Chapter 12 #2
Saskia heaved out a breath. “Because I’m sleeping with him.”
Adrian gave a jerky shake of her head. “You slept with him on Wednesday night and had no compunction about pretending to be San Holo’s assistant on Thursday. What’s changed?”
“He’s just…” She didn’t know how to describe Clay or her feelings about him. “He just seems like a nice guy.”
Adrian looked her over with a penetrating gaze. “You’ve avoided men like him for years. Even though he seems to be a nice guy —” She added finger quotes. “—he’s still a billionaire. I don’t imagine you get to that place without a few black marks on your soul.”
“That’s just it,” Saskia said with an urgent hiss. “I don’t think he has any black marks.”
Adrian stared at her. Finally, as if she were getting over her shock, she said, “Everyone has black marks on their soul.”
Saskia snorted a humorless laugh. “I thought that was only billionaires.”
Adrian growled. She was pretty when she growled like that.
Men must love it. “I can’t believe what’s gotten into you.
First, you sleep with a man for the first time in five years.
Which I think is absolutely marvelous. But then, instead of shutting down this commission immediately, you want to investigate.
And now you feel guilty about keeping secrets from the client? You have me worried, girlfriend.”
Saskia said in her own defense, “I’ve never had a problem keeping my secret before because I wasn’t sleeping with the client. This is completely different.”
The waiter brought their drinks at just that moment. How much had he overheard? Then again, who cared? Smiling, he set the glasses on the table. “Enjoy, ladies.” And whisked away.
Adrian picked up her glass, tilting it toward Saskia’s, and they clinked. The peach mimosa was delicious, sliding down Saskia’s throat, the bubbles making her giddy. But maybe that was Clay and last night. All the nights.
The interruption had given Adrian time to think. “He’s gotten to you in a way no one else has.” She stared Saskia down.
In little more than a whisper, Saskia said, “Yeah. He has.”
Adrian enjoyed another sip. “Which brings me to the real reason I asked you out to lunch. I gave you two days to think about the commission. I didn’t even call. Aren’t you proud of me?”
Saskia said dryly, “You already said you waited because I slept with the client.”
Adrian held up a silencing finger. “But I’m still proud of you.” She just had to push. “Have you made up your mind?”
Saskia needed another gulp of mimosa. “I want to do it. It’s a huge challenge.
I can’t turn that down. It’s not just the money.
” Finally, she sighed. “I just don’t know how I’ll keep my secret from him the entire time.
He actually lives at the warehouse. He’s got his own apartment above all the artists’ studios. ” Which was a major complication.
That didn’t seem to faze Adrian, who said softly, “Maybe you don’t need to keep it from him.”
Saskia thought about that. If she asked Clay not to tell anyone, he wouldn’t. But he would be so disappointed if she didn’t tell Dylan. Though Dylan was a great kid, she feared that in his excitement, the secret would get out. Even if he never meant to give it away.
“I just don’t know.” Then she added, “But I’m going to take the commission anyway.”
Adrian didn’t jump with glee, though Saskia suspected she wanted to. “I’ll get to work on the contract, then.”
“Wait until I tell him first, okay?”
The waiter arrived with their sand dabs and Shrimp Louis. When he was gone, Adrian heaved a great sigh. “I hate to do this, but I’ve got some rather unpleasant news.” She let the word hang while Saskia’s stomach dropped. “I heard from one of my other clients that Hugo is in town.”
Saskia’s heart jumped into her throat, strangling her.
Adrian gave her a moment to digest the bad news without having to answer. “She even had the gall to say I should snap him up if he’s looking for a new agent.”
Saskia let out a disgusted, “Oh my God.”
But Adrian said smugly, as if she were buffing her nails against her stylish jacket, “I told her I’d rather handle a rattlesnake than Hugo Lewis.”
“You don’t think he’s looking for me?” Saskia actually trembled.
Adrian let out a snort, not caring what anyone around them might think. “God, no. He can’t have a clue you’re in San Francisco.” Then she shrugged. “But just in case, be on the lookout and keep on the down low.”
Wasn’t this the perfect moment for Hugo to show up? When she’d finally taken another man into her bed.
Hugo had always had impeccable timing.
Saskia refused a latte and rushed out of the restaurant while Adrian stayed to sip her espresso.
Adrian badly wanted Saskia to find someone who would heal her heart after what that ass Hugo had done to her. Damn the man for showing up now. Maybe she shouldn’t have told Saskia. But better hearing it from a friend than having a chance meeting on the street.
Saskia badly needed a new man. Five years had been far too long.
She had such a giving heart, but she’d buried it deep.
There was another problem besides Hugo, and that was Clay Harrington.
Adrian feared he wasn’t the right man to heal Saskia’s heart.
If only he wasn’t in the art world. If only he wouldn’t care that Saskia was actually San Holo.
But Saskia had been with him three nights in a row.
While part of Adrian had to admit she was a little jealous, she also felt that Saskia was getting in too deep too fast.
Then again, who was she to talk?
Maybe she needed someone to heal her heart.
Except that Adrian’s heart had never been broken.
Between going to uni, getting her law degree, moving to the States, and setting up her agency, she’d never given herself the chance to have her heart broken.
She’d been too busy for anything long term and always kept everything short term. So far, that suited her fine.
But listening to Saskia gush about Clay, seeing that glow on her friend’s face, Adrian was beginning to think that maybe it was time to find a long-term someone.
She just had to figure out how to meet that perfect man.