Page 56 of Flaunt
“I reconnected with an old boyfriend a while back. Thank God I ended the extraneous fling with you because things are getting serious.”
Banks makes a face like he’s surprised. The look makes me giggle.
“A month ago, you were with me,” Joshua snarls.
I smirk. “A month ago, I wasfucking you. I was neverwith you, Joshua.” My words are met with a silence that turns my smirk into a smile.Asshole. “On that note, while it’s been a pleasure chatting with you, I need to go. I’ll see you at the gala.”
“What?” He barks the word. “You said you weren’t going.”
“No, I said I have no business at the gala—and I don’t. I’m going as a personal guest of Myles Petterson.”
“That’s asinine.”
“You’ll have to take that up with him. Now, I must run. Have a great afternoon, Joshua.”
I end the call with a flourish.
Banks narrows his eyes playfully and grins.
“What?” I ask, grinning back at him.
“Is there a new boyfriend in the mix that I didn’t know about?”
I roll my eyes. “No. I’m building up to the fake fiancé thing—which I totally forgot about until now.Shit.I need to figure that out before Saturday night.”
“You’re really doing that?”
“Yeah. You heard Joshua. Well, you heard my side of the conversation. I’m not going tonot goto the gala when it could be an amazing career move for me—and I desperately need an amazing career move for me.”
He doesn’t blink.
“This was your idea,” I say, laughing. “A damn good one at that.”
He rolls his tongue around his lips, his brows pinched together. I have no idea what he’s thinking—this was his plan to begin with.Instead of standing in one spot staring at him, which isn’t really a chore but kind of awkward, I head to my car.
He follows me. “I don’t have groceries. I generally don’t keep food to eat at my house because I hate to cook. So if you want food around here, we’ll have to get some.”
“I can go to the store tomorrow while you’re at work. We’ll just have to figure something out for dinner.”
Banks groans.
“What?” I look over my shoulder and spot a large truck coming down the road. “Who is that?”
“Foxx.”
The truck slows as it approaches Banks’s house, and the window rolls down.
My lord.What does this family have that others don’t?
I haven’t seen Foxx in years—and only a handful of times at that. He keeps to himself so much that I forget he even exists most of the time. But every time I see him, I’m gobsmacked with how delicious the man really is.
Foxx is close to ten years older than Banks and the old adage is true—men get hotter as they age. He’s a mixture of his brothers in the best of ways. He’s slightly taller than Jess with the same bright-green eyes. His hair is darker than his brothers.Tall, dark, and handsome.
As Foxx’s truck gets closer, I shiver under his assessment. He does it quick, with a singular glance that somehow reads me deeper than anyone ever has. I must pass his inspection because he subtly nods his approval.
“What’s up?” Banks asks as we reach his brother.
“Just seeing what was going on here,” Foxx says.
