Page 23 of Wildest Desire

“I’m going to Italy for a week.” She claps her hands together, and I’m so jealous of her.

“Oh my God, that’s amazing,” I say, and even I can hear the jealousy in my voice. “I want pictures—a lot of pictures.”

I look at Ms. Jackie waving me into her office. Giving Helen a kiss on the cheek, I walk over to Ms. Jackie. Taking a seat, I wait for her to talk to me.

“How’s Ethan?” she asks.

“He’s an asshole.” I smile at her. “Is your home security system—”

“He’s here, isn’t he?” I ask, and my body quakes. I left my house to escape him. I left my house to hide.

“I don’t know for sure yet, so I just want to make sure that you're safe,” Ms. Jackie says as I look at my beeping phone.

Dan– I’m in town tomorrow, coffee?

Lexi– You bet.

“Everything is the same,” I tell her, throwing my phone in my bag. “I just…” I wipe the tear from my cheek. Is this tear of sadness? No, this tear is from fear. “I thought I could finally live… I didn’t have to look over my shoulder,” I say, my voice shaky.

“Do you want—”

“No, the point of not having clients where we live is so we can keep things to ourselves. You broke your rule, and now I’m screwed. He doesn’t need to know everything about me,” I shout. I’ve never yelled at Ms. Jackie before, but I’m scared, and now I have to hide again. Problem is, Ethan isn’t going to let that happen. “I’m sorry.” I shake my head and cry.

Ms. Jackie walks over to me. “You message me when you leave, you message me when you get back to Ethan’s, or to your house. Wherever you are or go, you keep me in the loop!” She cups my face and gives me a look full of love and worry. “You’re the closest thing I have to a daughter and I'll look after you, always,” she tells me.

Giving her a nod, I take a long deep breath to calm myself. “He’s taking me to his mom’s house for a family dinner on Wednesday. Should be interesting.” I smile at her. I won’t let him win. I can’t let him win. I can’t worry about what might happen. I need to keep myself busy. I need to stay focused.

“Yes, I'll be there. Finally get to see my girl at work.” She smiles at me, then sits in the chair next to me.

“Now that makes me nervous.” I give her a small laugh. “You will able to see how intense that man is.” Taking my phone out, I send Ethan a message asking him to pick me up. “He's playing games with me, and you will get to see it for yourself.” I stand up and give her a kiss on the cheek.

“Don’t forget to message me.” Walking out with me, she gives my arm a pat as she passes.

I see Ethan’s car pull up outside, and I turn and smile at Ms. Jackie. Seeing me walking toward the car, Ethan steps out and opens the door for me.

Why does a man look ten times sexier with their shirt sleeves rolled up to their elbows? Licking my lips, I look at him from the corner of my eye.

“Put your hair up.” Please. Taking the clip out of my bag I put it up in a messy bun, letting some strands of hair hang loose. “I have some meetings. What would you like to do while you're waiting for me?”

“Can you take me home, please?” I don’t see the point of staying at his place while he's in meetings. “Let me know when you want me to come over,” I tell him. This works out better for me. I can check my house over to make sure everything is as it should be and that my security system is still working right.

“I think it'll be late, so just come over for breakfast,” he says.

I’ll message Dan, telling him that instead of tomorrow, I’ll wait and meet him for coffee on Wednesday before I go for dinner with Ethan and his family. “Okay, I hope your meeting goes well,” I say.

He didn’t speak to me for the rest of the time we are in the car. His phone never stopped ringing but he told them all he would call them back. The more time I spend with him, the more I understand why he drinks the way he does. The amount of work he does would drive anyone to alcoholism.

“Goodbye, Ethan. I’ll see you in the morning,” I say to him after he walks me to my front door. “I would ask you to come in, but you have calls to make and I don’t want to give you the wrong impression. I’m not that type of girl,” I say. Giving him a wink, I close the door behind me.

Chapter 12

Ethan

Why is she calling me all the fucking time? She won't get shit from me. I've told my lawyers to make sure she stays away from me.

Getting out of the shower, I wrap a towel around my waist. I look in the mirror wondering whether to shave or not. I decide against it and walk into the kitchen to grab some coffee to start my day. I look at my watch and see it’s almost time for Lexi to get here. Tomorrow is my family dinner, and the first time I'll be showing her off as my girlfriend. I just hope that she can pull it off.

I had a plan set out for last night. It was going to be the night she begged me to fuck her. Queen Bitch had to ruin it by fucking calling non-stop. If she wasn’t calling, then the office was. In the end, I just thought it was better to call a meeting with work and my lawyers to see if I could get this shit sorted out.

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