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“Ready!” Jana chirped, as she stepped into the hall wearing a little black dress. Emphasis on little.
“You look beautiful,” Maxi told her friend.
Jana winked at her. “Back ’atcha babe.”
After locking her door, Jana threaded her arm through Maxi’s and double-timed it so that they were a few paces in front of the men on the way to the elevator.
“Okay, what’s his deal? Does he have a girlfriend?” She whispered as she practically drug Maxi along beside her.
A small forced huff of laughter escaped as she told her friend, “No. He doesn’t.”
Girlfriends weren’t Billy’s style.
When they arrived at the elevator, Jana’s hushed voice asked, “You guys aren’t…?”
“No.” Maxi assured her friend. “We’re not.”
That answer was met with a smile that was so big she was surprised it fit on Jana’s petite, heart-shaped face.
“I have an Uber waiting.” Simon’s hand settled on Maxi’s back as the four waited for the elevator.
She wished she got the same reaction to Simon’s touch that she did to Billy’s…you name it…look, smile, touch, voice, laugh. But she didn’t. When Simon touched her there were no wobbly knees, no goosebumps. Nothing at all.
“Cancel it. I’ll drive.” Billy’s firm tone didn’t leave room for argument.
If the statement seemed harsh to Simon, he didn’t let it show. Instead he shrugged and pulled his phone out of his pocket. “Suit yourself.”
“So Billy, what do you do?” Jana asked, filling in the silence.
“I work in personal security.”
“Oh good, so you’re here because of the break—”
“He’s staying with me while he works on Ricco’s security detail.” Maxi cut in.
“Oh,” Jana’s head tilted to the side, and Maxi could see her friend trying to puzzle out what was going on. But when she couldn’t, she did what any good friend would do and dropped it. “Oh, okay. That’s great.”
Just like she was sure that Billy would have plenty of questions after this evening was over, she knew now Jana would too. Starting with why she hadn’t told Simon anything about the craziness that was going on in her life.
She and Simon had been seeing each other for about three months. Things were still new but that wasn’t the reason she’d kept it from him. Honestly, Maxi knew that it wasn’t going to last. The last two times that they’d gone out, she’d made excuses not to be alone with him. First, she’d faked a headache to get out of going back to his place, and then she’d lied about having an early morning meeting as an excuse not to invite him up to hers.
He was nice. And she kept telling herself that nice was what she wanted. Nice was good. Nice was predictable. Nice was safe. The only problem was, nice was boring.
Not that Simon would be boring to someone else. He was a great guy with a very diverse artistic knowledge and passion. It was just that she didn’t share his interest. His knowledge and passion did nothing for her.
Selfishly, with everything going on lately, she just hadn’t wanted to end things, even though she knew that they had no future. She’d been avoiding having to have the talk. But now she knew the time had come.
Note to self: Break up with Simon.
The ding of the elevator sounded just before the doors opened. When they did, Maxi was immediately greeted enthusiastically by Bonnie and Clyde. She was just about to bend down and say hello to her two new favorite neighbors when she found herself behind a wall of steel, otherwise known as Billy’s back.
She’d heard people say that things happened in a blur but never, ever had she experienced something happening so fast that it actually was a blur. One second, she was faced with very excited wet noses and sloppy kisses, the next she was plastered against a wall of muscle and being held in place by a strong arm that her body responded to a whole heck of a lot more than any other body part on any other man.
“Sorry,” Mr. 7G apologized. “They only act like that with her.”
Maxi didn’t really appreciate the way he’d said her, but she guessed it would be frustrating if you had well-behaved dogs ninety-nine-point-nine percent of the time, and then one person was throwing off your one-hundred-percent perfect canine score.
Billy released his hold, after she assumed he’d deemed the area a no-threat zone. And she stepped out from behind him just in time to see him raise his hand, and then watch as both Bonnie and Clyde sat, staring up at him like he was God.
