Page 60 of David's Proposal

“You were. I saw you in the lobby. She walked ahead of you, but there was something about you two. Despite not paying attention to her and talking on the phone, she was too… I don’t know. She was glowing. And that hair. She looked stunning. And those legs. Oh, my… I don’t want to imagine what went on in your suite upstairs.”

“Please don’t imagine anything.”

“How old is she?” she goes on, unable to suppress her curiosity. “She must be young. She looked young. I mean, Sabina looks young, but you can tell she’s thirty–something. This woman is young. About my age.”

I push off my desk, take a long breath, and walk around to my chair.

Sliding into my seat, I swing my gaze to her.

“She’s not your age.”

“But she’s not much older either.”

“She’s young. Let’s leave it at that. And I want her to remain a secret.”

A shift happens on her face, and I tear my eyes away from her to avoid her scrutiny.

“There is something about this woman,” she murmurs. “She’s not like the others, is she? Are you paying her?”

I tip my head to the side in resentment and lean back in my seat.

Julie and I have an unusual relationship.

She gets away with a lot, and of all people, she probably knows the most about me simply because she works for me and knows things most people don’t.

“I won’t answer that question.”

“You are not paying her,” she says with unexpected exuberance in her voice. “There is a slight chance that you might like her.”

“Okay,” I say, checking the time on my watch. “I’d love to catch up with you more, but Sabina is waiting for me. I need to talk to her before heading to my place. Do you need a ride?”

Her silence makes me shift my gaze to her.

She looks like an ice statue.

“Julie?”

Her stare is blank, her face not moving.

“Julie,” I bark.

Her eyes sharpen their focus.

“You shouldn’t fire Sabina,” she says curtly.

“Excuse me?”

“Yeah. You shouldn’t. She works for you. So she’s the best decoy if you want to keep this girl a secret. I trust you have your reasons for keeping her a secret, and they are honorable reasons. If you kick Sabina to the curb, they’ll all have their eyes on you, and the line of interested women will be longer than my arm. Sabina is in it for the money anyway.”

“Hmm. So you knew that?”

The irony is not lost on her.

“Of course I knew that. That doesn’t mean she doesn’t like you.Or that she doesn’t want a real thing with you.”

I shake my head in disagreement.

“They want a real thing, and then they fuck with me. I’m firing her. I have no reason to keep her on my payroll.”

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