Page 22 of Beyond the Spotlight Discreet Version
“You can do this, Savannah,” I tell myself. “Reynold is your boss. A man. He’s just a man.”A stupidly gorgeous man who you can’t stop thinking about.
I leave George and Peter behind to haul up my luggage, which I still find strange letting them do for me. Inside the elevator, I tap the key card and the doors close, jerking slightly as it ascends to the top floor.
Laughter hits my ears when I enter the apartment and I follow the sound down the hallway to the open concept kitchen, dining, living area. Reynold stands at the island with two people I recognize from the French bistro.
“Sexy Savvy!” the one with tanned skin says. Their hair is shaved on the sides and longer on top. They are short and curvy. More mid-size than plus-size like me.
I blush at their words and dart my eyes to Reynold.
“Kelly,” he warns. Kelly bursts into a fit of giggles with the stunning blonde woman at their side joining in on the joke.
Kelly holds up their hands. “Your words, Renny.”
“You said that about me?” I choke out.
“He sure did,” Kelly blurts before he can answer. He flips them off, which has the two cackling even harder.
The blonde woman stands and walks to me with her hand out, which I take. “Hi, I’m Eloise and this is my partner, Kelly.” She points her thumb at them.
“Nice to meet you two.”
Kelly joins us. “Oh, no. The pleasure is all ours.”
“Would you two knock it off?” Reynold growls.
“What’s wrong, Renny? Are we embarrassing you?” Kelly teases.
“As a matter of fact, yes, you are,” he says and crosses his arms.
Kelly and Eloise look at each other, then erupt into another fit of giggles. Reynold tosses up his hands and rolls his eyes. He walks off, stopping at a table just inside the kitchen.
Once Eloise composes herself, she places a palm on my shoulder. “It’s really fun to mess with him.”
Reynold’s back is to us as he shuffles through a pile of mail, ignoring us all. “Oh, I know exactly what you mean.”
He throws the stack down on the table with a smack. “Could you not egg them on, Savannah?”
I salute him. “Sir, yes, sir.”
Eloise and Kelly lose it, and I cover my mouth to hide my laughter. The corner of Reynold’s mouth twitches as he struggles not to smile too.
“Where’s Adeline?” I ask, scoping out the living room. It’s Sunday so she wouldn’t be at school.
“In her room, taking a nap,” Reynold answers. “We went on a bike ride through Central Park earlier today and it wiped her out.”
The elevator dings announcing my luggage arriving and I leave the kitchen, walking past Reynold so I can retrieve it.
I don’t make it far before his large hand wraps around my elbow. “Let me do it.”
“No, it’s fine.”
I attempt to keep walking, but he moves in front of me, and I nearly crash into his chest.
What the hell?
“Move out of the way,Rey.”
His eyes widen, clearly not a fan of me calling him Rey.
