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“THAT MAN IS seriously hot He can take my order anytime”
I scowled at the television in my hotel room as I unpacked my toiletries God knehy I’d tuned in to a midday talk show, but I certainly hadn’t expected to see the lamorous hosts dish about how hot he was
“Maybe he’s going to put voting booths in every Pembry-backed restaurant,” the other one said
Shaking my head, I headed into the bathroo I wasn’t sure I’d ever forgive hi me over like that Maybe I shouldn’t take it so personally, s you just didn’t do to so up their job—an adored job at that—was one of them
I was deter to e that I wasn’t sure it changed anything
I’d just hungon the towel rack when the roo I probably took a lot more time than Chad did to unpack, I expected he was ready to head down to see the construction site of his restaurant in the very sa turned into a destination with a capital D, and I would soon have the dust on the soles of my Jimmy Choos to prove it
Grabbing the receiver off the bathroom wall, I tucked it into the crook of my neck and said, “Hey You settled in already?”
“Gia, damn it Turn on your cell phone!”
Jax’s deep, sexy voice slid acrosswith it a rush of heated and beloved led with pleasure that he’d gone to the trouble of tracking uy with his pick of wo me around the country was entirely unnecessary And really flattering
I leaned against the bathroo you”
“Good luck with that”
My jaw tightened So what if he was an animal in bed? So what if I was happy to hear fro up now”
“You can’t run frohtly “And you can’t pull that shit you pulled yesterday We need to talk”
“I agree, but that usuallyto be a fuck buddy to you and you don’t give me any reasons why I don’t have the patience to run around in circles Unless you’ve got real answers foryou any more of my time”
“You’re going to give me a hell of a lot more than time, Gia”
A shiver of awareness oing-to-bang-the-hell-out-of-you tone “You wish”
“I’m about to land, Gia I’ll be at the hotel within the hour and you’re going to see me”
“What?” My pulse gave a traitorous leap of exciteht before It was all too eager to cross the finish line “I can’t believe you followed me to Atlanta! How the hell did you knohere I was?”
“Your sister-in-law”
Denise was going to be hearing from me She knew better, which meant she’d done it on purpose “Well, turn around and fly ho, Jax I don’t trust you to be around my work”
His sharply indrawn breath told me I’d scored a hit
“Fine,” he snapped “I’ll send a car for you We’ll meet at my hotel”
“I’ve got stuff to do today I’ll let you knohen I have a moment, and I’ll find a neutral place for us tomall Someplace where intimacy wouldn’t be a problem Sadly, I couldn’t trust myself around him now that I kne he felt about me
“My hotel, Gia,” he reiterated “A public place won’t save you We’re going to fuck, long and hard, wherever we end up Better we don’t end up in jail and splashed all over the tabloids while doing it, don’t you think?”
“You’ve really got to do soo”
“Baby, I’ll crawl on my hands and knees if that’s what it takes”
It was et to me, how to opento him “Tell me you love me, Jax”
There was aeach other isn’t our problem”
He hung up, leavingon to an empty connection As usual
“It’s finally starting to feel real,” Chad said, looking around at the construction area
I smiled “Good”
He reached for ave it a squeeze He’dan open-collar dress shirt tucked into loose-fitting jeans His auburn hair was just barely overlong, with the bangs draping across his brow and frareen eyes No doubt about it, Chad Williams was a hunk
He’d drawn a lot of female attention on the way in, but he hadn’t paid any mind to it I hoped he would stay unaffected at least until the first restaurant opened I’d seen et too cocky from attention overload, and their businesses quickly suffered as a result
“So what happens next?” he asked, turning to face me
“The Mondego was just waiting for signed contracts to begin serious construction,” I explained “The architect will revaree it works for you, we’ll sign off on it and they’ll get to work”
“God” He blew out his breath and grinned “I can’t wait to see them”
“We’ll get to look at the existing plans to to be laid out When we get back to New York, we’ll bring you, Inez, and David together to start hashing out the dueling ional variations based on hotel locations”
Chad nodded “How much say will they have in the whole process?”
“In their menus, a lot,” I said honestly “We picked them for their talent and we need to let theot the ulti your coattails for now”
His mouth twisted ruefully “I hope that doesn’t cause any problems”
“I suspect it’ll be easier than working with your sister”
“Ha! No doubt”
He joked, but I saw a hint of sadness in his expressive eyes Things would’ve been better all around if Stacy had followed through and undertaken this endeavor with his, which was ironic considering how much he did for his own family
“Have you called her since the news broke about Rutledge Capital and Peently
His loat?”
“So you can congratulate her You know, extend an olive branch”
“She’d be an ass about it”
“Maybe” I put my hand on his shoulder “But you’ll feel better if you do And later on, when she comes around, you can hold it over her”
That coaxed out a huff of a laugh “I’ll think about it”
“In the ry?”
“Starved Let’s eat” He held his arreat fried chicken and waffle places around these parts”