Page 41 of The Woman

It’s only half a lie. I was working on other ones, but I haven’t been happy with how anything has turned out. Trying to design something while your mind is in disarray is no easy feat.

“And, anything else that needs dealing with?”

I extend my legs one more time before locking the weight into place and blowing out a breath. It’s always business with him.

“I have a few things on the go, but I should be able to finish Anderson’s design next week.”

“Hmm,” he hums through the line. “All right. Well, just make sure you get it done, and don’t let me down. You know how important a client he is.”

I drop my head back and close my eyes. “It will get done.”

“Good. We’ll talk next week.”

He hangs up, but then my phone beeps with a text message. Leaning to the side, I read the message from Edison telling me what time he’ll be over. Shit. I really should just cancel it.

Sucking in a deep breath, I get back into position and get started on the next set.

Chapter 19

Phoenix

Edison lays his cards out in front of him, revealing a straight flush. The men to my left and right, Mario and Leonard, each groan, throwing their cards onto the table with a huff.

“Fuck, I knew you were holding something good. I should have listened to my gut,” Leonard complains.

Mario mumbles something and then gets up to refill his glass of iced tea.

Edison eyes me from across the table, his smug grin growing as the seconds pass. Finally, I place my cards down face up and watch as his grin drops and mouth pops open. His eyes flick to my face, then back to the table, before returning to my face.

“You’re cheating.”

I cock a brow. “You dealt.”

I push to my feet and head into the kitchen where Mario is, with Edison’s excuses as to how I managed to get a royal flush following me as I go.

Mario leans his hip against the counter, lifting a glass to his lips as he glances around the apartment. “So, where’s this woman of yours? Edison has told us a bit about her, but I was hoping to see her for myself.”

My grip on the fridge handle tightens, and my shoulders bunch into knots while my eyes scan the contents, looking for something to eat. The sudden urge to punch my best friend in the face for talking about her at all hits me, though he hasn’t done anything wrong.

Men are interested in women. It’s a fact.

Men like women and want to look at them.

They want their companionship and their bodies.

I’ve been the odd one. The defect among men, really.

But I can’t say that I’ve never wanted her body. Or that I haven’t been intrigued by her and wanted to be around her after finding out what she is.

“Oh, there we go.” Mario’s words and the lecherous tone in which he said them has me spinning around to see Avery walking past the guys sitting at the table and heading in my direction.

What the fuck?

A dull ache starts in my jaw from clenching it tight, while my blood pressure rises significantly.

I specifically told her to stay in her room tonight while the guys were here. I told her not to open her door and to wait until I came in to let her out. I know she wasn’t happy about it. She was furious, in fact, as I led her to her bedroom and once again closed the door on her scowl.

But I didn’t expect her to blatantly disregard my orders.

---