Page 234 of Savage Bosses

“About time,” she replied, holding her hand out for Chantel to slap.

I pushed my empty glass forward. “More wine. “

Brooke poured me another glass as I settled into writing. Liquid courage, horniness, and disappointment wrote a novel of a DM, but I hit send anyway and then closed the app.

“What did you say?” Brooke asked.

“Too much, probably,” I said. “The short version was that if he ever manned up, I might be around.”

“Okay. I like that.” Chantel went to my cabinet and brought down my blender. “Self-respect is important. Besides, there's another book boyfriend out there. The next one will be yours.”

I wanted the one I already had. However, I knew I'd endure a lecture about one-night stands and how to play the game, etc. It was dumb for me to sleep with Dragon, but it didn't change the fact that I still wanted him.

Ding-ding.

I glanced at my phone. Dani Bond's newsletter arrived. I glanced up to see Chantel and Brooke engrossed in the margarita-making process, then tapped the email to take a quick peek. A picture of Dragon and me with Dani Bond stared back at me. I hadn't remembered posing for it, but it appeared to be from the start of the ball. Her arms were around us as we walked through the ballroom doors.

Epic.

And then Dragon had to ruin a good thing by ignoring me.

Maybe I dodged a bullet. My girls didn't bring it up, but he could be married or a serial killer. Okay, maybe not a murderer. However, he could have a double life or be in witness protection.

Or he just wanted sex, and he moved on.

Why can’t I let it go?

One-night stands suck. I'm never doing that again.

It's not like you have time anyway. Amber is your mistress. You have enough to do with managing this project, keeping up with the leads, and attending conference calls.

I also needed to add tracking down Ryu to get a pulse on how he felt about the project to my list. I saw Teddy regularly, but Ryu was always in and out of the office. Except now, I had to track him down to make sure he stayed up to date. The man was hard to read. He said very little on our calls, then Teddy would appear with critiques and questions.

I wouldn't let another guy screw me over. Monday, I would make Ryu Tsuki listen to me instead of using Teddy as an intermediary. Ryu's calendar had him in the office all day. I'd hit him up first thing.

My love life may be a hot mess, but my work life wouldn't be.

Get ready for my awesome, Ryu Tsuki.

CHAPTER 8

Ryu

C

ommon courtesy would dictate at least an “I had a good time" message. My intentions were clear, but I see you cannot or will not be available for further interactions. So I will keep it classy and pretend I don't know you at the next Martini event I attend. I expect discretion. Keep my name out of your mouth, and this will remain civil. I want to avoid dragging our favorite author through the book community. If you're really a fan, you'd want that too.

—Jaelle

PS. Burn my card, please. I switched jobs anyway.

“You little deceiver.” She still worked for me. I'd give her credit. It was not a total lie. If I didn't know her, I would've been fooled by this since her title, and phone number did change. Her email, however, did not. For casual acquaintances, I wouldn't have sent an email.

And there was another rub. Her DM made me sound like some sort of boy who couldn't handle a dalliance when I simply had other pressing matters. The way she chastised me—her ire was somewhat warranted. I admit I could have fired off a “nice time" or something equally noncommittal and corny like “see you at the next one.”

The “keep my name out of your mouth” part irked me. I'd put any part of her in my mouth if I desired to do so. I was willing to bet that I could have her again as myself if I wanted. We had a lot in common, more than I thought. Yet,shedismissedme.

Me.

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