Read Online Unsuitable Men by Nia Forrester - Free Book Online

her now as they walked the carpet, flashbulbs going wild around them.
    “Good. Thanks for the invite.”
    “No problem. But I might leave a little early,” he warned her. “Riley’s alone at the condo tonight, so . . .”
    Tracy said nothing. The condo was literally five minutes away, so there was no earthly reason for him to leave early. If Riley called to say her water broke, Shawn could make it there before a drop of moisture hit the damn floor. But Tracy knew that the truth was he just didn’t enjoy this kind of thing as much as he used to. Not unless his wife was with him.
    As she waited for him to pose solo for pictures in front of the lounge’s logo, Tracy wondered whether it would be poor form for her to stay after he took off. She hadn’t starved herself into a size two and worked this hard on her appearance to duck out only after an hour.
    Just as she was mulling that over, Shawn was joined on the step-and-repeat by Brendan. As the two main partners in this venture, photographers wanted several shots of them together. And then there was the parade of celebrities, national and New York-based who wanted to pose with them both. Brendan, unlike Shawn, was dressed more casually, in an ecru shirt with dark brown slacks. He smiled as he hugged a popular television actress against him and Tracy pursed her lips, uncomfortable with how watching him embrace the woman made her feel. Fidgeting with her bracelet she looked around, hoping they would be done soon.
    Finally, Shawn held out a hand to her and called her over. She hesitated for only a moment and went to join him and Brendan, smiling in the general direction of all the flashes, trying not to squint. Predictably, questions came shooting out of the crowd. No one except friends called Shawn by his name. They all knew him as K Smooth.
    “K, who’s the girl ?” someone yelled.
    “Where’s your wife, K?”
    At that, Shawn’s smile visibly faltered and Brendan stepped in, wrapping an arm about Tracy’s waist.
    “She’s with me,” he lied, doing so jokingly because of course everyone had seen Tracy walk the carpet with Shawn. Really, what he was saying without saying was that he had no intention of telling them something that Shawn pointedly had not.
    “What’s her name?” someone else yelled as the flashbulbs exploded with renewed vigor, capturing the embrace.
    “Wouldn’t you like to know?” Brendan called back. He laughed with them and the photographers ate it up, swayed by his charm, as most people were. In the meantime, Shawn had discreetly stepped away and was safely entering the club.
    Brendan kept his arm about Tracy’s shoulder and led her away from the photographers and they walked in together. Inside, Tracy took a breath.
    The lounge was beautiful. Elegantly designed in white and silver, it had just the right amount of “ bling ” to appeal to the target demographic of people in the entertainment business, without being off-putting to your average upscale patrons. Each seating area was tented by gauze-like nets that could be pulled back or closed for semi-privacy, and all the seating was upholstered in white leather, whether it was the benches with plush curved backs in the private sitting areas, or the barstools. The bar itself was all silver covered with tiny disco-ball mirrors.
    Tracy turned to look at Brendan who was taking in her reaction.
    “What do you think?” he asked.
    “ Amazing job,” she told him, nodding. “You guys hit it out of the park.”
    “Well, if you like it, then I know it’s tasteful,” he said. “Shawn was worried it might be a little too over the top.”
    Tracy studied his face, flattered at his compliment on her taste. “No, it’s not over the top at all,” she said. “Just amazing , Brendan. Really.”
    “Let’s get you a drink,” he said, putting his hand on her back and leading her over to the bar. “In a moment there’ll be a crush of people in here.”
    “Thank you, I’d love a drink.”