Page 127 of Playing With Secrets
“How long?”
“It started the first trip she went on. You were right when you came to my room. She was with me.” I rub my neck.
He growls as his face turns red.
“Jonah, she won’t try to get money or do anything that puts the company in harm's way. Sometimes I think she loves the company more than she loves me, so try to see this from that point of view. She wouldn’t do that.” I finish my drink while he glares at me.
He shakes his head as he flashes another shade of red. “I knew it and you lied to my face.”
“I did because she thought she was going to get fired. I fell hard for her and hated seeing her go through that kind of fear. She would’ve crumbled right there if I had come clean with you.” My stance softens just thinking about it.
“She’s a better liar than I could’ve imagined. After her Tupac rant, I thought I was reading it all wrong. Maybe you two are made for each other.” He marches back to the couch and sits.
“You have to admit, the Tupac comeback was brilliant. She even impressed me with that one.” I sit next to him and laugh to myself.
He looks me over. In an instant, he goes from Jonah Efron, COO, to my brother. “You didn’t coach her on that?”
“Nope. She came up with it on the fly.” I turn to him with a smile splitting my face. “Her quick wit is one of the many things I love about her.”
He gets comfortable as he checks my eyes for any level of bullshit.
“Fuck, Hunter.” He sighs. “You know, you’re going with me to the Christmas ball now. There’s no getting out of it.”
“Is Dorothy really going to be there?”
“She is, but why don’t you know that? Do you two not share your social calendars?”
“If you recall, we can’t be in public together, so events like a Christmas ball don’t get brought up.”
“Makes sense.”
“If I’m being honest, it's a huge sore spot.” My stomach turns into iron as I consider how close I am to losing her. I return to get another drink.
“Pour me another.” He stands and rolls up his sleeves.
“Are you sure that’s smart?”
He nods. “I have a million questions. Like, what about Ava? She’s with you all the time. I know Dori and that can’t be good for your relationship. Shit, she dumped a guy for getting another girl's number, and they weren’t even exclusive.”
“I’ll tell you everything if you swear on your portion of the business that you won’t tell a soul.” My shoulders relax as I fix our drinks. It feels good to talk to him about this.
He leans against the counter in the beverage area. “You’ve got my word. I don’t think it’s wise, but I know Dori and can see how you fell in love with her. I think I knew you were falling that first week. You looked at her like she was a goddess.”
“She is a goddess.” I hand him his scotch.
My gaze falls to the floor. The weight of losing her hits me. It will destroy me if that happens.
“Talk to me, Hunter. Lay it out because there’s something heavy on your shoulders.”
I look at him. “If I don’t do something soon, I’m going to lose her. I need to get the clause out of her contract, or there won’t be a chance in hell I’ll get her back.”
“I thought you said you’re in love.” He grabs his drink and swirls it. “Shit, Hunter. How bad did you fuck things up?”
“Believe it or not, it started with her fuckup. I just keep on doing things that put us at odds.”
“Like what?”
“Like telling her last night, I was reconsidering how I feel about her.”
