I flinch and blush at her characterization of my recent past, even though there’s no one here to witness my embarrassment. Licking my dry lips, my eyes dart around my room, unseeing. Can I expect Colt to go through with an engagement? Possibly getting married? Would he do that for the chance he’s been hoping for?
He did toast to us walking the red carpet together a year from now.
Throwing caution to the wind, I nod decisively. “Yes. Yes, we’re that serious.”
“Alright, then,” Delores says, a sense of smug satisfaction coming through loud and clear. “I didn’t know you had it in you, dear. But good for you. If you can pull this off, it will go a long way to rehabbing your reputation. But you have to keep walking the straight and narrow, got it?”
“Got it.”
She knows. She definitely knows. And it seems she approves. Great.
I think.
Chapter Five
Colt
My phone ringing wakes me up from the most amazing dream. I was kissing Alexis, just like I did last night. I can still feel the phantom weight of her body against mine, the soft press of her tiny tits against my chest, the firm muscles of her thigh under my hand. Not that I felt her thigh last night, but damn, I wanted to.
I try to ignore my phone and hang onto the dream, because it’s even better than reality. She’s naked. I’m naked. And I’m about to …
Riiiiing.
Groaning, I roll over. Only unknown numbers get the old school phone ringer. But as my brother’s assistant, I get enough important calls from people who aren’t in my contacts that I can’t really afford to ignore it.
Grabbing my phone, I answer and issue a gruffer than normal, “Hello?” I don’t mean to sound grumpy and pissy, but my dick is aching and while I’d rather not wake up in a puddle of my own cum from a wet dream, I really wasn’t ready to let go of that fantasy.
I’m not dumb enough to assume that fake-dating Alexis will lead to any of the real benefits of having a girlfriend. We’ll kiss and touch in public, but we probably won’t spend a lot of time together in private. And when we do, it’ll be all business.
It’s just as well. I don’t need the distraction of a real relationship. And neither does Alexis, I’m sure.
A tentative female voice answers me. “Hello? Colt? I’m sorry, is this a bad time?”
Blinking, I work to place the voice. And then it hits me. “Alexis? Sorry, no, this is fine. You’re fine. I just woke up, that’s all.”
“Oh. Sorry. Do you need to go? I can call back …”
I scrub a hand over my face, hating how stilted we suddenly are with each other. Our conversation was pretty easy last night at the party. She melted in my arms when I kissed her, leaned comfortably against me while we schmoozed together, and my dream … well, the only thing hard was me. Still am.
Oh my fucking god. I need to shut up the voice in my head and talk.
“No, no. This is fine. What’s up? What do you need?” God, I sound like I’m barking questions at her like an interrogator. What the fuck is my problem? I’m better than this. I handle people, they don’t handle me. And while Alexis and I might be entering into some kind of public romantic relationship/private business relationship, I initiated it. I sweet talked her into it. I don’t need to be a bumbling fool or an arrogant asshole.
Closing my eyes, I force myself to take a deep breath and use my best assistant voice. I’m a problem solver. That’s my job. “Sorry. I just didn’t expect to hear from you so soon. I’m awake now. I can talk. Did you want to work out the details now? I can meet you somewhere in about an hour, sooner if you’re close by.” I check the time on the bedside clock. “I have meetings all afternoon, though, so I can’t stick around for too long.”
“Oh, right.” She still has that hesitant, stilted quality to her voice, despite my best attempts at being my favorite combination of soothing and competent. It works like a charm when my sister-in-law Gabby starts to spiral. Of course, her preferred method of calming down has nothing to do with me, and I don’t want to think about what her and my brother get up to behind closed doors that gives her that dreamy look afterward.