SEVEN
IN THE BACK of her car, the jolt of it skidding from the curb came almost before the door closed.
“Roxanna.”
Oh, his voice, the phone.
She raised it fast. “Aren’t you a drama queen, Mr. Lomond? Talk about dramatic exit.”
“Lo—”
“I’m okay.”
“You won’t be when I’m done with you,” he said. “Where’s your panic button?”
“It’s in my purse—I’m fine.”
“What the hell were you doing in there alone?”
“I’m alone with people all the time—”
“Damnit, Lola—”
“Hey…” she soothed. “It’s okay, Casanova, I wasn’t in danger. Crosby was being a prick, not threatening me.” What was the best way to calm her guy down? “It’s hot that you’re worried about me, Scroogey.”
“Didn’t know I had to prove I would be.”
“Aww, is the big, handsome billionaire scared?”
“There’s only one thing that scares me,” he said, stern, more serious than he ever was when they played. So serious, she sobered. “That’s losing you, Roxanna Kyst.”
She slid a little lower, cupping the phone closer. “Didn’t I tell you? Permanent ink. I’m okay, baby. I’m okay.”
“I’m walking out of these negotiations.”
“You are not,” she said. “I’m okay and you have businessy things to do.”
“Nothing is more important than you.”
“I’m here, and I’m fine. I have my own businessy things—Hatfield anyway, if he counts as business.”
“You ready to do it? If you’re not up to it, you can cancel. Tibbs will cancel. Where is Astrid?”
“I told her to stay at the hotel. There are still wedding things to organize. She’s good at organizing. And this was my deal. I’m fine to meet Hatfield. Do you think I would let a creep like Reeve Crosby slow me down? Please. That is not the woman you fell in love with.”
He sighed. “Being so far away isn’t easy. It’s harder when you get yourself… involved.”
“The only thing I care about is you. If you don’t want me to have the meeting, I won’t.
If this isn’t what you want, if you’d rather forget the whole thing, it’s whatever you need, Casanova.
There are two of us in this relationship, remember?
We don’t decide things unilaterally.” Not big things anyway. “Do you need me to come home?”
Another exhale. “This is always easier for you than it is for me.”
“Because you have a chronic fixing complex and take ownership of everyone else’s issues.”
“I have ownership of yours.”
Her broad smile should make its way into her tone. “Let’s be honest, Scroogey, I am your issue. Start and end.”
“My crisis event.” Exactly. “I have the right to hash this shit out with you. It’s hard won, baby, you remember when I said that to you the first time?”
“In Rome. And it’s okay, we’ve hashed Crosby out, he’s done with. Next thing on the agenda…”
“Hatfield.” They’d hashed him out too. Discussion after discussion crystalized their positions. “He’ll have the schedule.”
“That’s the last piece. We might not have time to sit down with it before the wedding. I don’t want us rushed into it.”
“Not like you to be nervous.”
“Me? Nervous? Pah!” she declared. “I set the rules, remember? And I’ll remind Hatfield of them all. There were conditions on this.”
“Yeah, and Dunlap has read the final draft. No landmines.”
“Won’t stop me saying the words out loud to Hatfield. I’ll say it as many times as I have to until he gets the picture.”
“You? Brevity? That’s not your style, Lo.”
“No, it is not. I bounce and say what has to be said. You know I’m made of steel. It’s one of the things you love about me.”
“I love everything about you, babe. I’m too far away to kick his ass, that’s all.”
“If it needed kicking, I’d have done it myself. I don’t take shit from any man.”
“Don’t need to tell me that.” His tension had eased, some. “Do you want me in on the Hatfield meeting?”
“If you want to be or don’t trust me to talk for us collectively.”
“You know I do.”
“Okay, then let me deal with it. We’ll call if we need your signature.”
“What’s wrong with your hand? The ruby too much strain?”
“No, but this is Rouge related, somehow.” The intricacies were beyond her. “We’ll need your John Hancock.”
“How many times do I have to tell you that you’re authorized to sign on behalf of Rouge and everything else we own? And this isn’t Rouge.”
“It’s not Lola’s Liberty.”
No, her hands were clean.
“LoKys.”
“Locust? Oh, no, you mean our portmanteau company.”
“Your production company.”
“Our production company. Helps us make more money off our faces,” she played. “We have pretty faces.”
“Apparently so. And with LoKys, just like Rouge and Crimson, and everything else we have, your signature’s as good as mine.”
“Yes, I’m aware of that. But do you think I want to be on the hook if this is a big, fat belly flop?”
“You’re the star, Lola Bunny. This is all you and you’ll be magnificent. As always.”
“It’s important to keep the brand relevant.”
They’d had the conversation many times, though that never stopped them before.
“Yes,” Zairn said, “it is.”
“We have to feed the audience.”
“We do.”
“And what we are is not their business.”
A smile warmed his voice. “Never.”
“And with Hatfield—”
“There’s a difference between what they’re entitled to and what they think they’re entitled to.”
“Your mantras keep on giving, Casanova.”
“Need me to talk about boundaries again?”
She could listen to him talk all day. Didn’t matter what he said, just the smooth honey of his voice was enough to keep her warm. Though given she had an appointment, it may not be a good idea to get into what his voice could and couldn’t do to her.
“Boundaries are exactly why you should leave Hatfield to me,” she said. “You’ve never been much of a fan.”
“Of Hatfield? Yeah, ‘cause you used to date.”
She scoffed. “We did not used to date, we were friends. Ate a few meals together. Talked.”
“Got caught sharing germs, making out.”
She laughed. “You made that up in your head and you know it, Casanova. He wishes he could get me, every guy does, haven’t you noticed?”
“Mm hmm.”
Raising her hand, she admired her ruby. “Good thing you offer me something bigger.”
“Mm hmm.”
She softened to saucy. “Something better.”
“Any time you want it, Lola Bunny.”
“Better get that jealousy in check, Casanova. Breathe through it. The pain will get easier in time.”
He growled. “No can do, sorry. I’m jealous that the air you breathe gets inside you, exactly where I want to be right now.”
“Where you always want to be.”
“Mm hmm.”
“Where I want you.” Every frickin’ second. “I’m staying nice and warm and wet for you, always just for you, baby.”
“Damn straight, Lola Bunny. Shit, my hands hurt, I need to touch you so bad. It’s been too long, baby.”
Legs loosening, her fingertips started on her knee, as they rose, her fingers joined them, her palm, all the way to her inner thigh.
“Keep talking, Party Boy.”
“Oh, yeah?”
“I’m all alone here… on the warm leather in this big, expensive car. All alone…”
“And if I was there, you wouldn’t be on the leather, you’d be on my cock already.”
“Mmm…” she purred, parting her thighs further to touch the fabric of her panties. “Would I, baby?”
“Yeah, I’d take that hot, fucking tight little bod and—”
Quiet.
Huh? Shit. Her screen was black, it was dead. Damn her. Oh, well, to be continued.