Page 94 of Square Deal

I grinned. “Look, I gotta rinse off and grab some dinner before I head to the airport. Call me tonight?”

“I have to hit the ground running with this event, but I’ll call you when I can.”

“Fine, but I demand at least three more photos to tide me over.”

“One.”

“Two.”

“Fine.”

“Or we could spice up this blue ball truce and?—”

“Temporary celibacy,” she chided.

I smirked and looked in the mirror, debating whether to shave.Nah.“You could call me and let me talk you through an orgasm. Follow my orders. Let me hear you when you come.”

Her breath hitched.

I chuckled darkly. “Drive safe, Princess. Give ‘em hell.”

“You suck,” Hannah muttered before ending the call.

I looked down at my raging hard-on. Yeah, a shower was necessary.

Texas wasa beautiful sixty-eight degrees compared to the miserable thirty-seven degrees and raining in New York.

This was why I traveled. Too cold in New England? Head to Tahiti. Too rainy in paradise? Hit up the west coast. Want some snow? Switzerland was beautiful.

“Hey, hey.” Luca grinned, slapping my shoulder. He drove out to Austin-Bergstrom International Airport to meet my plane. I told him it wasn’t necessary, but he insisted.

Frankly, I think he just needed a breather from the stress of thegrand opening. Well, that and the stress of working with Maddie as hiswifefor the first time.

Maddie was great, but she was the same type of workaholic warlord that Hannah was. Peas in a pod.

“How’s it feel?” I asked as I hefted my suitcase into the truck Luca was driving, and slid into the passenger’s seat.

Luca grinned and headed away from the airport. “Never gets old. Never gets less terrifying. Every time I open a restaurant, I pray it’s not the one that folds.”

“This one’s your baby,” I observed.

Luca had been talking about opening this restaurant concept well before he met Maddie. Lawson International was investing in the property.

The restaurant had proved to be a sticking point in the deal talks. He and the Griffith brothers had been courting each other for a long time. They both wanted the same thing, but they both wanted control.

I worked with Luca in the negotiations, then sat back and watched my boy get everything he wanted.

"Nah. Revanche is my baby,” he said as he pulled onto Interstate 35. “It brought me to Maddie.”

I reached over and slugged him in the shoulder. “Married life is making you sappy.”

He stroked his beard and leaned back in the seat. Lately he had been splitting his time between North Carolina and Texas, and had embraced the outlaw look.

“Restaurants are doing well. The hospitality group is doing good. Maddie is legally required to put up with me for life.” He flashed me a grin. “Life is good.”

What a softie.

I slid my hand across the leather-wrapped interior of the truck cab. “New ride?”

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