Page 33 of South of The Skyway

FOURTEEN

RHYETT

Brexley Snows held my attention on the shortest chain I’d ever seen. Tugged me around. Rapt with her story and vision for The Cracked Corset, I was content to listen as she shared. She had a business mind, rival perhaps only to Milo, and the idea of presenting my father with a contender for his cleverness set warmth through my blood.

“Anyway,” she continued, “I have this vision of a two-story bookstore with spiral stairs, where we could make the interior feel like some secret clubhouse. Everyone except Noel thinks I’m crazy.”

“And Noel?” I questioned, plucking a leftover corn chip out of the bowl and scraping up the quickly disappearing guac. Brexley had eaten herself silly, happily leaning back and setting her hand on her belly. I freaking loved that she could eat. She hadn’t exactly kept up with my enormous appetite, but it had undoubtedly been a respectable selection of options.

“Is my ride-or-die.”

“So, she’s on board?” I asked, wanting clarification. “Or she just backs your play?” Her laughter did something to my circulatory system, sending more blood south than was strictly necessary.

“A fair translation request. She’s on board. I’m…the numbers person of the two of us. Noel is quick to take a picture and turn it into a cinematic experience. She took my idea for a coffee shop bookstore and turned it into The Corset. So naturally—”

“The idea of something on a larger scale is right up her alley.”

“Right. She’s always been so…fearless.” She eyed the last bite of guac, chewing on her bottom lip as though in a great debate about continuing or exerting self-control. I snagged a chip and scraped the last layer from the stone bowl, leaning forward to give it to her. She surprised me when she darted forward with an open mouth to accept. The woman’s lips on my fingers snapped any ounce of restraint still buried in my bones. Trying to anchor myself back in the present was suddenly fucking impossible. The urge to have her on her knees, to feel those beautiful lips wrapped around my cock, was instantly overbearing.Easy, Rhyett. Jesus.

Clearing my throat, I said, “You seem pretty fearless to me.” Her answering laugh was more scoff than humor.

“I’m…analytical.”

“Do tell,” I prompted, snagging the napkin from my lap to clean my hands of salt and oil.

“I don’t know…” she hedged. “I hide in my office and let Noel face the people.”

“Sure didn’t hide in The Three Leaf.”

“Ahh, yes,alcohol, my old friend.”

When I laughed, her cheeks lifted, flushing with color as her eyes darted to her lap. Mine lingered on her soft breasts, my newfound fantasy still blazing in my mind. I forced them up. Whether she didn’t notice my lusting or was kind enough not to acknowledge it, I wasn’t sure.

“Any regrets?”

That damn little nervous lip bite. It was like she didn’t know how tempting she was. “Not so far. Please don’t change my mind.”

“My goal is certainly a direct contradiction.”

“What is your goal, Mr. Rhodes?”

Throat suddenly thick, I snatched up my scotch—my third, and last—using the hot liquid to soothe my anxiety. Keep me steady. “How about we start where I should have.”

“And where, pray-tell, is that?” Brexley steepled her fingers, bracing her elbows on the table like she’d just asked for diplomatic immunity.

“Spend some time together, play twenty questions. I’m not usually one to…what do the kids call it these days? Date?”

Expression thoughtful, she studied me for a long moment before asking, “You hardly know me. What could be so compelling to break your habit?”

“Well, I think we got pretty familiar last night,” I countered with a wink. “I don’t believe it was a coincidence, our meeting, bumping into each othertwicesince. Wouldn’t fate tell us that’s our sign to see what this could be? If you can honestly tell me you don’t feel this thing between us, I’ll let it lie. But I think you do. And I’m fascinated by you, Miss Snows.”

The wrinkle in her nose was the cutest damn thing I’d ever seen. “Brex, Brexley, anything except for that.”

“Ace?”

“Even that’s a step up.” My phone buzzed in my pocket, and while I was used to the constant bombardment, her eyes narrowed. “Don’t you need to get that?”

I shook my head.

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