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“Waffles and fried chicken? At the same time?”
“It’s a delicious combination, sweetheart You haven’t lived until you’ve tried it”
“Sounds like it’ll kill h Or at least help me pack on another ten pounds I don’t need”
Chad lifted my hand to his lips and kissed the knuckles “In that case, I’d help you take them back off”
“You are a naughty man, Chad Willia was a nice contrast to Jax, as entirely dangerous in every way
As if he read avewith Jackson Rutledge”
I tensed, surprised, then realized Lei was right to have done that Better to deal with any issues now than to have Chad find out later and feel that we deliberately kept soo”
“And now?” He glanced at uy who sent you the flowers?”
“Yes Now he’s” I thought of hi to see me Sleep with me “He’s back in my life and involved in my business, which I don’t appreciate”
“Which part? The life? The business? Both?”
“My business is naled our desire for a cab “He can’t cause any more trouble for you, Chad You, Inez, and David are set with Mondego We’re rolling ahead”
“Can he cause problems for you?”
“Don’t worry about me”
He threw his ar to worry about you You’re my lucky ticket”
I bumped my hip into his “To what?”
“As if you don’t know, Gianna darlin’ Fame and fortune”
I had to adood I ate more than I should have and felt as if I practically waddled back up to , but Chad and I were er at three-thirty and I orried I’d still be shaking off sleep fog It wasn’t a reet over coffee, but business was business
I opened h my e the one from Deanna Johnson that I’d spotted the moment my inbox opened I pulledin the cell nunored the notifications of voice mails and texts from Jax
“Deanna Johnson,” she answered briskly
“Hi It’s Gianna Rossi” Her LinkedIn profile was open in one of the tabs inat her photo She was a pretty brunette with long hair and dark eyes She and Vincent had , their dark coloring , but then, Vincent’s relationships rarely did He liked having a steady girlfriend, but with the hours he worked at Rossi’s, he wasn’t a steady boyfriend
“Gianna, hey How are you?”
I leaned into the headrest and stretched ood You?”
“Chasing a story, as always” Deanna’s voice changed, became more focused “Vincent says you wanted ?”
“Jackson Rutledge”
“Right That’s what he said” She blew out her breath “Care to tell me why?”
“We’ve beenseeing each other”
Deanna laughed softly “An enigmatic millionaire with more secrets than dollars? I know the type”
I pinched the bridge ofit’d be better forI wouldn’t “I just want to get a better handle on hi about trying to s work”
“Probably,” she said bluntly “What are you looking for? I’ator, and there are a lot of books out there about the Rutledge fairlfriends you can find with a Google search”
“No, that’s not what I’ for sohed “I don’t understand why he’ll do anything for his family when he doesn’t always seeme from them”
“If he cares about you that es are like tiger sharks—they swim in the saest comes out alive”
I froze, reht before You’re swi like you’re on vacation
“Okay,” I said carefully, thinking of Jax’s father “Who’s the strongest shark in that fae?”
“Without a doubt”
Jax said his parents had started out as a love match and ended up miserable “What do you know about Jax’s mom?”
“Leslie Rutledge? Talk about an enigma Almost never seen in public the last five years before she died, and she avoided the spotlight even before that”
“Jax won’t talk about her”
“I can poke around, see what turns up, but it’ll take soe stone, security tea out”
I sighed I’d been seriously delusional drea you find And I’ll pay for your time, of course”
“Sure thing”
Sitting up, I rolled ht about his fa how things had gone for us so far “Thanks, Deanna”
“Hey, take care, okay? Guys like Jax can really fuck you up if you’re not careful”
“Yeah, I know Thanks You take care, too”
We hung up and I set hat the screen, I saas from Jax My feet tapped a little dance on the carpet before I realized what I was doing
I know you’re thinking about me
I stared at his e and snorted “Whatever”
Obviously, you’re thinking about me, I typed back
I dreamt about u 2
Thatabout Jax was one of ht a major business deal for u
Ame
I laughed He’d changed tactics fro hardball to just playing Jax knehen a particular strategy wasn’t working
I started typing a reply, but he beatI answered and he spoke before I could even say hello