,” she added. “If that makes me a pain in the ass… well, so be it. But I really need this to work. Okay?”

I wasn’t leaving because she was a pain in the ass. I was leaving because if I didn’t, I would end up doing something I couldn’t take back, like kissing her until she forgot her name if only to shut her up.

And I needed this to work too. I needed a success under my belt before telling Dad he could get fucked if he thought I’d turn this into a full-time job.

But I couldn’t stop wanting her.

“It’s better that I go now, anyway.” I continued to the back door, and she followed until we emerged into the bright sunshine. Lowering my sunglasses, I walked to my car, prepared to make my getaway.

“Just give me a second, would you? I don’t want things to go this way.” Anxiety rang out in her words, and I looked over my shoulder to find her chewing her lip hard enough that it had to hurt.

“Neither do I,” I growled out. “But that doesn’t mean I’m hanging around, hoping to get kicked in the balls.”

“I don’t want to…” Anything Rose was about to say died. She went silent, so suddenly I turned around, wondering what was wrong. I found her blinking rapidly, staring past me.

All at once, everything changed. She rolled her shoulders back, lifted her chin, and pasted on a brilliant smile. “Landon! Hi!”

I needed to see who the hell had inspired this sudden one-eighty. Even her voice changed. Now, it was sunny, upbeat, almost bubbly.

I looked over my shoulder, scanning the sidewalk beyond the lot, and I had to grind my teeth to hold back a laugh. Landon motherfucking Jones. I hadn’t seen him in at least a year, though I’d heard a lot about him recently. He wanted to be a big-shot politician.

All I saw when I looked at him was the little shit back in prep school, bragging about his father being a judge and how it meant he could get away with whatever he wanted. Not even I said things like that, and everybody knew money could buy just about anything. That was never something we were short on in my family.

“Will you excuse me?” Rose looked like she wished I were absolutely anywhere else but in front of her. “I need to go speak to Landon. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

I should have been the bigger person and done what she asked.

But I had never much liked doing what I was supposed to do.

That was why I lifted a hand overhead. “Landon! How’s it going?” I called out, pretending to ignore Rose’s miserable groan behind me.

Landon waved in recognition, then crossed the street rather than head inside the café, where Rose had spotted him. “Do me a favor,” Rose whispered fiercely at my back. “Just keep out of this, will you? If you never do anything else for me, please do this. I’ll owe you.”

Now, I was especially glad to be around while this unfolded. I couldn’t imagine what she wanted to do with a stiff like Landon. My curiosity knew no bounds as I watched Rose walk around my car so she could cut Landon off before he reached me.

He was the picture of a bland political candidate in his khakis and a pale blue button-down peeking out from beneath a navy sweater like he’d been forced out of a cookie press.

It didn’t seem to matter to Rose. “I was just thinking about you,” she told him, rocking from her heels to the balls of her feet and back again. She tucked her hair behind her ears before smiling up at him. “I wanted to congratulate you on your announcement.”

“Oh, thanks. It’s been a whirlwind, you know?” His attention turned my way when I approached, and his smile widened as he outstretched a hand. “Colton. Long time, no see.”

“Too long,” I agreed with a laugh that felt more genuine when Landon’s gaze bounced from me to Rose and back again. He was already interested in us being out here together. “What’s this about you running for state senate? I guess they’ll let anybody do that nowadays, huh?”

He laughed along with me. “And what about you? I didn’t think you had time for nice girls like Rose.” He was trying to undercut me, making me look like shit so he’d look better by comparison. After laughing at his pathetic joke, he shrugged. “I don’t know. There are plenty of people who think I’ve got a chance, so I figured what the hell.” I enjoyed the way he tried to laugh it off, as if he had no ambition of his own, and like I couldn’t see the wheels turning in his head. “Listen, we’re going to have our first fundraiser this week here at my dad’s place. I’d better see you there. I need my old crew to represent.” Landon flashed a wide toothy grin worthy of an Oscar.

Fucking snake.

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