Page 36 of Mr. Risky

I knocked on the door.

No answer.

Now what? Hadn’t Pippa said to meet here?

I knocked again.

And this time, I heard a noise inside.

What was that?

I leaned my ear against the door instinctively.

And I realized that noise was Pippa and Granger having sex.

Low grunts, high-pitched breathless squeals.

Oh, I was an idiot for ever believing Granger cared about me!

My cheeks felt heated. Had I really just put my ear to the door? Idiot! There was a fleshy slap, like he’d just spanked her ass, and my own skin was tingling.

“Be there in a minute,” Granger called out.

Fucking bastard.

I turned and hurried as fast as I dared, out to the big sunroom where Hayden was in a suit watching the breakfast preparations.

“Give you any ideas?” he asked, winking at me, and my stomach already felt nauseated, and this gross idea gave me another lurch.

“No.”

“Come on, everyone knows good girls are the dirtiest fucks.”

His eyes were shining but I was in no mood for his jokes, and I wanted to run away, but Hayden was blathering on, talking about the Sirens performance that afternoon and who all was going to be there and what I was gonna wear.

Not a damn thing about what I was going to play, mind you.

“Sorry,” Pippa caroled, sliding into the room, as sleek and pleased as a cat. “Was that you knocking on the door, Sosie? I should’ve known that would happening. The man is insatiable.”

“No,” I lied. “That wasn’t me.”

How could I escape his relentless betrayals?

Granger strolled in behind her. Jeans, Converse sneakers, old gray T-shirt, where everyone else was in cocktails dresses or a suit.

And he had the audacity to wink at me.

I turned away and sat down at the table.

“What color would you like to see me in, Hayden?” I asked.

“Oh, something green, of course,” he said eagerly. “Because of how beautiful your green eyes are. I have an idea there’s a dress in there with lacing along the front? You’d look good in that.”

I was viciously pleased to see a tiny twitch in Granger’s jawline.

“Who all will be there tonight?” I asked, while Hayden rattled off a list of people whose names I didn’t know.

“I’m excited to see them,” I said. “I admire a man who’s made his own money. Not one who’s married into it.”