I have no one I can text Mayday to.
Just breathe, Vaughn. You can do this.
It’s only once. Nothing is going to happen to you. Ryker is a well-respected, sought-after, high-powered divorce attorney. Not like that matters, though. My only saving grace is my rock-solid research. If he had any dirty secrets—any hidden fetishes—beyond the ones I already know, they’d already be out in the air somehow.
It’s just sex.
I study him as he cuts his meat. Refined yet rugged. Polite but with an edge. Handsome but not pretty.
And private.
Talking to him is like pulling teeth. Or maybe it’s just me. Maybe I’m not doing the slithering up to a man properly. Maybe I’m not stroking him enough verbally and making him feel manly enough. Hell, maybe I’m going to lose him as a client regardless, and so this whole charade I’m putting on is fruitless on all fronts.
Including my own damn ego.
His hands still, and when I look up to see why, his gaze is on me. “Yes?” he asks with a look that tells me my scrutiny is unwelcome.
“Why are we here if you’re not going to talk at all?” I ask the obvious.
“Because it’s been a long damn week, and last I checked, it’s not a crime to enjoy a nice meal with a beautiful woman.”
I nod my head slowly, his words surprising me.
“Ryker Lockhart? No fucking way,” a voice booms to our left, and we both turn our heads toward its owner. Wow. It’s my first and only thought when I take in the man striding our way. He’s tall with dark hair and green eyes. There’s light stubble on his jaw and a swagger that the expensive suit he has on can’t hide. “I thought that was you!”
“Colton Donavan?” Ryker stands automatically and is shaking the man’s hand instantly. The name rings a bell, but I can’t place it. “No shit.”
“You don’t call. You don’t write,” Colton says with his hands out and a killer smile on his face that has a lone dimple winking on one side. Boyish charm exudes from an absolute grown-man’s body.
“Like you’re one to talk,” Ryker says through a laugh.
“What’s it been? Five years?”
“At least.” They man-pat each other’s shoulders. “What are you doing in town?”
“Sponsorship stuff for the team and a little side trip with my wife.”
“Wife?” Ryker sputters with eyes wide and a hand coming up to cover the cough he gives in disbelief.
“Wife,” Colton says with an unabashed shrug and no-holds-barred grin, and the way that Ryker just stares at him tells me this news is definitely a shock.
“You’re giving me a heart attack here,” Ryker says through a laugh and pats his chest.
“Even the most stubborn of us fuckers fall one day. Just you wait.”
“Nah. Not me. You know me better than that.”
“And you sound just like I used to.”
Ryker stares at him for a beat, grin widening and head shaking as if he can’t believe it. “How? When? Never mind—I’m happy for you if you’re happy.”
“It’s almost been five years, and it was close family at the ceremony. Sorry there was no invite. You know how it goes.”
“The goddamn paparazzi.”
“Exactly. But yes, very happy.”
“Is she here? When do I get to meet the woman who tamed Colton fucking Donavan?”
“You actually think I’d let her near you?” he jokes and then blanches when Ryker shifts some and he notices me. I can see the word fuck glance through his eyes when he sees me there and realizes what he just said. “I’m sorry.” He takes a step toward me and extends his hand. “Colton, nice to meet you.”
I fumble over the right name. The V is on my lips, but I catch myself before Vaughn falls out. “Saxony. Nice to meet you.”
We shake hands, his smile genuine if not a little bit embarrassed for insinuating that Ryker is a player when he’s unaware of the state of our relationship.
“First date,” Ryker says as Colton winces with the knowledge that he might just have fucked things up for his buddy.
At least the man has manners.
“What’s she doing with you?” Colton laughs. “This guy’s a pain in the ass.”
“I’m learning,” I murmur as I bring the glass of wine to my lips and watch them above the rim.
“I’ll leave you two, but it was great meeting you,” Colton says with a nod.
“Likewise.”
“So, wife? Do I get to meet her?” Ryker asks as they step a few feet away toward Colton’s table.
“She’s not here,” Colton says, but then I can’t hear