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With Joy, I’ve discovered a whole new side of me, and I find that I want to stay up here with her.
Maybe we can stay until New Year’s. We could remain here, locked up in our little haven for as long as we want. I have people I trust with my company, and maybe this once, I can stay away and let them manage themselves.
With that thought in place, I decide to call Eric. Fortunately, this house still has a working landline phone.
I drape a blanket over the sleeping Joy before going to the hallway to make the call, so I don’t wake her up. I don’t expect the call to go through, assuming Eric will ignore the unknown number, but it does.
“On a scale of one to ten, how mad at me are you?” my best friend asks when he realizes who the caller is.
“What do you think?”
“Maybe five, depending on whether or not the lay was good. I sent her a good chunk of money, so she better have you in a good mood before you come back to work.”
“Eric!” I hiss, a warning note in my tone. “Do you think it’s funny paying for someone to sleep with me without my knowledge, only for us to end up trapped in the storm? What if she was dangerous and tried to kill or blackmail me?”
“Oh, I didn’t think that far ahead,” he groans. “C’mon, Nick, I thought you were calling to thank me for your Christmas gift. She is bound by an NDA through the service I used. She can’t tell anyone about anything that happened this week. If only you knew the trouble I went through to get her for you. She tried to change the deal on me at the last minute.”
“What do you mean?”
“That chick asked for double the amount we’d agreed to. If it hadn’t been so last minute, I would have cancelled on her for trying to pull one over on me!”
His words take me by surprise. It’s as if he is talking about a different person. There is no way my angel would say or do the things he is claiming.
Not Joy.
“Are you sure about this?” I ask through gritted teeth, my voice dangerously low.
“I have the text messages if you need proof. I sent her the first installment a couple days ago and was going to send the rest when you came back, but the little bitch asked for more at the last minute, saying she would bail if I didn’t send it. I couldn’t believe it! She better have a pussy made of gold, or I–”
I hang up the call, my blood thrumming with irritation. I can’t stand to hear Eric speak ill of Joy, but if what he said is true . . .
No way.
Joy isn’t like that.
You don’t know her. You just met her yesterday, you idiot.
Fuck!
Eric has no reason to lie, not when he claims to have proof, so that leaves Joy. I need to know if the woman I just shared myself with sees me as nothing more than an easy payday.
I am a very good judge of character, and there is no way Joy is not who she presented herself to be.
I ignore the harsh pang of my heart, focusing instead on my bruised pride. If this was only about money for her, then I will find out soon enough!
Chapter Eight
Joy
Something is wrong.
I clock on it when I wake up alone. I look around to find Nick fully dressed in a black suit, standing by the window, drinking something what I think is bourbon. The elegant tailoring on his black jacket is immaculate and perfectly highlights his silhouette.
My lips part in a smile as I lift my gaze to meet his dark and intense one. My smile falters a little when his eyes don’t soften like they usually do when he looks at me.
Something has changed between us and I have no idea what it is.
I sit up and tug the shirt down my thighs as I wait for him to break the silence, but he doesn’t say a word. I shift my eyes from his eyes to the amber liquid that glimmers in the sunlight coming in through the window.
