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I forced a smile. The rules were different with my parents. I tried to be civil. I tried to play nice. So I shut my mouth and let my mom continue trying to encourage me to go out and impregnate the nearest willing woman.
Shortly after our lunch came, there was a slight commotion among the other people sitting near our table. A group of women got up, rushing to pull out their cameras.
I looked to see what was going on and spotted Chelsea walking arm in arm with Tia Klein.
Holy shit. She actually pulled it off?
Chelsea stopped near our table as Tia finished signing a few autographs and snapping pictures with some of her fans. She gave me a smug wiggle of her eyebrows. “His majesty asks, and he receives.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “I’ll admit I’m slightly impressed. How did you pull that off?”
“I promised her you’d take her on a date.”
My stomach went ice cold. “You… what?”
Chelsea shrugged. “I figured there was no way you’d actually let it happen, so no harm done. But I assumed you wouldn’t send such an urgent text if you didn’t really, really need her here. Good luck, boss.” Chelsea waved over her shoulder and left. She actually walked away, and I was struck by how she might as well be the character in a movie with sunglasses on who walks away from explosions without looking. Because there was sure as hell about to be an explosion.
My parents went as quiet as starstruck children when Tia came to sit at our table. My mom was probably trying to figure out if Tia was fertile, and my dad was probably wondering if I could sign her to propel my business “to new heights,” which was one of his favorite catchphrases. My dad also ran a lawn mowing business, but if you listened to him, he was the Wolf of Wallstreet when it came to business decisions.
Tia was dressed in athletic gear that highlighted her fit body. She was wearing a sports bra that showed off her cleavage and also left her entire, toned midriff bare. “Chelsea tells me you’re finally going to take me on that date I’ve been wanting. I was in the middle of a conditioning session, but for you, I’ll make it up later.”
I thought about the smug look on Chelsea’s face and her blind certainty that I’d turn Tia down. She thought she was setting me up for disaster, and she was proud as hell of herself for it.
I had to weigh my options. I could turn down Tia and risk a fragile new relationship with my best bet at a replacement for my brother if he went off the rails. Or… I could go on the damn date and enjoy every moment of watching Chelsea squirm.
It should’ve been an easy choice, but for some reason, the idea of potentially sleeping with Tia felt wrong. I kept imagining how Chelsea would feel, which was ridiculous.
I wasn’t obligated to protect her. The only legitimate reason to avoid the date would be the obvious conflict with my policy of keeping work and relationships as far apart as possible. The scars Trish left were still fresh enough in my mind to tell me exactly why I should respect that policy.
But this was just a date.
Tia was still waiting, patiently watching me for an answer. I leaned back in my chair and shrugged. “Sure. One date can’t hurt.”
There. Is that what you really wanted, Chelsea? Because it sure as hell doesn’t feel like what I want.14ChelseaOne of the worst things about being a smart woman is having the full mental capacity to realize when you’ve been an idiot.
I’d watched Tia Klein flirt with Damon and felt an irrational jealous bite in the center of my soul. Again, it was one of those moments where I was smart enough to know I was being stupid. Or so I’d thought.
I assumed my little maneuver of claiming he’d offered to take her on a date would kill a few birds with a single stone. It’d prove to me that Damon didn’t exclusively hate me—he hated all beings with boobs and vaginas. It’d also prove to him that he should stop trying to screw with me, because I’d happily screw back.
I’d been walking nervous circles on the tennis court where I was giving a late-night lesson to a grouchy boy who didn’t want to be there. I stopped walking, scrunching up my face. No. There would be no screwing back. That was a poor choice of words and a mental image I definitely didn’t need right now.
The last problem with my genius little plan was that it was supposed to expel any doubts I had about Damon from my mind.
Even if he did take Tia out and treat her to some of that mind-blowing, pushed up against the wall, sweaty and ferocious sex he’d given me five years ago… Even if that happened, I wouldn’t care. And I wouldn’t care because I didn’t have feelings for him.
