Page 12 of Wildest Desire

“Listen, I hear you have a date. Go enjoy your date, and then take a few days off. Read this when you’re calm, then we'll talk about it on Thursday,” she says, placing her hand on the papers.

“You already told him yes, didn't you?” I look at my empty glass. She's hiding something from me, I can feel it.

“Yes, I have. I promise nothing will happen unless you sign as well. I know Ethan can be intense, but I also know he would never hurt you. He just needs time to open up. I'll talk to you on Thursday.” She stands up, kisses my cheek, then leaves.

For God's sake, this is ridiculous. I know that the no sex rule will still stand because, no matter what, Jackie would not agree to that. So, what's written in there that's different from what I already do?

Chapter 7

Ethan

I was having a lovely dinner with Lexi, then she had to ruin it by telling me she has a date. It really pissed me off when she told me she wouldn’t cancel when I told her to.

I still don’t know what it is about Lexi that has me drawn to her. Last night, all I wanted to do was kiss her. Twice I had to stop myself.

“Hey, Knight.” I look at the doorway. I’m a little perturbed at having my thoughts interrupted, but it’s my old buddy Travis, so I’m ok with it.

He’s been the only friend I’ve kept since college. I wasn’t very open to making friends, but Travis had a way of always being there. When I started the mall business, I did it alone. I made every penny myself. I didn’t trust anyone enough to help me. Inevitably, the business grew so large that I needed help managing them all, so I called Travis. He didn’t need much convincing. He was on board and started the following week, and I haven’t regretted the decision to hire him once. He takes care of any problems we have with any of the malls and is now helping me get the London mall opened.

“Hey, what’s up?” I ask, throwing the file on the table.

“Just wanted to see if you want to join us at the bar tonight.” Travis sits down on the couch on the other side of the room.

I go every now and again with some of the guys just to feel connected to someone other than myself and my mom.

I typically stand at the bar and watch the crowd. “Sure.” A few hours with the guys beats sitting at home wondering how Lexi’s date is going.

“You might even get lucky, Knight.”

Travis is another one that hated Angie and tried to warn me about her. Luckily, he hung around after things went downhill for me. God knows I needed something other than a whiskey bottle for a friend, and I’m thankful he was there. I should have listened to everyone telling me she was a gold digger. Travis is a good friend but the whiskey bottle is what gets me through most nights. But, there's no amount of alcohol that can take away the hatred I still have for her.

“Well, we both know what you will be doing tonight,” I laugh.

Travis sleeps with a different woman every night. I keep telling him to stop fucking around, but his answer is always the same. ‘I’m a thirty-two-year-old man. I’m rich and too good-looking to settle down.’

“How can anyone say no to this? Just look at me.” He’s sitting there waving his hand over his body. I lean back in my chair and shake my head at his antics.

“Text me the time and which bar. Now, get out of my office and go get the plans ready for London,” I tell him. I want this deal done by the end of the month and to have it opened this time next year.

“Will do, boss-man. See you tonight.”

Selena walks in as Travis leaves. She had better have some good news on getting a good teacher for the center. It can’t be that hard to find a good one. Emily has shot down every teacher that I thought was good enough to work at the center. Emily says nothing less than a five-star teacher will do. So, I told Selena to look outside of California. I even told her to consider new teachers fresh out of school.

“Mr. Knight, I have spoken to three teachers. One has just finished college and has no work experience. The other two have worked in schools for over ten years.” She places the three folders down in front of me and continues. “The one from Washington may not have any experience, but she was top of her class and she comes highly recommended by her instructors who have nothing but remarkable things to say about her,” Selena says, pointing to the one on top.

“You can leave now,” I tell her. I’m not worried about hurting her feelings. She’s been with me from the start and is used to my abruptness. Only once did she try to sass me, but it didn’t work out too well for her. I told her that if she ever even thought about speaking to me that way again, I would make sure no one ever hired her in California.

* * *

I spent my entire day going through the files on the teachers Selena gave me. I agreed with her about the teacher in Washington and told her to call and see when she could come in for an interview.

Walking into the bar to meet Travis, a woman slips in front of me, but I ignore her and continue walking over to the bar.

“Knight, she was up for it,” Travis says in the way of greeting.

“Not interested,” I yell over the bar top to the bartender for a whiskey neat, then turn around and watch the people enjoying their time together.

“You need to get back out there, dude. How about that group?” Travis points to the group of girls in the corner booth. “I mean, the redhead looks like a wild child,” he says, turning to one of his friends.

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