Page 23 of Forbidden You

“I saidalmost, dickface. Relax.Breathe.”

A little busted, I settle deeper into my leather chair, rubbing my eyebrows.

I inflate my lungs until there’s no more room, then exhale as long as I can.

“You good?”

“Yeah, I’m good.”

“Great, now you wanna tell me what she’s doing here?”

I inform him of my morning until I can imagine his smug face as I close my eyes.

“I told you, you’re fucked.” His grin is audible.

“Yes, Jason. We have established that. Now that you’re sober, wanna talk about Julie?”

The silence is as loud as the fourth of July fireworks, before he changes the subject, chipper as fuck. “So, anyway. What do you want me to do with her?”

Yeah, that’s what I thought.

“Just keep an eye on her. I don’t want her wandering off into the city, because chances are I’ll either have to drag her out of a bar or pick her up from the station for underage drinking.”

He laughs. “She’s fun, though.”

“She’s trouble, Jason.” A whole lot of it.

“Yeah, that too. I’ll hang out with her until you get home.”

“That would be great. Are you staying for dinner?”

“Nah, I’ll grab something at the airport.”

“Okay, see you later,” I tell him, then hang up the phone as someone knocks on my door.

“Come in.”

Rachel, one of my senior editors, struts in with a beaming smile on her face. Her hips are tucked into a pencil skirt that’s a little too short for my taste, while her chest is covered by an orange sweater that stands out against her red lipstick. And not in a good way.

She holds up a file in her head as she approaches my desk. “I got you that manuscript from my friend.”

Right, I promised her I’d have a look. The last twenty four hours are filled with bad ideas. I’m sensing a theme. The stack of papers lands on my desk with a flat noise, and I glance at it, the title already urging my eyes to roll to the back of my head.

I pick up the file, flipping the pages. There’s a good chance I’ll skim over all of the…250 pages this holds.

“Who’s Rae’s hot cousin?” Rachel says, and I frown at her as she peeks at something on the surface on my desk.

“What?” I follow her gaze.

“Oh, shit.” I reach for my phone that’s displaying Kayla’s contact. “No one.”

“One of your nightly conquests?” Her lashes quiver as she leans her hip against my desk.

“Something like that.”

I dig into my phone, quickly changingRae’s Hot Cousinto something normal.

You know, like Kayla or something.

---