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As I retreated to Franky and requested a ride, I shoved down the surge of guilt. The men had private lives. Every boss I knew had them as well. If I waited for someday to satisfy this craving, it might not come. Right now, there was a man who wanted to see me.

And I desperately wanted to answer the summons.

It was an effort to keep my legs from bouncing and hands stop fidgeting. In the car, I leaned my head against the window to keep up the pretense.

“Can I bring you anything, Isabella?” Franky asked gently as we pulled through the gate. Sunlight glared off the metal, making me wince. That I didn’t have to fake.

“Sorry,” Franky muttered, shooting the car forward and out of the light.

With a sigh, I pulled myself up and unbuckled. “Thanks, but I’m just going to sleep it off. Don’t let anyone disturb me?”

“On pain of death,” he promised.

Dio mio, he was a good man. And I was the little idiot deceiving him.

It’s my life.I needed to live it.

Only when I was in the safety of my bedroom did I type a response. Jaxon promptly responded with a series of instructions. In thirty minutes, a black sedan would be out on the street corner. The driver’s name was Afton, and he would tell me that the White Socks lost the game yesterday.

The safety code was odd, but I left it alone, only wondering if Jaxon was a sports fan.

Standing in the bathroom, I raked my hands through my hair. “I know nothing,nothingabout this man.”

My reflection laughed at me.“You know enough.”

The messy woman was right. I did. The rest would come. And really, what did minute details like sports teams, favorite pizza toppings, or childhood pastimes matter?

“But I want to know those things too,” I whispered. I wanted to know everything about the object of my obsession.

“Well, quit standing there having a mental breakdown, and get your ass dressed!”the dirt-streaked image in the mirror shouted in my head.

She was right.

I hurried to wet a towel and clean my face and arms. Then it was a whirlwind to prepare for the date. There were no cute dresses left in my closet. I debated sneaking into the master bedroom, but it wasn’t worth the risk of being caught.

Jeans and a black fitted tank it was.

I found a cute scrunchy buried in the back of the drawer and tossed my hair up in a half pony. A flick of makeup, and it was time to leave.

I slid the window open and peered out. “Crap.”

I shot a text to Jaxon stating that the guards at the gate and the cameras along the back fence were going to be a problem.

His answer? Not a problem.

And apparently, I was supposed to shimmy up the wooden fence. Like some damn woodland creature.

“We’ll see about that,” I muttered.

It wasn’t until I escaped the safety of my room, dropped to the patio, and was walking past the pool that I stopped. What was I doing? This was insanity! I was trusting a man who somehow had control over the defense features of my home.

“Well, it’s how he sneaks in and out,” I muttered.

This attraction was overwhelming. Untouchable, even to reason. Only a higher power was preventing this date.

Already gone too far, I stepped onto the lawn and hurried to the fence, hiding behind the few trees planted back here for aesthetic purposes. There would have been more cover going through the maze of hedges to the east of the house, but this was a more direct path to the fence.

I gripped the wooden slats of the fence, set a foot on the crossbar, and pushed myself upright. Just like climbing shelves in the grocery store. At the top, I was glad I hadn’t gone for the dress. The slanted posts would have been a disaster. I jumped into the neighbor’s yard and then scooted away from my own.