Chapter 12
CHAPTER TWELVE
S alem
My sister is waiting for me at my apartment when I rush in to pack my things for my stay at Kellen’s grandmother’s house. God, that sounds strange. A few days ago, I didn’t even know his name, and now I’ve met his brothers and know more about his grandmother’s house than I know about my own sister’s.
“What happened? Tell me everything. Well, not about the client because I read up on him. Oh, he’s a piece of work. I know you’ll be able to work your magic, but this might be your biggest challenge yet, Salem,” Ever says with glee as she follows me into my bedroom.
I turn around and exhale like I’ve been holding my breath since I walked into that game room at the King house. “The client is the guy I slept with down at that resort over the weekend.”
The words seem to hang in the air like some strange cloud between my sister and me. She looks me dead in the eyes, as if to see if what I just said is the truth.
Yep. It’s the ugly truth, and it’s all out now.
“Shut up! The one that ghosted you? How serendipitous is that?”
The look on her face is utter joy. That seems strange. I expected her to be uneasy about the fact that I’ve slept with our newest client.
“And you’re okay with it?”
She thinks about that question for a moment or two and smiles. “Sure. I mean, you’re a professional, so you’ll do what you do best and fix this guy’s reputation. I know you, Salem. You wouldn’t let your personal life get in the way of doing your job. But that doesn’t mean you can’t make his life harder as a little payback for the shitty thing he did. I say you make him suffer while at the same time saving him. Think of it as balance.”
I open my dresser drawer and begin tossing out bras and panties onto my bed. “I have to say I’m a little surprised at your reaction. I was worried you’d freak out a bit.”
My sister laughs and sits down hard on the bed, making my bras fly off onto the floor. “I think I might be worried if you had parted amicably, but the guy was a total douchecanoe to you, so there’s no chance of the two of you hooking up again. That means you’ll be all business, which I want you to know will kill him. Men hate when women they’ve slept with want nothing to do with them and don’t act like bitches about it. When you show them you’ve moved on, oh, they hate that.”
I glance over at her as her words echo in my head. There’s no chance of the two of you hooking up again. I know that shouldn’t make me sad, but it does. Kellen and I had a wonderful time together down at that resort.
Why did he have to ruin it?
The answer to that question is as obvious as the nose on my face. He wouldn’t need my services as a fixer if he was a great guy. That’s why he ruined what we had together.
Because he’s a dick.
“Well, I’ve definitely moved on,” I say, turning away so my sister can’t see my face, just in case it’s telling a different story from my words.
“Of course, you have!” she says with a laugh, tossing my bras into my suitcase in an attempt to help me. “You’re not the type of woman to stick around once a man shows his true colors. Mama didn’t raise no fool with you or me. So what are you going to do to punish him?”
I shrug, not really thinking of modes of punishment for Kellen at the moment. “I’m not sure. It needs to be something that won’t punish me too since I’ll be in the same house with him for the next twelve weeks.”
Ever collapses onto my bed again and rolls over on her back. Staring up at the ceiling, she grins wickedly. “I say you make sure he sees you with a man in that time. It works on a number of levels. First, no man wants to watch a woman he’s been with having sex with another man. Second, he won’t be getting any for all that time, which is going to be torture for him. It’s perfect!”
Her suggestion stops me dead, and I look over at her in confusion. “Are you saying you want me to have sex with someone so Kellen can see? Are you trying to make sure I need a fixer after this job?”
My question makes all her delight instantly disappear. “You make a good point. Okay, nix that. What else can you do to make him pay?”
“I don’t know, but I’ve got a job to do, so I’m not sure I’m going to have much time to get some old school retribution. Just convincing people to see him as anything but a typical pig is going to be a full-time job.”
My sister shifts so she’s lying on her side and looks up at me. “Is he? I mean, seriously, is he just a pig? I have a hard time believing you slept with a man who’s nothing more than that. You usually have better taste in men, Salem. You have no luck with them, but they’re not pigs. Just tools.”
“That’s a comforting thought.”
“You know what I mean. But is he just a pig?”
Unsure how much I want to tell her about my feelings concerning Kellen, I stick with vague comments about him. “I don’t know, but I didn’t find him to be that bad. Yes, he was a little much when I first met him, but as we spent more time together, he grew on me.”
Wincing, she says, “More time being hours. I’m not sure that’s enough time to truly get to know someone. My guess is he’s not the person you think he was at that resort. I’m thinking he’s more the man who bailed on you without even saying goodbye and sleeps with his subordinates at work. That’s likely who Kellen King is, unfortunately.”
Her assessment of him stings, so feeling defensive, I shrug and say, “Nothing unfortunate about it. If that’s all he is, then too bad for him. My job is to showcase the best side of him to fix this problem for his brother and the family business.”
“Tell me. Are his brothers all as good looking as him? I think I saw a pic when the oldest one Matthias took over King Industries, but what are they like in person?”
My sister. Always with her eye on a possible match for me.
I smile, thinking back to meeting them all in the game room at that enormous home on that huge estate. “Let’s just say that Mr. and Mrs. King didn’t produce a bad one out of the bunch.”
A huge grin spreads across her face while I proceed to toss shirts and pants into my suitcase. “I knew it! If one is hot, then they’re all hot. Great genes. That’s what it is. Did you like any of them? I mean, assuming they aren’t all like Kellen, maybe you and one of his brothers could get together.”
Throwing her a nasty look, I shake my head. “I wasn’t exactly thinking about which other King brother I’d like to move onto next during that short but not terribly sweet meeting, Ever.”
When she doesn’t continue our conversation, I find myself slipping into memories of my time with Kellen and wishing we were at that villa instead of back in reality where he’s a bad guy and I have to fix his mess.
My phone vibrates in my purse next to Ever, so she reaches in and fishes it out for me. Glancing at the screen, she smiles. “It’s Joshua,” she says in a singsong voice.
My ex-boyfriend Joshua Travers is a corporate lawyer I broke up with last month a few weeks before I flew down to the islands. The man never had time to see me, so I didn’t expect that our break up would bother him.
I was wrong. He’s called nearly every day since then, mostly leaving voicemails that express how much he wants me back because I rarely answer his calls. Unfortunately for him, my time with Kellen showed me that the sole reason I was considering going back with Joshua wasn’t a valid reason. I’d thought he was okay in bed, but one day with a man who knew how to please a woman shot that idea to hell.
So now I have no reason to want to get back with him. I haven’t told him that, though. I’d rather just avoid the whole situation and move on with my life.
I wave away the idea of answering the call. “Just let it go to voicemail.”
“No way! Joshua is always good for a story. Let’s see what he has to say today.”
And with that, she answers the call, opening up a possible Pandora’s Box for me. Sisters can be a real pain in the ass sometimes.
“Hey, Joshua! It’s Ever. I’m in charge of Salem’s phone at the moment. What’s new?” she asks with a giggle.
I scowl at her, shaking my head, as I whisper, “Why do you encourage him? You’re cruel.”
“She’s packing her suitcase for a business trip.”
Ever holds up the phone and smiles. “He wants to talk to you.”
Glaring at her, I sigh heavily and hold out my hand. “Fine.”
I take a deep breath, not interested at all in this conversation. “Hi, Joshua. I’m sorry, but I’m really busy.”
That doesn’t sound the least bit believable, but I don’t care. He hasn’t gotten the hint that I don’t want to talk to him by my not answering his calls and texts, so maybe he’ll finally get it now.
“I heard something today that I can’t believe. Are you actually working with Kellen King? I told the person who said you were that’s not possible because no client of yours would ever have given that interview the other night.”
In addition to never making time to see me and being utterly mediocre in bed, Joshua’s tendency to be a know-it-all is also a reason I didn’t mind breaking up with him. “I am handling his PR, yes. I didn’t come on board until after that interview, though, so you’re right on that point.”
“I’m surprised at you, Salem. I thought you were a feminist.”
There’s nothing more infuriating than a man thinking he knows better than a woman what a feminist is. Do we women go around explaining to them how it feels to have balls?
“My being a feminist has nothing to do with this job, Joshua. I’m a fixer, and Mr. King requires me to fix his reputation, which is why his company came to me.”
“But he sexually harassed that poor woman. Isn’t that an immediate ticket to hell in the opinion of every woman in the world?” he asks, punctuating his question with a chuckle.
The way he says that poor woman instantly gets under my skin. He doesn’t care about her. Joshua has never cared about sexual harassment victims, and that assumes we should call the woman accusing Kellen of that, which I’m not convinced of yet. Plus, that crack about every woman in the world bugs me. He barely knew anything about this woman when we were dating. I think it’s safe to say he knows next to nothing about all the other women on the planet.
“You really have no idea about women, do you?”
“I know about you.”
“No, you don’t. You merely think you know me. We never spent enough time together for you to understand much about me.”
And right there we arrive at the same topic we always end up discussing. He has no interest in talking about that, though.
“I know his type is the kind of man you hate. Just watching him in that interview told me that. He’s just a cocky, wealthy guy who thinks he can get away with anything because of his family name.”
I hear something strange in his voice. Why is he acting like this? Joshua never wanted to know anything about my clients. Kellen King certainly isn’t the worst person I’ve ever worked with, so what’s this about?
And then he says the words that explain what’s going on.
“Guys like that bed everything and anything, so you better watch out. He may be a scumbag, but he’s charming, and I know that’s your weakness.”
Ahhh. Now I get it. Joshua is jealous. Maybe if he showed me any of this when we were together I would have had a problem breaking up with him.
“Nice of you to think I can’t hold my own with a charming scumbag. Remind me again why we’re not together anymore.”
“I just wanted to warn you. That’s it. Good luck with this one. I’m not even sure you can fix this guy.”
Disgusted at how little he thinks of my skills as a fixer, I hastily correct him about what my job with Kellen King is. “I am not fixing a man. I’m fixing his public persona. Big difference. Thanks for calling.”
I jab my finger into the red END button on my screen and toss my phone into my luggage. “The nerve of that guy!”
“So I’m guessing that wasn’t his best pitch to get you back?” Ever asks, shaking her head.
“If it was, then he has even less chance of getting me back than he did before. What an ass. Only he would think he should call me to warn me about my client’s ability to charm.”
Ever sits up and hops off the bed. “Especially since you know firsthand about that man’s charm. You should have told Joshua that Kellen already got into your pants. That would have been a very different conversation if you had.”
She walks away and heads toward the kitchen, so I yell after her, “You know, letting that detail out would make this job next to impossible, so how about we agree to never mention that to anyone? Did you hear me, Ever?”
A few seconds later, she pokes her head around the doorframe and smiles. “Sorry. I got carried away there fantasizing about making your ex feel like dirt. You’re right. We will never speak of this again.”
“Thank you.”
“By the way, I never thought you should go out with him anyway. He’s way too boring for you. You deserve someone fun.”
I nod as I think I met someone like that. Except Kellen turned into a bad guy, and now I’m not sure I will ever see him as anything else.