Page 54 of Seductive Scoundrel

Dean: Fuck it. You can plan the date after this one. Friday after work you’re meeting me in Florida. The business will be done, and we can spend the weekend together doing whatever you want.

I’ve never spent the weekend with a woman in my life. What the fuck is the matter with me? But it’s been eating me up that I hurt Mia, knowing that I was likely responsible for making her cry and feel used. She deserves better than that. Better than me.

Or maybe I’m insane and she didn’t care at all. Maybe shedidhave more important things to do. But no. I saw her hurt and disappointment and it ached like it was my own.

Fuck. I’m the worst.

Mia: It’s okay. I’m not mad anyway.

I’ve been around enough women to know this statement means the exact opposite. She is mad, likely fuming, especially because I didn’t ask and she chose to offer the lie. When I chuckle, I’m jolted by Jacqueline’s voice.

“You find this funny?” she asks.

“You’re still talking?”

“Oh, real nice, Dean.”

“I’ll be downstairs in 5. And just so you know, I changed my plans and I won’t be back in New York until after the weekend.”

“What?! Dean, no, you have so many –”

I hang up and refocus my attention on Mia.

Dean: Jeffrey will send you all the logistics. You don’t have to pack – I’ll order clothes for you.

Mia: I’m perfectly capable of packing.

Dean: So you’ll come?

Mia: I was just saying I can pack if I was going to come, which I’m not.

Dean: I’ll see you Friday, beautiful. I can’t wait. And I’m sorry I was such a dick. You know I like you, right? A lot.

Mia: I like you a lot, too. Send me another picture of your dick since you’re such a fucking dick.

I’m laughing again when I promise that it will be top of my to-do list when I get back to my hotel after dinner with Dex and his dad. I was looking forward to pressing Dexter Senior for information on why he wants Seneca – wants me – so badly, but now all I can think about is Mia. Naked.

So, nothing new.

Friday suddenly feels like eons away.

* * *

Florida is not exactlywhat I consider a bustling hub of commerce. It would have been preferable for Dexter Senior to visit me, his son, and the executive team in New York where things actually happen, but at least the weather is good and I can show everyone up on the golf course.

Rumor has it that Dexter Senior not only had a skin cancer scare, but also suffered a massive heart attack. We aren’t meeting until dinner because he’s busy with the church all day, so apparently, two near-death experiences gave him a come-to-Jesus complex. I wonder if it also made him soft and that’s why he’s overpaying me.

It could also be that his claim to his fame is building his empire by skirting under the just-barely-legal category of business deals, and he’s trying to make amends. Dex has turned a new leaf and keeps everything on the up-and-up, but it was a huge reputational hurdle for him to overcome, and likely why he wanted to stay out of the public eye for so long.

He’s a legend now, but it wasn’t always that way. I can’t help but be curious about his interactions with old man Pruitt and finding out just how close they really are.

I’ll get to the bottom of the Double Dexter mystery before returning to the city.

I’m just about to text Mia when my phone rings. It’s Dex, and considering he’s the reason I’m here, it’s prudent to put women out of my mind and focus. Mia will get my almost undivided attention on the weekend – it would be impossible to completely turn off work – and that will have to be enough.

“Aren’t you supposed to be at church?” I greet, comfortable busting his balls.

“That’s more Dad’s thing. Do you go?”

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