AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Trust me, I’m sure. You don’t believe your girlfriend either? She’s told you Diana’s poison.”
“Maybe if she told me why, I’d be more inclined to agree.”
She compressed her lips into a thin line. “Not my secret to tell.”
“Yep.” He ran a hand over his buzz cut. Perspiration clung to the back of his neck despite the air-conditioning. Then again, that could’ve been due to nerves, something he had plenty of. “Same tune, different singer.”
“I don’t break confidences. But I’d watch out for her. She likes younger men. I think she trolls for them.”
He flung his head back and laughed. “I’ll make sure my belt’s tightly notched whenever she’s around.”
“Seriously, Tony. She must know you prefer older women so I bet you’re in her sights already.” She tugged a candy out of her pocket and popped it into her mouth. The scent of cinnamon filled the air.
“I don’t prefer older women. I prefer Marcia. It wouldn’t matter to me if she were twenty or fifty.”
“That’s sweet.” She pitched her wrapper into the trash can in the center of the room.
The place was still a mess, but slowly everything was taking shape. The floor-to-ceiling bookshelves he and Cale helped build filled every wall except for the one with the gorgeous blue granite fireplace, which luckily they hadn’t had to install. Marcia’s brother Adam and his friends had handled that aspect of the design, though now Tony and Cale had been commissioned to build free-floating shelves above it. Since those shelves would hold the pieces designed by local artists that Kelly and Spencer were planning on featuring, they’d have to start the shelves pretty high to make sure there was no heat damage. Cale had come up with some pretty good ideas, ideas he now wanted to replicate in his apartment. As soon as Tony was done here, he’d be heading over there to get some more work done.
After that his evening would take a definite turn south.
“Yeah, well, sweet’s my middle name.” Tony drew the toe of his sneaker through the trail of sawdust on the floor.
“You know, I guessed that about you.” She leaned down to wave a hand in front of his face. “All right, spill it. What’s the problem?”
As if he would discuss his sex life with Marcia’s brother’s girlfriend. “No problem.”
“Sure.” She snorted and jumped off the desk, her ponytail and giant gold hoop earrings swinging. “Keep telling yourself that.”
“Ever heard of Kink?” he blurted when she turned away.
Her shoulders stiffened. Slowly she turned back and cocked her head. “Why?”
Recognizing a defensive stance when he saw and heard one, he scratched his chin. If he didn’t
shave soon, Marsh would start complaining about stubble burn. “Just wondering. You obviously have.”
“Yeah.” She came back to the desk but she didn’t climb up again. Instead she leaned against it and lowered her voice, though they were alone until Spencer and Adam returned from the hardware store. “Actually, I’m kind of a regular.”
If Tony hadn’t been sitting, he would’ve needed to. “What? You? You look so—” He stopped, his gaze traveling from Kelly’s bouncy ponytail to her sneakers. Her cheeks glowed with health and she wore no makeup whatsoever. When he pictured her, she had a book in one hand and a clipboard in the other. She definitely wasn’t parading around nude in front of avid crowds of people.
“Innocent?”
“I would’ve picked wholesome, but yeah. Okay.” Tony rested his elbows on his knees. “For real?”
“For real.”
“But I thought you and Spencer—”
“What?”
“That you were exclusive.”
“We are.” A smug smile tipped up her mouth. “As exclusive as it gets.”
“But if you’re hitting up a sex club…oh.” Realization dawned painfully. “Wow. Guess I’m the last one on board this train.”
She folded her arms across her chest. “There’s nothing wrong with not being into it. Not everyone is. It took some getting used to, I admit. I didn’t walk in the door and get naked first thing.”
