AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I know you did,” I said. “I’m probably just being overly anxious, but—but Chuck’s a little more obnoxious than your average drama major. He’s going to push all the buttons of yours he can find. Can you let him lord it over you and bite your tongue?”
“I think I can,” Hunter said with a reassuring smile. He squeezed my knee under the table again. “And I know I’ll do my very best.”
He leaned in towards me, and for a second I thought we were going to kiss, my lips tingling already as they parted—
“Well, well, isn’t this cozy. You didn’t have to put yourself out of pocket, though, Hunter, I could easily have taken this to a McDonalds to help you save money.”
Chuck had arrived. Hunter and I jerked apart. Hunter stood, offered him a perfunctory handshake. “Chuck.”
“Hunter,” Chuck said with a grin that oozed malice.
Power didn’t suit Chuck. It made him simultaneously sloppy and over-the-top; his hundred-dollar haircut was fighting a losing battle to hold what wisps of hair he had together over his bald spot, his Italian silk suit was buttoned up the wrong way and happened to be entirely the wrong shade of maroon for his complexion, and while his cologne was undeniably top shelf, he’d doused himself in enough to kill anyone with even a hint of asthma.
“And Miss Bartlett,” he said with a slimy grin. “I’m so glad to see that you and Hunter have patched things up. It’s so important to keep our meal tickets satisfied, isn’t it?”
“I wouldn’t know,” I said frostily.
Chuck raised an eyebrow at my impertinence, and I backtracked hastily, the very image of someone afraid of his money-fueled wrath. “I mean, of course. Yes. You’re right.”
He gave a satisfied grin and fell into his seat, propping his feet up on the table.
It had already been quiet in Persona, but at this, the volume somehow dropped another level in disbelief.
It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop, and also the sound of the maitre’d having a heart attack.
Chuck was oblivious, though. “Shall I foot the bill? I’ve got an excellent new credit rating now that I’m essentially in charge of Knox Liquors.” He leered at me. “I wouldn’t want to take the clothes off your back, after all. Well, not figuratively, anyway. Ha!”
I could practically hear Hunter’s teeth grinding, but he just smiled—and I think the teeth-grinding added some verisimilitude, because Chuck grinned at him before looking back over to me and letting his gaze drop low enough and long enough to make it absolutely clear that he was checking out my clea**vage.
I risked a glance over at Hunter. His face looked like it was only a matter of time before either his brain or the vein in his temple exploded. Don’t take the bait, don’t take the bait, don’t take the bait, I prayed silently.
“Oh, don’t worry, I don’t need to take your girl too,” Chuck said with a grin, careful to emphasize that last word. “I’m just surveying the goods. One of the perks of the business, I’m sure you remember.”
Oh sweet baby Jesus, let Hunter not kill him, I prayed.
Fortunately, we were interrupted by the waiter, wanting our drink orders. Chuck ordered a martini, and Hunter and I both said we preferred to just keep drinking water. It fit the bill of the desperate, soon-to-be-impoverished losers much, much better. Also it kept the mind strong and clear much better than alcohol could, which I just possibly may have known from my own personal experience.
“Good idea,” Chuck said. Under the table, his foot began to trace figure eights along my bare calf. It made my skin crawl, but I couldn’t retreat. “After all, we both know what Ally is like with a little liquor in her.”
Hunter ground his teeth so hard I was pretty sure he would be financing his dentist’s next vacation single-handedly. “Let’s stick to the business at hand, Chuck. Please,” he added with just the right mix of shame and desperation.
Chuck took the bait. “Well,” he said. “When you put it like that.”
His foot traced a little higher up my leg.
We had him right where we wanted him.
Now we just had to get through another hour of this.
#
“Are you two sure you won’t have any more of this caviar? I don’t expect there’ll be very much of it in your future, you might as well take advantage of it while you can.”
“No thank you,” Hunter said with a tight smile that made him look like the victim of an unskilled plastic surgeon. “You go right on ahead.”
“Don’t mind if I do!” Chuck said, and proceeded to down the rest with a disgusting slurp.
? Also By Lila Monroe
· Billionaire With a Twist 3 · Billionaire With a Twist 2 · Billionaire With a Twist · The Billionaire Bargain 3 · The Billionaire Bargain · The Billionaire Bargain 2 · The Billionaire Game 2 · The Billionaire Game · The Billionaire Bargain 3 · The Billionaire Bargain 2 ? Last Updated
