Page 4 of Seduced By You

“That’s the main thing. And who am I to judge? It sounds like something I’d do.” I was dyslexic, something I’d worked hard to overcome. These days, I coped pretty damn well, but understanding the written word wouldn’t ever come naturally to me.

“She’s worth considering for a role for next season.”

“I’ll keep her in mind. Four weeks to go. How are you holding up?” I paid my full-time employees for twelve months, although the club only opened for eight because of the inclement weather in the South of France in the winter months. At this stage of the season, everyone was running on fumes. Given that this was Lee’s first year, I expected her to feel more exhausted than my longer-serving employees.

“Not gonna lie, I’m tired. It’s been a long year. But I’m used to being tired. Modeling looks glamorous from the outside but is damned hard work on the inside.”

“Do you miss it? Modeling?” It was the first time she’d mentioned her former career since she’d taken the job with me, almost as if she’d completely washed her hands of it. If only I could leave my past behind so easily.

“No. I thought I would. It’s all I’ve known since I was six years old, but I’ve seen a different side to life these past nine months since Benedict dumped me, and I like it. I guess it’s proved to me I can do other things, that I’m not just…” She drew a circle around her face. “This.”

“You know you’re more than your looks, Lee.” The press liked to downplay beautiful women, make them out to be nothing more than airheads. Funny how they didn’t treat male models in the same way. Only the women. Misogynistic assholes.

She sighed. “Sometimes it’s hard to remember that.”

“I’ll have my tattoo artist ink your arm with it if you like?” I was only half joking.

She shuddered. “Needles? No, thanks.”

“Noted. So, what are you planning to do with your time off?” I kept the yearning out of my voice. No idea how. I couldn’t bear to contemplate the four months stretching ahead of me when I wouldn’t see her every day. While she got time off, I didn’t. Although I based myself in Saint Tropez, I had fifteen other beach clubs around the world that came under my wing of the business, and we opened at least one new one a year, which always required additional attention. Some, like our property in Dubai, were four times as big as Saint Tropez, with four times the problems. While Saint Tropez was closed, I’d spend a large part of the winter visiting those other locations. I’d installed highly capable managers at each one, but that didn’t mean I could abandon my responsibilities. The ultimate buck stopped with me.

Fuck knows, Dad has told me often enough.

“I’ll tell you what I’mnotdoing with it.” She reached into her purse and pitched a card onto my desk. I drew it toward me.

Sir Darren Grange and Lady. Rosalind Grange

request the pleasure of the company of

Miss Annaleesa Alarie & Guest

At the wedding of their beloved daughter, Fenella

To Benedict Oberon

At Grange Manor, Berkshire

From Thursday, November 5thto Saturday, November 7th

Accommodation provided

RSVP

I read it twice, mainly because I couldn’t believe my fucking eyes. Benedict Oberon was a class A prick, but he’d outdone his douchery this time.

“Is he insane? And what’s with the three-day extravaganza?”

Lee tapped pink-tipped fingernails against her thigh. “They’re toffs. They’ll want the maximum press exposure. And to answer your question about insanity, yeah, I like to think he is. In my darker moments, I picture him locked up in a padded cell with only his own ego for company, surrounded by a gallery of wronged women pelting him with rotten fruit and roadkill. Or paraded naked down the streets where a deafening crowd shouts, ‘Shame! Shame!’ Kinda like that scene with Cersei fromGame of Thrones.”

I chuckled. “It’s good to have goals.”

“All I have to do is figure out what mine are.” She sighed. “I’m working on it.”

A chill surged through me. Lee had made it clear when she’d accepted the job at my beach club that it was only temporary, but the longer she’d stayed, the more I’d hoped she might decide this was her calling and make it permanent.

“You’ll figure it out. And until you do, this job is yours.”

“You’re the best friend a girl could wish for, Kadon.”

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