Total pages in book: 42
Estimated words: 40867 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 204(@200wpm)___ 163(@250wpm)___ 136(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 40867 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 204(@200wpm)___ 163(@250wpm)___ 136(@300wpm)
Swallowing hard, I asked, “Already his?”
“Don’t be naïve. You have to notice the way he looks at you.” Joshua leaned down and put his mouth to the side of my ear. “I’d dare say he wants in your pants even more than I do.”
I pushed Joshua away from me, my face burning with embarrassment. “I think our dance is over.”
He let out a roar of laughter and pulled me back to him. “Relax, Saylor. I’m not going to try anything.”
My heart was racing, my head spinning. I finally managed to find my voice.
“Did you know Mason would be here?”
He looked past me, avoiding my eyes. “Yes. I overheard him telling someone he’d be here. Derrick Maxwell couldn’t make it, so he asked Mason and another employee to represent Maxwell and Locke.”
I shook my head. “So, did you invite me on purpose? To screw with Mason because you have this crazy idea he likes me?”
When Joshua’s eyes met mine, I had my answer. “There is no clothing line, is there?” I asked.
“There really is one, and I am interested in seeing your pitch for how to launch it. That, I swear, is the truth.”
“But what was your reason for asking me here tonight?”
He sighed. “When I saw the way Mason looked at you, I knew you had to mean more to him than just one of his regular fucks.”
My stomach rolled. “Regular fucks?”
Joshua winked at me. “He’s not known for falling for just one girl. I went to the same college as Mason and his cousin, Charlie. I found my girlfriend with Mason at a party one night, and let’s say my whole life changed after that. The girl I thought I was going to marry and settle down with had her mouth wrapped around Mason Quinn’s cock when I walked into a room looking for her.”
I pressed my hand over my mouth.
“I never told her I’d seen them together. I just broke up with her. I knew it wasn’t Mason’s fault. He told me she hadn’t bother to tell him she was seeing someone when I confronted him about it.”
Dropping my hand, I took a step back. “You were using me as payback?”
He shrugged. “I guess you could say that. I figured if I took something he wanted away from him, it would make me feel better about what he took from me.”
Whirling around, I headed to the exit.
“Saylor, wait. Please.” Joshua grabbed me by the arm and pulled me to a stop. “It was childish and stupid, and I’m sorry.”
“Did you seek out Maxwell and Locke because you knew Mason was working there?”
“No. I’d heard he was back in New York, but I didn’t know where he was working until my father set the meeting up. Mason remembered me from college and he was cordial, but I quickly found myself getting angry all over again when I thought about what happened all those years ago. When I pieced it together that he liked you, well, that’s when I made up a stupid plan to seduce you and flaunt it in front of him.”
Poking my finger into his chest, I said, “I don’t like being played. Just for that, I want your verbal agreement that we get the new line.”
He pulled his head back and stared at me for a good two or three minutes before he busted out laughing. Again.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
* * *
Mason
AS THE NIGHT dragged on, I found myself searching the room for Saylor. Annie was getting annoyed with how distracted I was, and I couldn’t blame her. I’d invited her to the event, and all I was doing was looking around for another woman. Not that Annie and I were dating—far fucking from it. She was a friend and an occasional fuck partner. Neither one of us was looking for a serious relationship.
“Mason, snap the hell out of it. Do you need a blowjob or something?”
My mouth dropped open. “What?”
Annie rolled her eyes. “You need to relax. You’re tense and moody as hell. Does this have anything to do with the gorgeous blonde you were drooling all over earlier tonight?”
“Saylor?” I asked with a half-hearted laugh. “No.”
She took a sip of her wine then smirked. “You always were a terrible liar. You seem to forgot the night you came over, got drunk, and talked about this woman nearly all night.”
I ignored her. “She’s here with a client.”
With a one-shoulder shrug, she replied, “So why do you care, then?”
“I don’t care,” I bit back.
Annie tilted her head and stared at me. “Oh my gosh. Oh. My. Gosh.”
Frowning, I shook my own head at her. “What’s the matter?”
“You like her. I mean, you really like her.”
I took a long drink of my scotch. “Don’t be daft, Annie.”
She tossed her head back and laughed. Then her mouth dropped open and she did this weird slow head shake, all while staring at me like she’d figured out the solution to world peace. “Mason Quinn, you’re falling in love with her.”