sex mode to focus on what we had planned for the day.
“We’re going to Marseilles, remember?” he said. “Where the hell are you two? Did you forget that we’re off to the coast today?”
Shit. Fuck. I’d completely forgotten that Marseilles was happening today. Clearing my throat, I rolled over and met Leah’s gaze while speaking to our boss. “No, of course not. We’re at the hotel. We’ve just been getting ready. We’ll meet the car when it gets here.”
“It’s a long drive, Dane,” he said, letting out a sigh. “Make sure that you get on the road as soon as you can. I knew we shouldn’t have gone in separate cars.”
“We’ll be there,” I promised. “I’ve got to go, but don’t worry about us, okay? You’ve got a lot of things to do on the way. Get them done, and we’ll meet you on the coast.”
“We’ve been in the car for over an hour,” he said. “It’s too late to come back to pick you up. I thought you said you’d arrange for a ride there? When I called the service when we couldn’t get hold of you, they said they had no booking for you. That’s why I arranged it. What’s going on with you?”
“Nothing,” I said calmly, my fingers stroking Leah’s arm to reassure her when her brows pinched together in worry. “We just got in late last night. Everything is fine. I was planning on calling them this morning.”
“Okay,” he said after a brief pause. “Tonight’s dinner is important. Just get on the road and make sure you’re there on time.”
“We will be,” I said, hanging up and then leaning forward to plant a kiss on the crease between Leah’s eyebrows. “This is nothing to worry about. We just overslept a little. Jefferson and Katie are already on their way to Marseilles, and we’re going to have to scramble to get ready, but it’s not a problem.”
“Marseilles is today?” Alarm flashed in her eyes and she sat up so fast, her head nearly crashed into mine. I dodged at the last moment, but she didn’t even seem to realize how close we’d come to each having a black eye.
“How could we have forgotten?” she asked even as she scooted to the edge of the bed and jumped up. Looking around the room wildly, she seemingly decided to forgo wearing underwear just to get back to her room and made a dash for her dress instead. “Are we late? Is he angry? Does he know we slept together?”
“We’re not late, but we’re going to have to grab something to eat for the road,” I said. “Jefferson’s not angry and he doesn’t know anything about us. He’s stressed because he and I are usually together on these trips. He’s not used to operating separately from me, but he was the one who suggested it. There are some things he needs to wrap up today and we thought it would be easier if we weren’t all in one car.”
I got up and walked over to where she was shimmying into her dress, taking her hips and pulling her back against me. “Want to tell me what’s really bothering you?”
While I asked the question and then waited for her answer, I swept her hair to the side and zipped her up. She let out a deep breath before turning to face me, her gaze dark when she lifted it to mine.
“What will Jefferson do if he finds out what happened between us?” she asked softly, worry radiating from her as she looked up at me. “It wouldn’t be good for business.”
“It doesn’t have anything to do with business,” I said, running my hands up and down her arms. “I’ve already told you there are no policies about it. Jefferson won’t care as long as our personal relationship doesn’t influence our work.”
“You’re next in line to run his company,” she said. “There may not be policies about it, but I doubt he’ll appreciate any kind of distraction in your life.”
“I’ll handle him if need be, but it won’t be an issue. There’s no way for him to know what’s going on between us and he won’t find out if we don’t want him to.”
Her eyelids closed and she took a deep breath, releasing it slowly before opening her eyes to look at me again. “I’m already putting up a front. I’m not the girl Jefferson thinks I am or rather, the girl he wants me to be. I don’t know how much