Page 15 of Flaunt
I sigh and raise my eyes to Rebecca’s. “So I called Ashley to see if Maddox was busy.”
She leans back, her eyes widening and a slow smile spreading across her face.
“Blah, blah, blah,” I say, getting to the part she’s obviously expecting. “Banks shows up.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
She leans forward like she’s about to leap over the table.
“Easy, tiger,” I say, laughing. “Don’t attack me.”
“Banks Carmichael showed up at your apartment to get your vibrator out of the toilet. Is that what you just told me?”
“Yup.”
Her face flushes, and she sits back again. “My brain just blew up.”
“Imagine whatmybrain did.”And my body. “My vibe was in his hand—just lying there in his palm like it was a pile of candy or something.”
“I don’t think I could’ve handled that. Heck, Ican’thandle it, and it’s not even mine, and I wasn’t even there.”
Laughing, I go back to my fajita creation.
Like me, Rebecca secretly drools over the Carmichael men. She prefers the quieter ones, though. Her preference has always been for Jess or Foxx.Me? Quiet is boring. Give me all the energy.
“It wasn’t how I anticipated the afternoon going, that’s for sure,” I say.
“You know …” She swishes her margarita around in her glass. “You’re going to be at Ashley’s for a few days, and he lives across the street.”
It’s crossed my mind.More than once.
I’ll undoubtedly be blessed with more than a few visuals of Banks Carmichael. But that will be all the blessings I’ll be bestowed.
At the end of the day, we operate on some level of frenemies. We’re not flat-out enemies, but I wouldn’t say we’re friends. Sometimes that kind of situation can result in the hottest sex imaginable—but it never ends well. There’s a compatibility problem that shouldn’t be ignored. And with Maddox being his brother and Ashley one of my closest friends, that’s trouble with a capitalT.
I’m a seasoned vet about this kind of thing, and Banks flies every red flag with the wordsthis will be complicatedprinted on the side.
My life has enough complications to last a lifetime—most of which I don’t give two cares about. But adding Banks to that list?
That would be the most foolish thing I could do.
4
Banks
“What are you doing here?” I ask.
Tasha looks up from her computer and leans back in her chair. “I had a few things I needed to catch up on, and you guys are so distracting during the day that I can’t get to them during normal business hours.”
“Sucks to be you.”
She grins. “I brought you a coffee. It’s on your desk.”
“This is how you keep your job security, Tash. Bringing me treats.”
“Huh. I thought it was that I’m the only one around here who knows how to do all the things that don’t involve a wrench.”
