Page 71 of Seduced By You

“Who the fuck are those two charmers?” Kadon asked, returning to his seat.

I laughed. “No one important.” I updated him briefly on them both. “I’m sure I’ve mentioned it before, but the modeling world is the epitome of dog-eat-dog. It’s why I don’t have female friends. Not those deep, tell-one-another-everything relationships. I’ve never had that. It’s not surprising, given that I’ve modeled since I was six.” I shrugged to hide the bite of hurt. “Ayesha, though, was one of the worst. I landed a lot of the jobs she went for, and she blamed me for it. And as for Daniel, he’s a creep.”

“If that’s what modeling does to a person, I’m glad you got out when you did.”

“Yeah.” My gaze drifted over to their table on the other side of the restaurant. Ayesha’s shoulder blades protruded through paper-thin skin. “She’s made a big mistake getting in bed with him. A big mistake.”

Only time would tell just how big.

Chapter23

Kadon

A bolt from the blue.

“I don’t wantto sound ungrateful, but I’m looking forward to getting home tomorrow.” Leesa rubbed the right-hand side of her neck. “God, I’m so stiff. I used to get like this when I traveled for work. I need my own bed.”

“I’m moving into your place, then?” I arched a brow, a smile pulling at my lips. “Here.” I sat behind her on the bed and massaged the tight muscles. She groaned.

“God, you’re good at that. Keep going.”

“Are you sure you want to come to dinner tonight? Blaize will understand if you’re too tired.”

Blaize was driving up from Miami to Palm Beach, our final stop on the North American and Caribbean part of our trip. It was the last opportunity I’d get to see him for a while. I was only sorry I hadn’t had time to fly over to Vegas to see Nolen, nor up to Seattle to visit Mom and Dad. Not on this trip, anyway. I intended to take Lee away for Christmas—although I hadn’t sprung that on her yet—and then visit my family early in the new year.

There’d been many occasions where I’d thought of relocating to one of the clubs on this side of the world, if only to be closer to my nearest and dearest, but I loved Saint Tropez. And now that Lee and I were a couple, I had even more of a reason to remain in France. It was her home. Well, that and England, but I doubted she’d want to move there in a hurry and risk bumping into Benedict at the local grocery store.

“Jesus, you make me sound ninety.” She rolled her neck to the side. “I’ll be good to go after a shower.”

A grin stole across my face. “Hmm, a shower. Sounds good.”

“Alone.”

“Ah, I see the honeymoon period is over already.” I heaved a sigh. “I guess there’s only one thing for it.”

“What’s that?”

I stood and moved into her sight line, rubbing my chin in thought. “I shall have to take a mistress to fulfill my voracious sexual needs.”

She picked up a pillow and threw it at me. I palmed it away, laughing.

“Put that pecker anywhere but in my pussy, mister, and I’ll take a sharp blade to it.”

I winced. “Ouch. You’re vicious.”

“You have no idea.” She climbed off the bed. I smacked her ass as she passed me by.

“No masturbating in that shower without me there to witness it.”

“This might come as a surprise to you, but I don’t masturbate every time I shower.”

“What a shame.”

She tapped her forefinger against her lip. “Hmm, wonder what the water pressure is like here.”

I made a move. She squealed, darted into the bathroom, and locked the door. The sound of running water drowned out her laughter. I sat on the bed wearing the biggest smile, one that, these days, rarely vanished. In Lee, I’d found everything I’d ever wanted. The only blot on an idyllic future was the lack of progress in finding Samuel. One of these days, I’d have to face up to the fact that I might never find him and what had happened after his parents removed him from the school would remain a mystery.

A few months ago—hell, a fewweeksago—the thought of that would have sent me spiraling into depression. I’d connected finding Samuel alive and well with the quashing of my guilt. I braced for the dark tendrils to creep into my mind, pulling me under to that place I had to claw my way out of. My mind remained clear. I wanted to find Samuel, of course I did, but maybe,just maybe, my happiness wasn’t tied to that outcome any longer.

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