Page 25 of King of Wands

“She’s lying.” He put his arm around my shoulder. As in...around my shoulder. Touching and holding and did I mention...touching?“It was all her. Off the top of her head in a meeting. Just like that. She’s brilliant and I’m very grateful to have her on my team.”

Then he steered me toward the paddock.

With his arm around my shoulder.

I could hear the cameras going off behind us. “Kingston Reynolds. I am going tokillyou.”

“Why? I just solved all our problems. Everyone knows it’s your work, it’s on camera that you’ve been promoted, and now everyone can see with their own two eyes that I have the hots for you.”

“P-p-promoted?” I don’t know why I picked that part out of all the other crazy he’d just spewed.

“As of this morning. I demanded it and Richard agreed. All you have to do is sign the contract. Oh look, there’s Elizabeth.” Then he dropped a kiss on my cheek. “I have to change. See you in a bit.”

Then he disappeared behind a door I wasn’t allowed to enter.

“So? How do you like it all?” Elizabeth took my arm and guided me into a seating area behind where King’s car was parked. Tubes and all kinds of weird equipment were attached to it. “I know it’s overwhelming but if you stay back here and watch it gets easier.”

“That’s an understatement.”

“What was that?”

I took the furthest seat away from the garage. “I said I’m overwhelmed. Super overwhelmed.” The pit crew kept moving around the car. They all wore identical white suits. Some of them wore helmets, some didn’t. A man slid under the car and called out information while another held a computer display with wires that ran into the car. Basically, it was chaos.

“You’ve never been to a race before?”

I finally looked at her and realized she was dressed very differently from the night of the dinner or even the party. Today she looked like a model. Her hair was perfectly styled over one shoulder, her makeup was flawless, and her clothes had to be from a famous designer.

“You look smokin’ hot by the way.”

She glanced down at her clothes and grimaced. “Thanks. I’ll explain that later. First, tell me why you’re overwhelmed.”

So I did. In excruciating detail. From King’s interest to my conflict of interest. I let it all hang out hoping this woman I barely knew would have some sage advice. To her credit, she was a great listener. She didn’t interrupt except for clarification and her face showed almost nothing.

“That’s...a lot. No wonder you look like that.”

“Like what?”

“Like you’re about to go for a run and never come back.” It felt really nice when she squeezed my hand. “First, take a breath.” She waited while I did just that. “Now, forget everything else—the internship, Marcy, your degree, all of it—and tell me what you think of King.”

“He’s a sexy bastard,” I blurted out because that’s exactly how I felt. “I can’t think when I’m around him. He makes me hot and crazy. I think I like him as a human being, though. I appreciate his dedication to his work and how focused he is on success. He treats me like I have something valuable to offer and that’s...a nice change, if I’m being honest.”

Even back at school I’m just a grad student, a grunt worker in training to one day, possibly, be deemed worthy enough to be considered an expert. I hadn’t realized how exhausting it all was until now.

“Ah yes. I remember those days well. You have a degree but it’s not enough. You need multiple degrees and a dissertation and years of published research before you get any respect.”

“You did it.” Elizabeth was one of the most sought-after experts in historic preservation. She wasn’t just good. She was great.

“My area’s a little different because it’s practical not theoretical. I was participating in law creation and building standards while I was in grad school. The expectation to move through my degree and start being productive was faster. What is it you really want to do, Isa?”

“Ishave fun in grad schoolan appropriate response?”

“It is,” she laughed, then sobered, “but not if you think you might be interested in dating King. His career is already chosen and it’s a high-pressure career. There are millions of dollars at stake and hundreds of jobs. There is absolutely nothing wrong with you spending a decade in grad school as you work your way through different types of research, but King’s world is never going to be compatible with that. I’ve spent enough time in your world and his to know how complicated a relationship like that would be. I’d never want that for anyone.”

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