be late.” I pound on Bria’s door once more.
“Keep your pants on, we won’t be late,” she calls from the other side of the door.
The pace the room, checking the time on my phone once again. We can’t screw this up. The door flies open several minutes later and though I expected her to come out wearing a cocktail dress or something equally revealing, she’s in a crisp tailored suit covering pretty much every inch of her. I frown. “You’re wearing that?” I should remind her that Geoffrey is a red-blooded male and her usual attire should be more than fine, but deciding there’s no time for her to change, I keep quiet and guide her out the door.
When we arrive, we’re ushered into Geoffrey’s office where he profusely compliments Bria’s designer suit. I quickly learn two things: One, Geoffrey is definitely gay, and two, she’s wearing some big deal British designer’s vintage collection. Hm. I guess she’s done her research on Geoffrey.
Bria is utterly calm and collected, carefully advancing the discussions in just the direction we want. I look between her and Geoffrey. He appears spell bound by Bria. I’ve seen that look before. We have him. I can practically see us inking the deal. This is why I brought Bria. She’s captivating and hard to say no to. The perfect combination of beauty and intelligence that had men, and women for that matter falling at her feet, vying to please her. And Geoffrey is no exception. Things are falling right into place.
I lean back in my spot and relax a little, letting Bria take over.
After talking over all the basics, Geoffrey introduces us to his nephew, Liam who appears closer to our age. He’ll be giving us the details of the case we’ll work for them for the next few weeks. He’s dressed in a suit, well-mannered and when he speaks , Bria’s mouth quirks up at his polished British accent and I know she’s interested in more than just business dealings with him. And when he suggests we all have dinner tonight, his eyes are on Bria and I know he’s interested too.
Great. I don’t want anything getting in the way of this deal. And I know first-hand just the trouble Bria can bring, and the drama that’s sure to follow.
***
I wake up hung over and struggling to remember how I got into my bed last night. I’m lying across it diagonally, still fully clothed. I look down and wiggle my toes that hang off the end of the bed, at least I managed to remove my shoes. I grab the bottle of water on the side table and take a deep swig, then let my head fall back against the pillow.
After working all through the day, Bria and I went to dinner with Liam and Geoffrey. We ended up at a pub later with Liam and his rugby buddies. Bria loved the attention from being one of the sole females in the pub. And we stayed until closing time. I remember walking back arm in arm drunkenly through the streets signing the victory song of the rugby team. I check my phone. It’s already noon. I’ve missed two calls from Taylor. I try to remember the last time I talked to her. Yesterday? Shit.
Her last text says Where are u?
Crap. I might as well call he r back before she starts to worry. I wait while it rings. “Hello?’ her voice comes through scratchy.
“Taylor?” It barely sounds like her.
“Yeah,” she growls.
“What happened, baby? Are you alright?”
She lets out a deep breath. “I’m fine now. I had a little bit too much to drink last night. But Reis took care of me.”
“Oh. Good. I mean, I’m glad he was there to take care of you. Did you get sick?”
“Mm hmm. I passed out in your bed after.”
I want to ask her where Reis slept, but I know I can trust them both.
“Colt, you alive in here?” Bria calls, flinging my bedroom door open as she enters.
I muffle the phone with my hand. “You need to knock, Bria. I’m on the phone.”
“Well last night got kind of crazy, so I just wanted to check on you. Did you sleep in that?” she chuckles.
My jaw
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