Page 24 of Her Reclusive Beast

I’m too warm and relaxed to be overly embarrassed about returning downstairs after our brief tryst in the bedroom. Max wouldn’t let me shower again, saying he needed the knowledge that I was covered in his scent. His exact words were slightly more crude, but not unwelcome. I kind of like knowing his cum is marking my skin, too.

I suck in my breath though when I see Diana, of all people, standing in the kitchen frowning at Javier, who is still calmly sipping coffee. Kiki is nowhere to be seen.

Max’s hand tightens on my shoulder from his position behind me. If he could, I’m sure he’d whisk me behind his back, but then I wouldn’t be able to see anything, so I ignore his hints.

“I didn’t think you would want to be interrupted,” Javier mentions calmly, albeit with a slight smirk when he glances our way.

I roll my eyes, which only deepens his expression. Max sighs behind me. “Diana, what the fuck are you doing here?”

“Maxim! Oh, there you are, darling. I came to rescue you from my former scheming assistant.”

“Is that so?” Nobody but Diana could miss the ironic skepticism in his voice. Max is not amused.

“Yes. I feel so guilty for sending her to you. I didn’t know at the time, of course. This woman is a thief.”

I open my mouth to protest, but Max’s fingers clamp down painfully on my shoulder.

“She is,” he agrees mildly. “She stole my heart without even trying.”

Diana’s annoyance almost breaks through her mask of solicitude. Javier has no such worries. His snort of derision at Max’s corniness breaks the unease.

“What is it you think I’ve stolen from you, Diana?” I ask with a sigh as I stride confidently into the kitchen and reach for a fresh cup. If I’m going to be falsely accused, I need extra caffeine.

“Oh, not from me. You remember your former boyfriend, Jeremy? He stopped by the office looking for you and his missing ten thousand dollars.” Her face expresses shock and embarrassment for having hired such a loser.

“Who’s Jeremy?” Max and I ask simultaneously. Javier sits up straight, as if the day is finally getting interesting.

Diana’s snide face falters ever so slightly. “Jeremy. The guy whose picture was on your desk for two years?”

Max goes still behind me, almost frozen in place. I reach my hand back, but he doesn’t take it.

“Diana… Why are you really here? You know as well as I do that picture was part of a fake boyfriend set. I’m not ashamed to admit it. It kept the idiots in the building from thinking I was available.”

Javier’s right eyebrow quirks in surprise. I can sense Max moving from frozen to tense behind me. “If he came looking for me, he must have left his number? We can call him right now,” I suggest sarcastically.

Diana blinks. “No. He left an email address. By all means, reach out to him for more information, Max.” She deliberately turns the tables while holding out a slip of paper. Javier snakes out an arm and snatches it first. He glances at it, taps a few times on his phone and then mutters, “Amateurs.”

He shakes his head mildly at Max. “It’s using her work email as the security backup.”

Diana flushes red. She’s a handsome woman in her early forties that has spent a good chunk of her salary on her body. Sometimes surgery, sometimes insanely expensive but good looking fitness coaches, and she pops supplements like candy.

Max has moved to the side of the room. He takes his phone out and taps a few buttons before setting it on the counter. “I think it’s time this conversation was recorded. Did you have more to add, Diana, or were you leaving?” The suggestion is hard to miss, but Diana still doesn’t move to the door.

Instead, she swivels to stare at Javier. “Who are you and how did you access my email? Hmmm? I want that recorded for the judge.”

Javier simply smiles gently. “I’m sorry?”

Diana growls and this time jerks upright and stomps out of the kitchen and toward the front door like she’s spent a lot of time here. Max shrugs at my inquiring glance. “I told you she’d been here, but she certainly never stayed the night. Now why don’t you explain this whole fake boyfriend thing?”

I wait until I hear the sound of a car engine receding down the drive. “Shouldn’t you be more worried about what she’s up to?”

Max shakes his head. “Javier will look into it. Now explain, Jenna.”

Sighing, I sit down and stare into the depths of my coffee cup. “There are really only two kinds of single men in publishing. Gay ones and the kind that stutter when talking to a woman. Thoseguys start working up their courage after staring at you in the supply room every day. But they still think a woman should be grateful to go out with them. Not exactly my type. So I bought a fake boyfriend set off the internet. It came with a framed photo and similar shit. Silly, but enough of a barrier to make the cowards slink away.”

Max is silent for a brief moment before announcing, “Then it’s a good thing you aren’t going back there. Javier? What was Diana really here for?”

Javier shrugs lightly. “Beyond what you saw? No idea. I would suspect intelligence gathering, but she didn’t ask very interesting questions.”

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