so big. Maybe hiring Graham had been a good idea after all.
As they headed out the door, what I was sure were the last remaining party guests came out of the living room and left after making small talk for just a moment. When everyone was gone, Austin closed the door and Tanner called down to the gate to double-check that everyone had left.
Clay was making one last sweep of the house as we filed back into the living room, crashing exhaustedly into Austin’s furniture. Sighing, I looked around. “I don’t have to do any more parties, right?”
Yawning, I ignored the laughter. “It was good to see that people want to come and weren’t frustrated by the security measures, but I’m really not a party person.”
Austin giggled. “You met the sexiest guy here today, though, and he seemed quite smitten with you.”
Groaning, I sank deeper into the chair and fought off another yawn as I stared up at the ceiling. “I shouldn’t flirt with the guy who’ll probably be my assistant.”
Shane laughed. “When did that become the rule around here?”
Laughter rolled around the room and Tanner spoke up. “I think that ship has long since sailed. I saw how you were looking at him.”
“Fine. I’m sure flirting and probably sleeping with my new assistant will turn out to be a great decision.” I was relatively sure I was being sarcastic, but Austin giggled again.
“Oh, and think about all the wicked fantasies you can live out. He can spank you for being an asshole boss or you can pretend to sexually harass him and he puts you in your place or—”
“Stop that.” Wade stepped in, throwing a pillow at Austin. “You’re going to get us completely off track.”
I could feel Wade looking at me, so I straightened just enough to focus on him as he said, “He seemed sincere when we talked.”
If it all became fucked up, Wade was going to feel guilty forever.
“I agree.” Making sure he knew we were both on the same page, I continued. “When we were talking in the kitchen, he knew a lot about the business and said his parents are authors. Aside from the flirting and staring and drooling part, it actually was a productive conversation. And he’s already had a background check.”
And he knew better than to leave anything up to my memory.
Tanner shrugged. “Sounds perfect as long as you guys are on the same page as far as the personal stuff goes. You know you’re going to have to talk about that and set boundaries, right?”
I sighed again, sounding a bit like Austin. “Yes, but I’d really rather not.”
Bradley snorted. “No way around it now.”
I made a rude gesture in Bradley’s direction that had Simon grinning as I gave Bradley a sarcastic smile. “You’re so sweet and helpful.”
Deciding I would ignore his response, I looked over at Jonah. “I’m not replacing you. Honest. I value your help, but there’s just a lot of little things that I’ve fallen behind on because there isn’t enough time for it. Neither of us has the time for everything.”
He smiled and nodded, but looked relieved, if I had to put a name to the expression. “I completely understand. I’m working on my stuff a lot more and between that and home and the club, there just aren’t any more hours to give you.”
Thank goodness.
Because if I had to give him all the extra work, I was going to have to explain a few things. I knew at some point I was going to have to fess up, but I really wanted that side of things to be a success before it came out. With the mainstream books having done so well, anything less than fabulous on the romance side would look pathetic.
And I was never going to hear the end of it.
I’d tried to ignore the erotic plot ideas for entirely too long to just randomly confess I’d given up fighting it.
“Just talk to the guy and figure out how you’re going to incorporate the domination and submission shit beforehand.” Bradley scoffed when I protested.
“Hey, just because we happen to be an omega and an alpha and have certain things in common doesn’t mean—” Laughter echoed through the room before I could even finish the lie. “Fine. I’ll talk to him.”
Playing ostrich and ignoring things was my superpower, but considering how we’d met and his flirting, that wasn’t going to be an option.
“If you were more subtle or shier, I would say you could get away