“Are you insane?”
Hunter smirked at me. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
I stood and stepped into his personal space. Enough of his bullshit. “You’re kidding me, right? That was totally inappropriate.”
He laughed. “Oh, that’s rich. You’re giving me a lecture on inappropriate while sitting here sharing egg foo yong.”
“First of all, it was Thai food. Secondly, it was a working dinner. Thirdly, it’s none of your fucking business.”
“That’s where you’re wrong.” He cocked his head at me. “It is my business. I’ve made it my personal responsibility to make sure you keep your dick out of that smart mouth of hers. I’m sure I could take care of her splendidly. Which, I might add, I have absolutely no problem with, unless you’d like to hand over your office keys now and save me the trouble.”
I took another step forward. “Not going to happen, brother dearest. This has been my destiny since the day I was born. You showing up unexpectedly doesn’t change that. My mother may have taken you in, but you’ll always be a bastard.”
“Careful. You’re starting to sound threatened. I can’t help it if your mother couldn’t keep her husband satisfied.”
My fingers curled into a fist and plowed into his face. My vision blurred in a haze of red as I hit him again. And a third time, just for good measure, that knocked him to the floor.
Hunter wiped the blood from his nose and laughed, his cheek already puffy and red. “There he is… the guy with no self-control. How long ’til you lose your control with Gia? I bet it’s killing you. I’m happy to take her off your hands.” He pushed to standing and touched his bruised face. “By the way, you hit like a pussy. I’ll be watching,” he said with a wink before leaving.
I slammed the door behind him. Son of a bitch! It’d been a long time since I’d punched him, but this time it was totally justified. My mom was off-limits. The woman was a saint for putting up with all she had over the years. He should have been grateful. Instead, he was a disrespectful little prick.
I shook out my arms and rubbed at the tender skin on my knuckles. Hunter was a problem. A huge problem. What was he doing creeping around the office at this time of night? He was usually the first to leave, God forbid he put in any extra time or actually try to earn his place in the family business. I paced in front of the window as I thought about my predicament.
There was no easy option. A riddle with no answer.
Pursue Gia and lose my job or keep my job and lose the woman. A woman who went running because the Dorsey brothers skeeved her out. It would take a while to convince her I was interested in more than sex.
Stop! Rewind!
I was interested in more than sex? When had that happened? Maybe it was the bold confidence she exuded despite the way we met. Maybe it was the way she had no problem putting me in my place. Or maybe it was the way she attended to details and fought for what she wanted. The desire she had to elevate herself through hard work.
I admired all those things.
Admiration was not the basis for a relationship. And why was I thinking about a relationship? I didn’t do relationships. I didn’t do dates in the traditional sense.
I fucked. Down and dirty with no strings and no complications.
So, why couldn’t I get the redheaded complication out of my mind? There was something about her that pulled at me no matter how hard I tried to push it away.
Her black heels sat abandoned in the middle of my office. I scooped them from the floor and dialed the hotel front desk. Armed with her room number and the excuse of returning her shoes, I headed to the elevator. I should have dropped her shoes in her office and been done with it, but the way she left in a flurry after Hunter’s proposition left me unsettled.
When the elevator dinged on the sixth floor, I headed to the right, where the efficiency suites were located. Standing outside her room, my heart thudded. It was ridiculous. I was returning her shoes. Nothing else.
With a quick rap on her door, I waited. And waited. And waited. Like a creeper, I pressed my ear against the door and listened to the soft sound of her television. Taking a deep breath, I knocked again.
The door cracked open, and Gia peeked through the narrow opening. “Trent?”
“Hi.”
She bit her bottom lip. “I’m sorry I ran out so quickly. The long day…”
“I’m not worried about that.” There was no way I would let her apologize for her reaction to Hunter’s crude behavior. I held up her shoes. “You left these.”
“Oh.” The door closed momentarily while she undid the safety latch. When it opened fully, she reached for the shoes. “Thank you. You didn’t have to do that.” She looked adorable in shorts and an oversized T-shirt with her hair piled on top of her head in a messy knot. She seemed younger and more innocent. I found this version of her intriguing. It was like pulling the curtain back and seeing the real Gianna.
I smiled at her. “It’s not a big deal. Luckily, you live close.”
“True, but still…” She stuck her head out into the hallway and looked both ways. “How did you know which room was mine?”
“I’ve got my sources.”
Her mouth quirked up on one side. “Of course you do. Did you want to come in?”
I hadn’t planned on staying. It was supposed to be a quick drop-off, but the allure was too much to resist. “Only for a minute.” I stepped inside and took in the small suite. It was artfully decorated with the Mystique flair but tiny as hell. The entire kitchen and sitting area would fit into my bedroom. Boxes were neatly stacked in the corners. A love seat and chair faced the television. Her laptop sat on the small table next to a bottle of wine and a nearly empty glass. “You’re going to live here for a year? You’re going to get claustrophobia.”
Gia shuffled on her bare feet and clicked the television off. “It’ll be fine. I don’t need much.” “Do you want something to drink? I have water, Diet Coke, or wine.” She lifted her glass from the table and swallowed down the bit of liquid left in the bottom.
“Water would be great.”
She took the few steps to the kitchen and returned with a bottle of Aquafina. “Why are you really here, Trent? You could have left my shoes in my office.”
I took a sip of my water and sat on the love seat with a sigh. “I could have, but I wanted to check on you.”
She sat on the chair across from me, tucking her legs underneath her butt. “Check on me why?”
I reached up and grabbed the back of my neck, digging my fingers into the tight muscles. “Because… Hunter…”
“Treated me like a whore?” she finished, reaching for the bottle on the table and refilling her glass.
I cringed. “Yes. An apology was needed.”
She eyed me over the rim of her glass. “Did you tell him about us?”
“I would never. What happened is none of his business or anyone else’s.”
“Actually, it is one other person’s business.” Her eyebrow quirked up.
“Brett would never say a word, especially to Hunter. The guy is a vault. You have no worries with him.”
“Well, that makes me feel a tad bit better.” She tapped her nails on the glass and sighed. “So, either your brother’s a douchebag or I give off the wrong vibes.”
I sat forward and rested my arms on my legs. “Half brother. And he’s been an entitled prick since the day he came into my life. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
Gia threw her head back and laughed. “Everything I’ve done since I got here has been wrong. Starting with sleeping with the one man I shouldn’t have… my boss.”
My lips quirked up. “It was an unforeseen complication, but it wasn’t a mistake.”
She harrumphed. “It isn’t your career on the line.”
“Actually, it is,” I admitted.
“You’re the boss. Explain.”
“The boss’s son. And I don’t have a stellar reputation. My future at Mystique depends on me not sleeping with the female employees.”
“Too late.” She giggled.
I ran a hand through my hair. “No kidding. It would have been easier if you quit.” The words spilled out with more bluntness than I intended.
Gia straightened her spine. “I’m not quitting.”
I shook my head. “I don’t expect you to. And I don’t want you to. Truth be told, I like having you around.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes.”
“And why is that?”
“Are you fishing for compliments, Miss Romano?”
She shrugged. “What can I say? I’m a compliments kind of girl.”
“Fine.” I ticked the reasons on my fingers. “You’re bold. You’re smart. You’re not too hard on the eyes. And I wouldn’t mind getting to know you better.”
Gia’s lips pressed into a firm line. “You’re arrogant, bossy, and a control freak. But”—she held up a finger—“I think underneath all that, there might be a good guy hiding and I wouldn’t mind getting to know him better too.”
I slapped my hands on my legs and stood. “Perfect. It’s a plan.”
She frowned. “What’s a plan?”
I motioned between the two of us. “Getting to know each other better. Friday night I’m going to give you the Vegas tour.” I wagged a finger at her. “Purely platonic, so don’t be getting any ideas.” Although I had plenty of ideas running around in my head. Most of which consisted of her naked underneath me.
Gia stood and placed her wineglass on the table. “It sounds more like an order than an invitation.”
“It’s a date.” I waved my hand back and forth. “Kind of.”
“So, kind of a date? What about work? If someone sees us together…” She worried her lip between her teeth.
“It’s a big city. Besides, it’s puuurely platonic,” I said with a wink. “But, just in case, how about we keep it on the down-low?”
“So, I’m going to be your dirty little secret,” she said with her hands planted on her voluptuous hips.
“Think of it as a private meeting. Two friends getting to know each other.” There I went, throwing friends into the universe again. If I was lucky, it’d turn into a friends-with-benefits situation.
“It’s a terrible idea,” she said.
“The worst.” We stood awkwardly mulling over the implications of the deal we’d made. The silence stretched between us like a palpable force pushing us apart yet pulling us together. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” I finally said, walking toward the door. If I didn’t leave now, I’d be tempted to do something stupid. “And don’t worry about Hunter. I’ve taken care of it.”
“Thanks for bringing up my shoes. See you tomorrow.” The door clicked closed behind me.
This could quite possibly be the most foolish thing I’d ever done. Or the smartest. It was yet to be determined.
