She goes on to explain that someone is sick. Great cue for us to leave.
I slap a hundred on the counter—more than enough to cover whatever Blake had, then grab his arm, making it clear he’s going to follow my lead—and I head for the door.
Once we’re outside, I say, “Cecilia is one hundred percent off limits. I’ll never make amends with my son if I—if we—if you mess around with his ex.”
“Your son must be a fucking moron.”
“He’s young, his prefrontal cortex isn’t developed. He can’t handle a woman like Cecilia.”
“I could.”
“Don’t let a little playful banter go to your head.” I step toward the truck.
“We’re way past banter. I already sucked her finger.”
I spin around so fast that I misstep and stumble off the curb, catching myself on the hood of the truck. My first inclination is to see if Cecilia saw me falter. Thankfully she didn’t. “Why did you have her finger in your mouth?”
“Just blending in with the locals.”
“That’s notblending in. Besides, we don’t know if she’s the courier.”
Blake stares through the diner window. “You really think she could be involved?”
“What we think doesn’t matter. We can’t afford to complicate things.”
“All work and no play—”
“Don’t say it.”
“You know you want her.”
“Irrelevant.” I fumble the keys, prolonging my attempt to distance us from her.
“She and her friend were talking about moving to a place that has ménages and reverse harems. We could save her the moving expense.”
The world stops. I replay his words over and over, then finally cover with, “When did this become a financial decision?”
“I know how budget conscious you are.”
“There’s nothing wrong with having a budget. Besides, I just dropped a hundred for whatever you had in the diner.”
“And that’s precisely how I know you’re messed up over Cecilia.”
“We’re not having this conversation here.”
Blake smiles, catching that I left the possibility we’ll discuss this elsewhere.
I’ve never heard of a reverse harem but logic fills in the blanks. There’s no way I’m going to let her hook up with a group of random guys.
What’s wrong with her generation? Fuck! Another reminder of how wrong this is. I’m tempted to walk back in there and spank some sense—I stop myself.
The knocking of Blake’s knuckles on the hood of the truck pulls me out of my obsession. “If we’re not having the conversation here, let’s get going.”
Chapter 5
Blake
Lenox tosses the keys over the hood then stretches his neck. “I’ll walk back.”
