AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Celine stared at my assistant, Hilde, for a long moment before she left us alone. I wondered why. Sure, Hilde was a tall, gorgeous blonde, but she wasn’t a patch on Celine.
“Who’s that woman?” asked Hilde curiously.
“A friend,” I replied shortly.
Hilde was the best assistant I’d had in a long time, but she was an inveterate gossip. And I didn’t want word of this getting around the company grapevine.
“I’m staying here for a few days, but I’d like you to keep it on the down low, Hilde. Not a word to anyone,” I warned.
She mimed zipping her lips and didn’t ask any more questions about it. I set up a daily video call with her and she left. I joined Celine and Rose at the table and watched Rose wave a spoon around like a weapon as she tried to feed herself. She spilled more than she ate, but she looked happy. When she got bored of trying to feed herself, Celine took over and fed her the rest of her pumpkin soup.
“It’s delicious,” I said, spooning some into my mouth.
“It’s from a can,” said Celine drily, and I tried not to wince.
“I saw that look,” she exclaimed. “Welcome to how the other half lives, Mr McJudgy. We don’t all have personal chefs who grow the pumpkin for our soup using their own blood as a fertilizer.”
“My chef doesn’t do that. He prefers to have his pumpkins delivered from a farm,” I replied, running a finger under the neck of my t-shirt, which felt too tight for some reason.
“Snob,” she said, rolling her eyes.
Rose agreed with this emphatically, bouncing in her chair and crowing loudly. When I smiled at her, she tossed a piece of toast at me, cackling with delight when it hit me on the nose. I pretended to fall off my chair and she laughed loudly when I bounced up again.
“You like kids,” said Celine, sounding as if it were a revelation.
“Why do you sound so surprised?”
She shrugged in reply.
“It’s just that you don’t expect ruthless billionaires to be good with kids.”
“Well, this one is. Thanks to my beautiful niece, Maddie.”
Celine smiled in reply, and I noticed a tiny dimple appear in the crease of her laugh line. It disappeared almost as soon as it appeared, and I wondered if I could make it appear again. I cleared my throat and dragged my eyes away from her lips.
“Will you go in to work tomorrow?” I asked, mainly to change the subject.
Celine nodded.
“I have to go.”
“I’ll go with you. Maybe I can find a booth and work from there if your boss allows it.”
“You can do whatever you like as long as you pay the cover charge and order a decent amount of food and drink,” she replied. “But I don’t think it’s a great idea.”
“Why not?” I asked in surprise. “Rose will be in daycare, and I can keep an eye out for Monani’s men.”
“I told you they won’t dare mess with Bo. I’m safer at the club than I am at home.”
“I’d like to see that for myself,” I insisted.
Why didn’t she want me at her place of work?
“Fine, but don’t blame me if you get uncomfortable,” she replied with a shrug.
I clenched my jaws as her meaning dawned on me. I was planning to spend the day watching Celine take her clothes off on stage. Correction, I was planning to spend the day watching men watch Celine take her clothes off on stage. I had really not thought this through.
I shifted uncomfortably and made a face.
