Chapter Nine
Emelia
"Next time you call an emergency meeting of the Sisterhood," Seraphina grumbles, sliding into the red leather booth beside me at our favorite hole-in-the-wall diner, "can you do it after work? I had to lie to the devil and tell him I had to see the doctor for female problems to get out of there."
"You should have just told him that you had a dick appointment," Nova says, fanning herself with a laminated menu. "I bet he would have had you bent over the nearest surface in two seconds, working out all that sexual frustration."
"I am not sleeping with my boss," Seraphina growls. "Not even if he were the last man on earth."
"I slept with Royce."
All three of my friends turn to gape at me.
"Holy shit," Ava whispers, grinning like she just won the lottery. "I knew you were into him!"
"I think he was in her," Nova retorts, earning loud laughter and high-fives from Ava and Seraphina. I just scowl at all three of them. Maybe I should have called my mom instead. At least she's not a wild woman. Usually.
"Okay, okay." Nova waves her hands in the air to silence the table. "I need details. When you say slept with, do you mean you actually slept or do you mean…?"
"I mean, we had sex all over my house last night," I hiss, lowering my voice so no one else hears me. "And then he spent the night."
"Holy shit," Ava breathes.
"He talked to my dad this morning."
Nova's eyes widen.
"Hemayormaynothavetoldhimthathelovesme," I say all at once.
"What?"
"He mayonnaise shlonged you?" Seraphina furrows her brows. "What does that even mean?"
"Mayonnaise shlonged? What the fuck?" Nova cracks up. "That is not what she said."
"It's what I heard."
"I said that he may or may not have said that he loves me," I growl. My dad didn't even freak out about it. He just asked if Royce was taking care of me, told me that he was proud of me, and then changed the subject.
"Oh." Seraphina squeaks. "Oh! Holy crap."
"Of course he does," Ava says as if that's a foregone conclusion. "The more pressing question is what you said because we know you, Emelia."
"What does that mean?" I protest.
All three of them share a look.
"It means," Seraphina says gently, "that the thought of falling for an athlete gives you hives.
You've spent your whole life surrounded by them.
You made a career out of saving the careers of some of the most incorrigible of them.
But you never, ever let yourself get too close because you're absolutely convinced that good ones like your dad are the exception and not the rule. "
"That's because they are," I mutter.
"That's not true," Ava protests. "Royce is one of the good ones.
" Her cheeks turn pink in a way that has me curious as hell about what happened at their dinner.
She's been suspiciously silent on the subject of her stepbrother lately.
Like…suspiciously silent. "Dawson is one of the good ones.
Even if Seraphina and Nova don't want to admit it, so are Huxley and Stone. "
"Speak for yourself," Nova mutters.
Seraphina adds a savage nod, though I'm not sure if she's agreeing with Nova or Ava.
"The point is," Ava says, glaring at our friends, "not all athletes are assholes who like to stick it in every willing hole. I know you clean up after a lot of the ones who are, but you can't paint all of them with the same brush, Em. That's not fair, especially not to Royce."
"He's never linked with anyone," Seraphina murmurs. "Not even a hint of gossip."
"I know," I groan, burying my face in my hands. "I just…"
"What? What are you so afraid of?" Nova asks.
"What if it doesn't work out?" I ask, peeking through a slit in my fingers. "What if he decides it was fun while it lasted, but that's all he wants? I'm not built for that."
I want what my parents have. That's what I've been searching for my entire life. And I've adamantly refused to look with clients because I know how often they're looking for everything except a future. I don't want to be one of many, especially not for Royce.
"You're in love with him."
I don't say anything, which seems to be enough of an answer for the three of them. Ava lets out a muted squeal, reaching out to pry my hands away from my face.
"I'm so screwed," I whisper. "This wasn't supposed to happen."
"Last weekend would like to disagree," Nova says, grinning at me.
I flick a piece of ice at her, earning a giggle.
"What are you going to do?" Seraphina asks, cocking her head to the side.
I shrug, staring down at the water ring on the chipped table. "I guess…tell him? I mean, I have to tell him, right?"
"Duh!" Ava cries.
"Fine. I'll tell him." I narrow my eyes on the three of them. "But if he breaks my heart, I'm blaming the three of you."
"And if he doesn't, we're playing rock-paper-scissors to see who gets to be the Maid of Honor at your wedding."
"Goddamn kid's games," I groan, earning laughter from all three of them.
By the time four o'clock rolls around, I'm hard at work trying to craft a press release for Santiago Devlin. I swear, working for Teo Kirby was almost a cakewalk compared to working for that man. Every week, it's a new scandal, and none of them are ever easy.
It's like he's hellbent on destroying his career or something. Why? Don't ask me. He's a darn vault of secrets.
"Damn," Royce whistles from the doorway. "My baby looks good when she's in business mode."
I glance up, unable to hide the smile on my face. I swear, he's so outrageous. I love it far more than I should.
"Speaking of business mode," I say, dodging him when he tries to kiss me, "we need to talk."
"Fine," he growls, shoving the door closed. "You have two minutes, and then business mode ends, and I'm kissing the fuck out of you."
"I only need one."
"Wanna put that to the test?" he asks, waggling his brows. "Because I'm down to make you come in sixty seconds."
"No." I pause. "Well, yes. But wait."
He grins at me, leaning back against the door with his hands in his pockets. "The clock is ticking, pretty baby."
"No pet names when we're in business mode, Royce."
"Fine, the clock is ticking, Miss Jónsson."
I shake my head at him, trying not to smile. "I heard from the Firestorm people. They want you for the campaign, but I think you should reconsider."
"Why?"
"Because their drink is full of crap that's terrible for you.
Do you really want to push a product that causes heart attacks and kidney failure when you're the spokesperson for a nonprofit that's fighting for people with congenital heart defects?
" I shuffle through the papers on my desk before I find the one I need.
"This is an info sheet on ReCharge, a company that bottles electrolyte-enhanced water.
They're looking for a spokesperson," I say.
"The pay isn't quite as good as what Firestorm is offering, but they're willing to offer you shares, and you'd be promoting a product you can actually get behind.
Plus, they give a percentage of profits to charities that provide water to areas that need it most, like the Horn of Africa. "
He takes the paper from my hands, scanning it. "You think this is a better fit than Firestorm?" he asks after a moment, glancing up at me.
"Will it get your name out there as quickly as Firestorm will? No. But is it a better fit for you and what matters to your personal brand? Absolutely," I say without hesitation.
"Let's do it."
I blink at him. "Just like that? You don't want to think about it first?"
"Babe." He grins at me. "I hired you because I trust you to help make decisions that are best for me.
If you're telling me that this is a better decision, I'm with it.
I don't need a ton of money thrown at me if I'm going to be promoting something I can't stand behind.
I'd rather put my name behind something like ReCharge. "
"Okay then," I say. "That was easy. It usually takes slideshows and browbeating."
"Did you make a slideshow?" he asks, grinning at me.
"Maybe I was working on it," I mutter, earning a chuckle.
"Well, mark it off your list. I'm not like everyone else, Emelia. I don't give a fuck about fame. There are more important things in my life." He cocks his head to the side, looking me up and down. "Like you."
"Business mode, Royce."
"You ran the clock out. We're on pleasure time now, baby." He prowls toward me, his expression all sin and intent. I could dodge him again, try to get him back on task, but not even a tiny part of me wants to pretend I don't want his lips on mine.
Instead, I let him haul me out of my chair into his arms. And I melt into him and his kiss, exactly like I've been waiting all day to feel his arms around me again.