Page 7 of Falling for Them

Her skin was so soft and inviting that it took all my willpower not to pull her closer and kiss her. I didn’t know where these urges were coming from, but I needed to lock them down before I did something stupid. My stupid days were in the past.

“Impressive, isn’t it?”

It was only then that I realized I’d fucked up in my lust-filled haze. She meant the blanket, didn’t she?

She knocked my hand away and gave me her back again, scooting to the very edge of the bed. “Go to sleep, Leonardo. And stay on your side of theblanketsausage.”

Had her nakedness earlier short-circuited my damn brain, or was I really that loopy from being woken up? Either was a possibility and now it was going to be even more awkward between us.

“I’m sorry.” I closed my eyes, the silence coming from her side of the bed suffocating. Maybe I should have opted to go to the hotel.

I hoped this wasn’t a preview of what it would be like working with her full-time.

I’d slept like a baby and had already convinced myself it was because of Libby. The blanket sausage had failed miserably, and at some point, she’d ended up in a spooning position on my side of the bed with my arm wrapped protectively around her waist. But instead of making my move, I’d slipped out of bed before my alarm went off at seven and got ready as quietly as possible.

There was a lot that had to be done before the ribbon-cutting ceremony at ten, and the rain the night before had complicated matters. Luckily, when I’d gotten there, my team was alreadystrategically placing cardboard and plywood, although the ground hadn’t been too bad.

Now it was almost ten, and I wondered where the hell Libby was. She hadn’t arrived with her brother and my call to her had gone straight to voicemail.

“Leo, are you even listening?” Carter, my best friend and the foundation’s social media manager and photographer, pulled me away from my thoughts of Libby.

“Can you repeat that? I’m sorry, there’s a lot going on.” I adjusted my tie and turned my full attention back to him.

“We’ll do the group shots right after the groundbreaking. Otherwise, we’ll never get them done. Besides the one with the whole group, I was thinking one with you and the founders, and then a few candid shots of you and them mingling.” He ran down his plan while he opened the bag he had over his shoulder and pulled out an expensive as fuck camera. With some twists and snaps, he had it ready to go with an impressive lens.

Carter had always been into photography, and after one semester at college, he’d switched from business to visual arts. His parents had practically disowned him over it, but he was happy and made good money from his skills. Not that he needed any more money. Neither of us did, which was why we were both working for practically nothing.

“Sounds good. Make sure to get some photos of the crowd too. There are some big names here.” I looked around at the growing crowd, which included prominent New York businesspeople, a few celebrities, and a handful of professional sports stars.

The only one who seemed to be missing was Libby.

“You’re doing it again.” Carter shoved my shoulder and smirked. “Who is she?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Carter could read me like a book, and the last thing I needed was for him to saysomething about my little crush the next time he was around my mother. He knew how she could be, and he enjoyed watching me squirm.

All it would take was one mention of a woman and my mom would start talking about babies and planning the wedding. That was the last thing I needed to deal with. It used to be my older brother she’d harp on, but with him being in a polyamorous relationship, she’d switched to me.

Carter snorted but then sucked in a sharp breath like he was about to have an asthma attack. “I really hope this chick is glaring at you and not me because, damn, I think that might be my future wife.”

“What are you even…” I followed the direction of his gaze and saw exactly who he was talking about.

Libby.

She stood next to a cab, and she was staring straight at me, her eyes narrowed, and her lips pressed in a tight line. She headed straight for me.

“She’s off-limits.” I couldn’t keep my eyes off her, which was bad news since Carter was looking between me and her.

“Fuck, man. Have you slept with the entire city?” Carter sighed. “Although, until there’s a ring on it, she’s fair game.”

I kept my mouth shut. If I gave him any inkling that I had a hard-on for her, he’d tease me mercilessly.

I looked at my watch as she got closer, and before she could even say whatever she was marching over to me to say, I spoke. “You’re late, Elizabeth.”

“I’m right on time.” She looked ready to kick me in the nuts.

“This is Carter, our photographer and social media manager. Carter, this is Elizabeth St. James, Ryker’s sister, and our program manager.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Ms. St. James.” Carter extended his hand, and she took it. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes as he brought her hand to his mouth and kissed the back of it.

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