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“Try me,” she said.
I inhaled a deep breath. When she acted this way, there was no stopping her from getting whatever she wanted. I’d get no rest if I didn’t do as she demanded. As I looked up at my bunny-clad best friend, I realized that without her, I wouldn't have this job to begin with. If for no other reason than that, I owed her a recounting of the evening’s events.
“Fine,” I groaned. “I’ll tell you, but I'm warning you. There’s no happily ever after.”
About fifteen minutes later, Katy went from a standing position to sitting cross-legged at the knee to at last propping her chin in her hands with her elbows on her knees as I concluded. She hesitated for a moment before speaking and then stirred to life with a sudden flail of her arms.
“Wait, wait, so you’re telling me that Greyson Sinclair, billionaire playboy, beat up some random guy in line at the club because the guy called you a hooker and then after all that, he invited you back to his hotel room where nothing happened. That’s what you’re telling me?”
I nodded as she finished. “Yes.”
“You’re a goddamn liar, Maddie Olsen!” she exclaimed. “You really expect me to believe you resisted someone that hot who did something like he did for you?”
I shook my head as she finished. “I didn’t resist him, Katy.”
“What do you mean? You didn’t resist? You said you didn’t do anything with him.”
“Right. I didn’t.”
“Hang on, I’m confused,” Katy began, as she pointed her index finger at me. “You said you didn’t resist but you didn’t do anything with him. That doesn’t make any sense.”
Falling back into the mattress with a thud, I groaned, “Believe me it’s not like I didn’t want to… Don’t want to… It's just that he…”
“What?” she said. “He what?”
“He didn’t do anything. After we got back to the hotel, he invited me up to his room. I went. Believe me it wasn’t like I resisted, but he never tried a damn thing. All he did was go over his schedule. That’s all. He’s not interested in me. That much is obvious.”
The chair Katy sat in squeaked as she leaned back in it and roared with laughter.
I closed my eyes and exhaled. “It’s not funny, Katy. It sucks!”
After a good ten seconds or so, Katy got up from her chair, walked over and grabbed my arm. Tugging on it, she pulled me into a seated position and then pointed to a mirror across the room that hung on the back of my bedroom door.
“Maddie, I’ve had to do this twice now! Have you looked at yourself in the mirror? What man, especially a man with the appetite of Greyson Sinclair, wouldn’t be interested in…” she stopped mid-sentence and made a sweeping gesture directed towards my body and then continued, “well, this!”
As much as I appreciated what she tried to say, it was obvious my point didn’t come across as I’d hoped.
“I don’t know, he just wasn’t,” I said with a shrug.
Her brown hair bobbed to and fro as she shook her head in disagreement. “Well, you must have done something to turn him off, Maddie. Simple as that.”
I grabbed the edge of the bed, pushed myself up and walked past her towards my dresser. “Uh! Katy! That’s not a nice thing to say. And besides, it seems to me you’d be happy that nothing happened.”
As I finished speaking, I wrapped my hand around the brass fixture on my dresser drawer and pulled it open.
“Why would I be happy about that?” she asked. I had my back to her, but I could tell from her tone she grew more exasperated as she tried to understand.
Pulling out my favorite oversized t-shirt, I slipped it on over my head. As I walked back towards my bed, I said, “Well, you know, because I’m keeping it ‘professional’.”
Katy stepped aside and allowed me to slip in between the sheets. The cool texture of the fabric felt good against my skin, which, for some annoying reason, continued to tingle when I merely mentioned Greyson. I kicked my legs straight and pulled the sheet all the way up to my chin.
After watching my display, Katy shook her head and sat down on the bed next to me.
“Maddie,” she began. “Do you want to sleep with him?”
“Yes… no… I mean, I don’t know,” I said. I yanked my arms out from beneath the sheet and slammed them, palms down, on either side of my body. “This is a stupid conversation, Katy. What difference does it make what I want? He can have anyone he desires; why the hell would he want me anyway?”
Ignoring my self-pity for the moment, Katy looked down at me. “When do you see him again?”
I rolled my head on the pillow and looked up at her. “Tomorrow morning, at eleven. He’s got a meeting at the studio. Oh shit!”
Katy leaned away from me.
“What?”
“Oh, I forgot to get him a dinner escort for tomorrow night.” I groaned. I ‘neglected’ to tell her he wanted me to fill that role. I hoped I could find a suitable replacement and diffuse the situation altogether. Even so, I didn’t need Katy to know anything about it.
Katy stood from the bed as I spoke. “Well, so, just take care of it tomorrow before you pick him up for his meeting. You’ll have time.”
I smiled. At last a shred of good news.
“True.”
Katy wiggled her eyebrows at me before she turned to leave. “Worst case, you can be his date again.”
“Get out!” I yelled. “Right now!”
GREY
Damn it was hard getting to sleep last night but after an early morning workout, I managed to get my mind focused on the task at hand. Slipping on my shoes, I cradled my phone between my ear and shoulder as I connected with the office of the studio president.
A chipper-voiced woman with a throaty tone answered.
“Yes, Mr. Samuels. This is Greyson Sinclair. He’s expecting my call.”
“Oh yes,” the woman replied. “One moment Mr. Sinclair, sir, I’ll get Mr. Samuels right away.”
As I waited, I took a bite of the last bit of bacon left over from my breakfast. I washed the salty, crunchy pork down with a final swallow of orange juice just as my call waiting beeped in my ear. Pulling the phone away, I glanced down to see Maddie’s number flashing on the display and then looked at the time.
Nine o’clock. Well, at least she’s on time this morning.
Ignoring her call for the time being, I instead returned my attention to the conversation I needed to have about today’s meeting at the film studio. Once that concluded a few minutes later, I finished getting dressed and while I did, someone knocked at the door to my hotel room.
“Yes?” I called out. “Who’s there?”
“Mr. Sinclair,” I heard a familiar female voice say from the other side of it. “It’s Maddie. I’m here to take you to your meeting. That is, if you’re ready.”
I checked my appearance and after giving my tie a final adjustment, I walked across the marble floor of the hotel room and opened the door. As I did, the draft caused by the door as it swung inward brought her scent straight to my attention.
As I looked at her, I permitted the aroma to settle in on me. By my estimation, it was a blend of rose water and jasmine. Fragrant and alluring, it was a damn fine way to start my day, I had to admit. Except for one minor detail, which I would not allow to go unpunished.
“Maddie,” I began. “How did I request you to address me last night? In the limousine? Do you remember?”
Her hand tightened on the strap of her purse as I spoke. She pulled a strand of her blond hair behind her ear as she cleared her throat. “Oh, I… I’m sorry, Mr. Sin… I mean, Greyson. It slipped my mind.”
Satisfied she’d gotten the message, I stepped to one side and gestured for her to enter. She nodded and crossed the threshold into my hotel room. As she passed by me, I grabbed hold of her arm, just above the elbow. Maddie’s eyes locked on mine. Those eyes of hers. In all my years I'd never seen anything quite like them and frankly, they captivated me.
Steeling my resolve, I instead returned my focus to the matter at hand.
“Don’t let it slip your mind again. After all, if I can’t trust you to get my name right, how can I trust you with anything?”
The flex in her arm softened in my grip as she stared into my eyes. Her mouth drifted open as she started to speak. “You can, I promise.”
“I can what?” I replied.
“Trust me. You can trust me.”
Without a word, I smiled, nodded and released her arm from my grasp. After, I turned my back to her and walked back across the room to get my belongings. Ten minutes later, we were in the back of the limo headed to the studio. Since my correction of her in my suite, Maddie hadn’t said much of anything.
Unlike our other rides together in the car, this time she sat to my right. Out of my peripheral vision, I noticed her sorting through a small stack of papers, which she kept in a manila folder.
