Page 113 of Beni

“Because it isn’t. They vetoed it. Not on brand for Bared Brands, apparently. They’re not in the business of showcasing what could be better, only what is good for them, and what looks perfect on a magazine rack. It’s very likely the team will veto a lot of that kind of thing from my pitch by final print.”

Ouch.

She didn’t even try to hide her bitterness.

“Sorry,” he said.

August rolled to her back, staring at the white ceiling above them as she replied, “It wasn’t a bad thing … or I guess, something good came out of it, right? Because this whole experience made me look at my career in a different way. More what I wanted from it, and what I wanted to do with the platform I was creating for myself, and less about being the tool someone else uses for what they want.”

“And what did you figure out?”

“I was going to wait to tell you …”

“Tell me what?”

She had all his attention now.

Not that she didn’t have it before.

August grinned, peeking over at him through those dark, long lashes that framed her brown eyes. “I gave my resignation yesterday.”

“What?”

“Yeah, and when I get to Chicago, I plan to meet up with Alessa again. Take that job … I still have to get some logistics figured out like moving and where I’m going to live, or whatever, but I would rather work for a company that will let me be great and do great things at the same time, than one that only wants to harvest my talent for their own gain.”

He heard a lot in there.

The most important was the loudest.

“You’re going to move to Chicago.”

That didn’t even sound like his voice.

August nodded once. “I am—”

Beni didn’t even let her finish her sentence fully before he was on her. Her laughter melted into something lower, and sexier as he settled between her opened legs, his hands skimming over the curve of her waist, while he leaned in to kiss her. He wished he could take all those sounds of hers and keep them on repeat in his mind for the rest of his fucking days.

They were that addictive.

“That,” he said, kissing her smiling lips, “is fucking awesome.”

“Yeah?”

“So much.”

She gave him a look. “So, what about your issue, hmm?”

Yeah, shit.

He knew what she meant.

“My twin, you mean.”

August shrugged, but said nothing.

Beni understood.

“We’re working on it,” he said. “It’s not as bad as what it was, but it’s not perfect, either. He’s got some shit to work on—being separated hit him harder than it did me, that’s all, and he had it confused on what he wanted to blame for it.”