Chapter 21 #2
“I’m happy with being me,” I return. Before Missy can say something else double-edged, the door opens and Courtney comes in, looking like a million bucks in just her plain, normal gym wear.
“Hey, honey!” I nearly shout, so thankful for her presence.
I don’t need a rescue, but . . . okay, fine, maybe I do.
“Oh, have we been doing it for that long?” Missy says, intentionally picking her terms to irritate Court. “But we’ve gotten so much done and gotten to know each other so well. I guess I lost track of time. You know what I mean, don’t you, Courtney?”
“I’m sure,” Courtney says dryly. Looking over the board, she adds sweetly, “It does look like you’ve covered a lot of territory. You have truck pull and two question marks. What’s that about?”
Missy gives her a saccharine smile. “Well, there’s a truck, and the guys pull it.
Hence, truck pull. Do you want me to explain smoothie station too?
It’s quite ground-breaking. See, they have these fruits and they mix them into smoothies and you drink them.
” She smiles that psycho bunny smile and looks Courtney up and down pointedly.
“Well, you drink them. I certainly don’t. ”
“Do you have a truck yet?” Courtney asks, ignoring the snarky answer.
“Because Sanders owns a couple of car dealerships. You should see if Jeffrey would arrange for a truck to be used as a promo for that. Maybe even do a giveaway raffle for the truck too?” She taps her chin.
“If the dealership donated the truck for the raffle and the raffle proceeds went to the charity, I think the truck donation would be a write-off for the dealership, too.”
And in one statement, Courtney shows once again why I’m having trouble separating fake from real. Diagnose the issue, use her supercomputer of a mind to find a solution, and deliver it in a way that makes Missy look stupid while being unable to turn it down.
Her brain is so fucking sexy.
If this were The Karate Kid, someone would be singing You’re the best around.
“I’ll check into it,” Missy says, obviously not pleased but unable to say no. “It’s getting late. I really should go hit the machines. This body doesn’t get this way by accident.”
She runs her hands down her body like an amateur stripper and turns, grabbing her bag. Courtney, unable to avoid getting one last dagger in, nods. “I’m sure it takes a lot of . . . work.”
Oh, hell . . . now I’m having to hold back laughter as Missy’s smirk vanishes and her sexy sashay turns into a stalk as she pushes past Courtney with a shoulder bump and goes out the door.
But it’s true.
Between Missy’s overly round, pushed up to her chin plastic boobs, expensive blonde dye job and extensions, lash extensions, fake nails, fake tan, and judging by her parents’ picture, her nose job, she’s a beautiful example of the good work money can buy.
And there are plenty of people who love that look.
Meanwhile, Courtney is an all-natural beauty with soft curves to grab, breasts I want to suffocate in, and a slightly crooked smile when she’s pleased with herself, like now.
I wait a full thirty seconds before I finally let my laugh out, shaking my head. “You are too much! God, that was awesome. You know she’s going to kill herself out there tonight, prancing around the floor, creating a damn hazard, and pretending to kick your ass with every rep?”
Courtney buffs her manicured nails on her chest. “I do what I can.”
“What’s your plan for tonight?”
“No worries. Finish up your work on the event. I know you need to transfer all that to your laptop and calendar.” She knows me so well because that’s exactly what I need to do. “I’m going to hit Zumba and then we can go home, ’kay?” Courtney says, totally calm. “What would you like to eat?”
“Thai?”
“Awesome . . . and you can tell me more of your plan on the way home,” Courtney says, pausing at the door before turning and running across the room. She stands on her tiptoes and gives me a quick kiss on the lips, grinning when she steps back.
“What was that for?”
“For being you,” she says before turning and running to the door. “See you in an hour!”
Sure. And maybe in an hour I can stop thinking about that kiss long enough to get more of this plan laid out before it’s time to go home.
Because right now, all I can think of is what Courtney’s lips taste like with that mint ChapStick on.
Shit, I’m fully hard now. There’s a knock at the door, and I almost groan before turning around, part of me fearing Missy’s back for more and another part hoping it’s Courtney, back to check off another one of my fantasies.
Conference room quickie. I’ll need to turn the cameras off for that, though . . . maybe.
Luckily, or unluckily . . . I’m not sure which, it’s Ross. “Hey, Kaede, got a moment? I want to talk to you about Courtney.”
Tonight, we’re at my place, which feels nice—lying on my sofa, Courtney in my arms as she flips through movies, trying to figure out what she wants to watch tonight.
It feels so homey. I could see doing this for a lot longer than just the next month.
Still, there must be something wrong because Court sets down the remote to sit up and look at me. “Okay . . . I just offered three different choices on what to watch, and I didn’t hear ‘that fuckin’ Carole Baskin’ once. What’s up?”
“I dunno,” I admit, pulling my leg in and sighing.
“Today was a lot. Missy, Ross, the event. This partnership is just not what we thought it’d be.
I mean, One Life-wise. The event is a good idea.
But the rest of it . . . Missy, Jeffrey, a different construction company . . . there’s more than we expected.”
Courtney reaches over, laying a hand on my knee. “Did you expect Jeffrey to be a silent partner?”
“Honestly? I was hoping. He’s pretty silent in a lot of his investments. And we’d developed a stellar plan, shown how well it works, and we hoped to duplicate that. Messing with the recipe makes me nervous.”
“Your control freak is showing,” she whispers with a sweet smile.
I chuckle, covering her hand with mine. She’s got my ring on, and it feels nice to have the stones pricking against my skin right now. “Takes one to know one.”
“Damn right. But it’ll be okay. This is what people like Jeffrey do.
They get enough money, enough separation, that they pull crazy shit sometimes, and you know that.
You’ve been on both sides of the table with Ross when you two were at Andrews.
Investors have opinions and want to mix stuff up, usually for the benefit of the whole project but sometimes just because they feel like they need to piss on something to claim it.
Ross did it, Dad does it, and hell, I do it. You’re just on the other side now.”
I laugh quietly. “Please don’t piss on me. I’m not into that.”
She blinks once, twice, three times and then bops me with a pillow.
I grab the other one because yeah, I’ve got two now, and bop her back.
We trade shots, laughing and climbing all over the couch, just acting silly and having fun.
I think it might be my first pillow fight ever, which makes me smile even more.
Finally, we collapse back onto the couch.
“Sorry. Missy made literally everything I said today sexual. After a while, it was kind of an inside joke between me, myself, and I. Every time I’d finish speaking, in my head, I’d think, ‘That’s what she said,’ and see if it worked.
More often than not, it didn’t, but that sure as fuck didn’t stop her from trying. ”
Courtney runs her fingers through my hair, scratching at my scalp, which feels amazing.
I’m silent for a moment, enjoying it, but when I look up and meet her eyes, I’m struck by how tender they are.
She takes me as I come, letting me into her most private and sacred of spaces, and accepts me as who I am. It’s . . . powerful.
“Thank you for tonight. I’m just exhausted, mentally and physically, and needed . . .” I taper off. I was going to say to verbally dump all the drama of my day, all my worries and fears, but the truth is . . . I just needed her.
“Then let’s forget the Netflix,” Courtney says, standing up. “Let’s go to bed.”
I nod, knowing that if she wants sex, I won’t turn her down, but I’m relieved when Courtney just nestles against me, her body warm and soft and reassuring as she rests her head on my chest.
This is more dangerous than sex. Sex can be explained. We were both in a dry spell, we just needed to get our fucks on, and hey, it’s healthy. But this is more than that. Courtney is who I turn to now.
I’m known for being the stand-up, go-to guy who can handle anything and everything without flinching or blinking, always with a plan. But even I have moments of doubts, and she was there for me tonight, without hesitation or judgement.
I’m so fucked. I’m not just fucking my best friend’s little sister. I’ve completely fallen for her. And I think—no, I’m pretty sure—she’s fallen for me too.