Page 57 of Bad Love

When I getto a high-top table at the tapas place Rena loves for my final meeting of the day, my friend is already there, and I drop onto a stool next toher.

"So, I just got off the phone with this client. They want some crazy shit, Kendall. You won't believe it—" Rena looks up and stops. "Wait. Something’s different about you. Didn’t you have a meeting with LoganHunter?”

“Mhmm.” Every part of me’s still buzzing, and I want to double-check to make sure that vibe’s not lodged somewhere it shouldn’tbe.

She looks me up and down, then folds her arms over her chest. Her gaze turns wicked as I press my thighs together. "Talk. Daisy, Ben, and Wes’ll be here any minute. Did you fuck him?” After a second, her brows pull together. "He didn't hurt you, did he? I will rip off his balls if hedid."

"No. No, we didn’t. And he didn’t." But I do feel…tender.

Not from his lips on my skin. Or from thevibe.

I wanted to know what it felt like. To get a taste of something I’ve alwaysdenied.

I got so much more thanthat.

It feels as though I shared something with him. Even though he barely touched me, it was the most sensual physical experience I’ve had with another person. How is thatpossible?

Maybe he's right. Maybe I amwild.

There’s no time to decide because Rena’s gaze cuts to the door. I follow it to see two men walking in together. They're a study incontrasts.

Wes, his suit jacket still on and his tie loosened, with mussed dirty-blond hair and piercing blueeyes.

Ben, with his dark, wavy hair and matching dark eyes. He's wearing a Henley and jeans andsneakers.

If Wes looks like a Ralph Lauren ad, Ben looks like he could be the water guy for the camera crew. Until you look him in theeye.

Ben has the keen, sharp expression of someone who sees more, knows more, thinks faster. The guy has made himself millions—billions maybe—and doesn't take anything too seriously. In fact, he's been known to push people’s buttons. Publicly. Despite being the son of a congresswoman. Or maybe because ofit.

The two men draw more than a little attention, and they’re big enough I don’t notice the woman hot on theirheels.

In addition to being Rena’s boyfriend, Wes is a client. He and Ben, whom I’ve only met in passing once or twice, own a DNA dating app, which Closer helpedlaunch.

That’s Daisy’s excuse for being there, but mostly this meeting is socialtime.

"Grab a stool. You might have to fight someone for it," Renaoffers.

"A gentleman would offer his to a lady," Daisy informs Ben, who drops onto astool.

"Good thing you don't subscribe to traditional gender roles,Dee."

Daisy charms a stool out of a guy at the bar with one arm slung over it—who looks all too happy to be charmed—and brings itback.

Ben grins. "We go back. I know all her secrets." That reminds me Daisy and Ben go all the way back to college. Given he’s a venture capitalist, I wonder if they got bit by the same entrepreneurialbug.

Daisy shoots him a look as if to say he's on a short leash. "We have a standing date every Saturday. I make sure he'sshowering."

Rena frowns. "You aren't in town everySaturday."

"Neither am I," Ben sayseasily.

I lean forward. I knew Ben and Daisy were friends, but I haven’t seen them together. I’m beyond curious about their dynamic. But neither of them volunteersmore.

"How's the DNA dating business?" Iask.

"The platform launched." Wes rolls up his sleeves and leans in, and I see Rena's gaze drop to his arms. I can't blame her—he's gorgeous. But it's not just how he looks… it's the glint of anticipation in his eyes. He loves what he's talking about. "Our sample size is up to twenty thousand singles who’re ready to trust science with their romantic future. We have more than two dozen testimonials from the lastyear."

"Including yours," I remindthem.

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