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She winced, that noise was not doing her head any favors.
Aston: I’m in the bathroom.
PITB: No, you’re not.
Aston: How do you know? I could be on the toilet.
Why did she say that? Giant dork.
“Aston! Are we going to the club this weekend?” Gretchen demanded.
“Huh?” She glanced up at Gretchen, whose face was growing red. Uh-oh. Gretchen didn’t like to be ignored. And when she lost her temper . . . well, Aston didn’t want to be on the receiving end.
“Of course we’re going,” she said quickly.
What the heck had she just agreed to? Was she really going to go to a club with Gretchen?
But the other woman’s face lost that reddish-purple tinge and Aston started breathing easier.
“Good. I’ll pick you up at ten on Friday night. Make sure you’re club appropriate.”
Ten? Jeez, that was late. And what was club-appropriate? She stared down at her long-sleeved shirt with its high neck and at her long skirt that went down to her ankles.
She didn’t think she owned anything club appropriate. Crap. Gretchen walked past with a swish, her perfume clinging to the air. Aston’s nose twitched, her headache growing.
Yeah. Coming to work hadn’t been her brightest idea. Aston glanced down at her messages, seeing that she’d missed several more from Maxim.
PITB: I know because I’m in your apartment.
PITB: Newsflash, you’re not in your bathroom.
PITB: You’re also in big trouble, Rainbow.
She was not turned on by that. In fact, she was outraged. He had no right to dictate what she did. Or scold her.
Except . . . he was doing it because he was worried about her. She couldn’t think of any other reason why he might care.
So it wouldn’t be very nice of her to get angry over him caring.
Shoot.
She went to write back an apology when the rest of what he’d said hit her.
He was in her apartment?
She hit the call number and he answered immediately, his voice silky smooth.
Aston should have realized that was a dangerous sign. But she was used to men who yelled and got violent when they were angry.
“Where are you, Rainbow?” he asked.
“Where am I? Where are you?”
“I told you, I’m in your apartment. Where you should be. Only, you’re not here. So where are you?”
“But how are you in my apartment? Oh my God! Did you break the door down? I’m not paying for that. Or dealing with Brian.”
“Brian is no longer the building manager. He’s been fired.”
“What? How?”
“It was a condition the new buyer of this building had. There will be a new building manager in place by tomorrow. But I didn’t break in, so you don’t have to worry. Are you at work?”
“That still doesn’t explain how you got into my apartment,” she pointed out, her mind spinning.
A new buyer? She hadn’t even known that the building was for sale.
This all sounded rather . . . strange.
“You don’t need to worry about that right now,” he told her in that oh-so-quiet voice. “What you need to worry about is the trouble you’re going to be in once I find you.”
Um. Gulp.
“Why am I in trouble?” And why did her butt cheeks tingle? Was it because she was thinking about how he might punish her?
“What did I tell you last night?”
“You mean before you left me?” Shoot. She hadn’t meant to sound like she was accusing him. “Look, that doesn’t matter—”
“It matters.”
“It doesn’t matter because I am an adult who makes her own decisions.” That would have sounded better if she hadn’t had to pause to cough.
“Where. Are. You?”
“Maxim Malone, you’re not the boss of me!” Okay, she’d tried to be patient and nice. But she was tired and her head hurt.
“No?”
“No!” She took a calming breath and reminded herself that he was concerned about her.
Remember all those times you would have killed for someone to care about you? To look out for you?
Well, now she had that. Even if he was demanding and thought he was in charge.
“I appreciate all that you’ve done for me—”
“No.”
“No?”
“You’re not blowing me off, Rainbow. I don’t want your thanks. You can thank me by getting your butt home and into bed where it should be.”
“I’m feeling much better.”
Liar.
“You think you can lie to me just because I’m not in front of you?”
Drat. She had kind of thought that.
“You can’t. I know you feel like shit. I can hear it in your voice. My bet is that you’ve got a headache and you’re exhausted. Plus, you’re going to make yourself even sicker if you keep pushing yourself into doing things you’re not ready to do yet.”
Shoot.
She hated how he made sense.
“You really suck sometimes.”
Really mature, Aston.
“Because you know I’m right,” he said with amusement. “It’s all right, Rainbow. You can rage at me, get upset, and tell me I’m a bossy jerk. I can take it. But you will let me take care of you. Now, are you at work?”
