Dropping The Ball - A New Year’s Billionaire Romance - Weston Parker Page 0,52
terrible enough having the whole world in my business when things are good, but when they’re not? I don’t even want to think about it.”
“Your relationship and your MS don’t have to be tabloid fodder, Ry.” Her voice was gentle. “Once your first performance is over and the show has opened, things will be better. If you choose to tell the press anything about your private business, you can do it when and how you want to.”
“Nathan has been so fucking nasty with his rumors recently that it’s hard to believe he’ll ever back down. I could tell him all the dirtiest details of what goes on behind closed doors around here, and he’d probably still insist on being present in the room so he could take pictures as proof.”
She laughed but nodded in agreement. “That guy is getting seriously out of control. Maybe Carter can whoop his ass for you?”
“No, not yet. Maybe not ever.” I’d rather keep those two far, far away from each other. “I’m still hoping Nathan will move on from me eventually and find someone who’s actually interesting to obsess over. If my supposed boyfriend beats him up, that’ll never happen. He’ll make it his personal mission to destroy me.”
“I hate to break it to you, but I think he might’ve already done that.” The worry that crept into her eyes disappeared when we heard the door opening, the sound of masculine laughter drifting from the entrance hall.
“The boys are here,” I said, feeling the wide grin that spread on my face just by knowing Carter was back. Home. With me. Where he belongs.
I nearly snorted out loud at the soppy thought, but that didn’t make it any less true. Now if only I could figure out what it was that it felt like I was missing, maybe I could work on convincing him it was true too.
Chapter 19
CARTER
Rylee didn’t want to admit it, but she was a romantic at heart. Apparently, she, Tani, and Cash had a standing brunch date one Sunday a month, but since I would be here anyway, Bart didn’t need to be.
Neither of us had told him. Me because she’d asked me not to and her because she was still convinced our best friends would hit it off. It was a blind date that was so blind that neither of them even knew it was a setup.
Yet.
They were about to find out, and I had to admit that I was curious about how it was going to go. Bart and I ran into each other at the elevator, and he laughed when I told him I’d had to run out to the store for Rylee.
“You’re taking this boyfriend thing so far that you’re running her errands now?” He lifted his eyebrows at me. “That’s cute. Really. All of the cons of a relationship and none of the pros. Why did you agree to this again?”
Because it’s Rylee. “I have this boss. He’s a real asshole. Insisted that I was the best guy for this assignment.”
“He stands by it.” He watched when I extracted the key to her front door from my pocket, unlocked it, and motioned for him to precede me. “Why, thank you. See, I told you you had a sparkling personality. It just took a girlfriend to bring it out in you.”
I laughed, shaking my head as I shut and locked the door behind us again. “Told you my boss was a real asshole.”
Another bout of laughter came out of him until Rylee and Tani walked out of the kitchen toward us. Bart’s mouth shut immediately, his eyes nearly bulging out of his head when he saw her.
Tani looked good, though. I couldn’t blame him for staring at her in a soft green cardigan that matched her eyes and gave a decent view of her cleavage. If the woman I was falling for faster than I could remind myself that it would never work hadn’t been right next to her, commanding all my attention in a black hoodie that I couldn’t wait to peel off her later, I might’ve been scraping my jaw off the floor too.
As it was, though, I only barely noticed Bart’s reaction. My gaze was glued to Rylee. She was grinning at them, widening her eyes when they met mine. My arms started opening for her of their own accord. It took me a beat to remember that I couldn’t hug her the way I wanted to, and they dropped back to my sides.