Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 61160 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 306(@200wpm)___ 245(@250wpm)___ 204(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61160 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 306(@200wpm)___ 245(@250wpm)___ 204(@300wpm)
“Not at all.”
He signaled for the server, and I forced myself to eat whatever salty mess he placed in front of me.
He asked me four questions about myself and quickly launched into a spiel about how much money he made with cryptocurrency.
While he bragged about his latest vacation to Morocco, my phone buzzed in my lap.
A phone call from Tyler.
I hit ignore.
“Tell me a little more about you,” David said. “Sorry, I got carried away there.”
“I think I’ve told you all the basics.”
“Exactly.” He eyed my cleavage, and I was immediately turned off. “Tell me something sexy, something that would turn me on.”
“She’s currently pregnant with another man’s baby.” Tyler’s deep voice was suddenly behind me. “That’s quite ‘sexy’ enough, isn’t it?”
“I’m sorry, what?” David laughed nervously. “That’s—That’s not true, is it, Mia?”
I turned around, seeing Tyler wearing a baseball cap and oversized shades to cover his face, still looking sexy as hell.
“Mia’s not even her real name.” His voice was terse. “This woman isn’t who you think she is.”
I narrowed my eyes at him, knowing that he was doing the same behind his shades.
“Uh ….” David looked between us and stood to his feet. “Yeah, bye.”
He left the table without another word.
“He seemed like a nice guy,” Tyler said, sitting across from me. “I’m quite sorry for my interruption.”
“I doubt that. Are you out of your mind?”
“No, but you must be.” He signaled for the server. “We discussed this ‘dating’ thing and I believe I made myself more than clear.”
“Are you stalking me?”
“You put up a damn status on Facebook.” He rolled his eyes. “You said you wanted better dinner company.”
“That wasn’t meant for you to see. We’re not friends on there.”
“Your profile is public.” He paused. “I meant what I said about the dating shit, Chloe.”
“It was a simple conversation and a meal,” I said. “It wasn’t turning into anything else.”
“The way he was looking at you says otherwise.” He rolled up his sleeves. “And if it wasn’t him, one of the other men on this roof were just waiting to get their chance.”
I looked over my shoulder and noticed that all the guests who were drinking minutes ago were now gone, courtesy of Tyler’s bodyguards.
David was speaking to a guard in a dark blue suit, signing some type of clipboard.
What the hell…
“Facebook stalking aside, I thought you weren’t coming to this event.”
“I wasn’t,” he said. “But then I saw you taking a picture with my cardboard cutout and figured you’d finally want the real thing.”
“You took a two and a half hour road trip for that?”
“Thirty-minute flight.” He smiled. “You’re more than welcome to come back with me. We can make up for your indiscretion in my cabin.”
“For the umpteenth time, I’m not having sex with you.”
“You’re supposed to be thinking about it.”
“I did and it’s a no.”
Tyler let out a low laugh as the server refilled my glass and handed Tyler a menu.
“I’ll have water,” Tyler said, “and whatever my date here is having for dinner.”
“Yes sir,” he said. “Would you like extra pepper on your entree as well?”
“No.” He waited for him to walk away.
“I like the dress you’re wearing,” Tyler said. “It looks similar to the one you wore on our first date.”
“Because it’s the same one.”
“No compliment for me?”
“Yes. I’m starting to see that my children’s father is an egomaniac who thinks he can control every person I talk to.”
“Your best friends and coworkers are plenty. You can talk to them as much as you want.”
I stood to my feet, and he grabbed my wrist. His eyes locked on mine.
“Sit back down,” he said. “Now.”
I hesitated a few moments before tearing away from his grip. Then I hesitated a few minutes more before taking a seat.
“In all seriousness,” he said, his voice low. “You need to delete your social media profiles. I neglected to mention that to you in my office.”
“Why do I need to do that?”
“Because I don’t ever want you to be fair game for the media to rip apart.” The look in his eyes shifted from playful to grave. “I think I’ve handled everything, but on the off-chance that I haven’t…”
“If people ever find out that we’ve had children together,” he said. “They’re going to ask around town, go through footage, comb through all of your social media profiles to gauge when and where this started. You’ll have far less privacy than you do right now, and the least of your worries will be me showing up to help some guy see that he has no chance in hell of fucking you.”
I sipped my water, feeling the hairs on the back of my neck stand at full attention.
“That said, you don’t need pictures surfacing from some random dinner date that’s “a simple conversation” because when these ghouls get their hands on it, it won’t look like that at all. So, despite the fact that a small part of this is definitely about me being jealous, you don’t need to be seen one-on-one with any other man for the next six to seven months.”