Page 27 of Wingwoman
I cleared my throat, happy to hear it didn’t wobble nearly as much as I felt. “Of course. If you want me there.”
“I do.”
I hated the uncomfortable silence that settled between us. “Okay then. I’ll text you back with her availability.”
I clutched the hoodie tighter around my body. Even though he was nowhere in sight and couldn’t see me, I still felt utterly naked and vulnerable, even here on the phone with him. “And Josh?”
“Yeah?”
“Her name is Daisy Kushner. Not Miss Texas.”
I could practically hear his smirk on the other end of the phone. “Daisy Bimbo Kushner. Got it.”
Before I could say anything in return, he’d already hung up.
Seven
HOPE
I arrivedfifteen minutes early at the address Josh had texted me. A painted wood sign hung from the entrance to a long, dirt driveway.Anita’s Hope Equine Rescue. As I took the turn, a breeze drifted by, swinging the sign with a long creak.
The sun was beginning its descent from the blue and gold-streaked sky, but the heat was no less overbearing.
At the end of the long dirt driveway, I spotted Josh standing there wearing his signature cowboy hat, boots, jeans, and a blue button down shirt. The orange glow of the setting sun backlit his broad shoulders, and his hands clasped at the small of his back. He was tall and imposing; a pillar of pure confidence.
My body instantly responded to the sight of him, the tips of my breasts tightening and a current of energy shimmering across my sweat-damp flesh.
I put my rental car in park and allowed my eyes to flutter close for the briefest moment while I gave myself a quick pep talk.
My body needed to chill the hell out. Celebrities? Red carpet events? I’ve been there before and it wasn’t worth it. No matter how appealing it would be to make Brent jealous.
Josh lowered his chin, his eyes lifting over the edge of his sunglasses to peer at me as I took my time turning off the car. His face was neutral, revealing nothing except for the tiniest smirk that kicked up one side of his mouth.
That smirk stirred something deep inside of me. Something I thought had long been forgotten. Something tender, but so raw and rough that it left me feeling more hollow.
Before the meeting with Josh, I could pretend that part of me didn’t exist. I’d been doing a good job the last few weeks of pretending it didn’t. And prior to Brent? I had mastered the art of compartmentalization.
I exited the car with the boots and Chanel scarf beneath my arm, shutting my driver’s side door with a bump of my hip. Stepping within inches of him, I took a deep calming breath. I couldn’t show him how much he was affecting me. It was exactly what he wanted.
His eyes fell to the large box under my arm, his gaze darkening while I resisted the urge to scan his body. Because holy hell, it was almost like that button down shirt was tailored to hug the hard, crisp lines of his toned shoulders and trimmed waist.
My stomach erupted into a fury of nerves as I peered up into his bright blue eyes and it was almost like he could see every bit of me as he stood there, still saying nothing. Not a hello. Not a welcome. No form of greeting save for that smirk. That damn smirk. Like he could see through to my soul. See through to my excitement, my nerves, my pain and trepidation.
If I didn’t know any better, I’d have thought he could even see my toes curling, pressing against the padded souls of my Givenchy pumps.
He looked at me in a way that I got the impression he not only saw me… but also knew me. Maybe even more than I knew myself. My mind wandered back to his initial statements of wanting me as his muse. About the connection he needed to feel.
Was he right? Did he and I have a stronger connection than most on some cosmic level?
Or could I orchestrate this same feeling between him and another woman? If I didn’t want to be stuck for two months as his muse, I would have to.
It wasn’t going to be easy though. Because ifIfelt this, then he sure as hell did, too.
“You might as well put that box right back in your car,” he said. “Because hell hasn’t frozen over and I ain’t taking it back.”
“Oh yes you are,” I said. “I can’t accept this. Not as your employee.”
“Why not?”
