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Jordan
As I was straightening my tie in the mirror, a wall of heavy doubt washed over me. I hated that sick feeling—no matter how used to it I should have been by now.
“Just about ready?” Cat called out from the living room.
She was sitting on my leather sofa with her long tan legs crossed. One of her heeled feet bobbed up and down impatiently while she gracefully sipped on her glass of white wine.
“I’m not so sure about tonight,” I confessed, hating to let her down.
“Uh-uh. Oh no you don’t,” she shot back, flying up to her feet before coming over to tighten my tie. “You’ve fucked me in every corner of your apartment, your office, and every corner of my apartment and office. We’ve done it in closets and copy rooms and…”
“And now what? You want me to fuck you in a public restaraunt?”
“No!” she slapped my chest. “We’re celebrating. We’ve kept this up this whole time without getting caught, and now our reward is Heartstring.”
“I’m just worried we’re going to get caught while we’re celebrating not getting caught,” I argued. “What if we run into your dad or something?”
“We’re business partners. We’re not allowed…No, you don’t think we’re expected to be sharing a meal together from time to time? If anything, it’s suspicious for us not to do it.”
“People don’t go to this place for business meetings,” I reminded her. The exclusive, all-booked restaurant was a notorious date spot. Very romantic and also very expensive. “If you’re seen there together, it’s assumed you are together. It’s precisely why people with a high profile don’t take their mistresses and lovers there. The tabloids and gossipers would call them out in a heartbeat.”
“All the more reason my dad won’t be there,” she countered. “I know my mom has her country club soiree tonight, and there’s no way my dad has a mistress to take out when she’s busy. He won’t be there,” she assured me.
She was right. In all the years I had known Mark, he would never cheat on his wife. He wouldn’t even think about it. In fact, when we were entertaining potential clients and the mention of a strip club would come up—he wouldn’t even indulge us in that. He was faithful and loyal through and through. Remembering that in that moment got me to thinking about all of his other honorable qualities, which made me not want to go out even more. I hated lying to him, and I hated always thinking about how he would feel if he knew what I was doing with his daughter.
But I could see how excited Cat was. I didn’t want to let her down either. She had been talking about these reservations for over a week, and only snagged the table because of our negotiations with Heartstring. The app and website was one of their biggest platforms for running advertisements since it was such a romantic dating spot. They were already buttering us up—extending good will to the new owners to ensure the relationship carried over without a hitch.
“Alright. Fine,” I groaned finally. “But if we’re going, let’s go. Before I change my mind. No last minute trips to the bathroom to primp.”
She arched a brow. “Do I look like I need to primp?”
“No, you look perfect,” I smiled, kissing her forehead.
“Exactly.” She spun on her heels and led us out the door.
I had been trying to go with the flow and not stress about things with her too much. We were both having fun, and we were about to make a lot of money together. I figured—if it’s not broke, don’t fix it. And the only thing that would break it would be if we got caught, which neither of us planned on happening.
Sometimes it was harder than others to talk myself down from a spiraling panic, but I always managed to do it eventually. And that’s exactly what I did that night as the car took off for the restaurant. By the time we got there, I had pushed all of my fears and worries far from my mind.
Even with our reservations and good standing with the owners, we had to wait longer than expected for our table. We were forced into the crowd huddled in the foyer as the waitress made sure everything was ready for us.
“Wow, this place is packed tonight!” Cat shouted over the noise of chattering customers.
“No kidding,” I mumbled, barely loud enough for her to hear it. I was too busy trying to avoid getting my feet stepped on by people as they pushed by.
But once again, Cat managed to chase all of my grievances away. The crowd of people pushed her closer to me, until she was flat against my chest with her hands spread across me. All the noise seemed to stop when I looked into her eyes, and all the commotion faded. When she looked at me like that, it was like getting sucked into a vacuum where nothing else existed but me and her.
“Mr. Ashford?”
Our surroundings came rushing back as I snapped to.
“Your table is ready,” the waitress said.
“Right, thank you,” I replied, reluctantly letting the moment with Cat slip through our fingers.
What was that thing that always rushed over me around her? Why did it put dangerous words dancing around on the tip of my tongue? If we had just a few seconds longer before we were interrupted, would I have said…
The thought was slashed from my mind as I looked up and saw him standing there.
