Page 17 of A Private Affair
“What?”
He shrugged. “I’m just debating where the line is at this moment.”
Because she knew what he was referring to, Riley gave him a reassuring look. “You’re safe.”
Korey looked relieved as he leaned forward, resting an elbow on his knee. “What happened in Milan? You left focused and intent but came back a little...off.”
“What?” Panic sliced through her with a sharp edge. “I’m the exact same.”
Korey’s hands were up immediately, waving back and forth. “No. No. Not in a bad way. Absolutely not, you’re always on point. Always. There’s just a little difference. Like how quickly you were able to admit you’ve been here too long tonight. If this were last month you would have been determined to push through.”
Milan hadn’t changed her.
One night did not make a difference to her life.
“I can admit when I’m tired.” It was the safe reply. “That’s all it is, Korey. So you can go get your drinks. And I don’t care how drunk you get, I want you here tomorrow at six. Not a second later.”
“Now, that’s the prevacation Riley talking.” Korey chuckled and jumped up from his chair because prevacation or not, he knew it was only safe to cross the line temporarily.
“See you in the morning. Have a fun evening.”
Fifteen minutes later she was still sitting in the same spot.
Had she changed because of the night she’d spent with Chaz? Because that was the only thing that had been different about this year’s vacation. After thinking on it another few seconds Riley slammed her palm on the desk and shook her head. It was just sex, damn!
She shut down her computer and grabbed her bag and purse before leaving the office. She wasn’t different. Korey was overreacting, something he did frequently. He was lucky she liked him like a little brother and that he was so organized and knew a great pair of thigh-high boots when he saw them or she would have definitely fired him a thousand times by now.
Minutes later Riley stood at the elevator feeling smug because that last thought sounded much more like her. If shewereacting any different, that was. But she wasn’t. Everything was the same as it had been before she’d gone to Milan. All she had to do was keep telling herself that and it would be true.
By the time she made it to the garage Riley was shaking her head. She was pitiful and she hated to admit it. She wasn’t the same since Milan because now she couldn’t get Chaz and the feel of his hands on her body out of her mind. And as if her thoughts weren’t traitorous enough, her phone dinged with a text message notification. When she read the text, saw who it was from, her heartbeat quickened and butterflies danced a happy little jig in her stomach.
Chaz hadn’t been his usual self today.
Or the day before, or even the day before that. In fact, he could admit that he’d been thinking about Milan—or rather a very enjoyable twenty-four hours in Milan—much more than he’d assumed he would.
It wasn’t like he didn’t have anything else to do. Chaz just couldn’t get Riley out of his mind. But when he looked up to see his uncle walking into his office unannounced, he hoped there was some business issue the man needed to discuss that would help Chaz focus on other things.
His uncle began as soon as he sat down. “I heard Ron sent his little girl to Milan to snatch Perry off the market.”
Well, this wasn’t going to go the way Chaz thought it might.
Tobias King was a big man, six feet three-and-a-half inches—two inches taller than Chaz—two hundred and eighty-something pounds. Chaz was only partially guessing. He’d gone to Tobias’s last doctor’s appointment to make sure his uncle’s blood pressure was in check. High blood pressure was a silent killer and with the stress of the company and seven ex-wives, Tobias was always borderline and terribly neglectful when it came to his health.
Now that Chaz was in New York for a while, he would make sure his uncle took better care of himself, even if it meant treating Tobias like he was a child.
“It’s not a big deal,” Chaz replied. “You’ve got a good design team and they’re coming up with fresh and innovative ideas. This men’s collection is going to speak directly to professional millennials and they’re gonna love it.”
Chaz was certain of that fact because he’d spent hundreds of hours researching this demographic and studying the look, price and packaging of their clothes. He’d kept a few employees that were in the branding department when he came, but he’d hired half a dozen more to create a team that would produce quickly and efficiently.
“But she’s a slick one, that Riley. Polished and primped all the time and smart as a whip. I’ve heard her talk at conventions and the rare times she speaks to the press. She’s got her father’s attitude but her mother’s look. A dangerous combination.”
Tobias was going bald but wasn’t quite ready to shave his head, so he kept the remaining hair cut very low. He’d even taken to wearing fitted hats and had designed a collection of them with matching casual jackets. His low-cut beard was white, giving him a distinguished older-gentleman appeal, while his steely deep brown eyes remained as astute as they’d been when he was in his twenties.
“She’s not that bad.” The moment he said those words, Chaz regretted them.
Not actuallyregret—that was a word Chaz didn’t allow himself to associate with. He believed everything happened for a reason and that when things didn’t go the way he planned, he just had to reconcile himself with that reason. Still, those weren’t the words he’d meant to say and now he’d have to deal with the backlash, which he had no doubt was coming swiftly.
“How do you know how bad she is? Did you run into her while you were in Milan? I hoped you wouldn’t when I found out she was down there.”
