Total pages in book: 134
Estimated words: 123877 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 619(@200wpm)___ 496(@250wpm)___ 413(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 123877 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 619(@200wpm)___ 496(@250wpm)___ 413(@300wpm)
“Look, I knew you’d be a dick about it,” Thane said in his normal condescending tone.
“And, yet here we are,” Julian countered as if it were a given, happy to call the conversation over. “What else do you need?”
Silence held between them.
Since Julian refused to allow himself another thought about the Marlboro Man, or their fun dinner, or their romantic walk, or their magnetic connection that ended in that fucking kiss— Beckett could kiss a man until his toes curled. The way Beckett had held Julian’s face, his calloused palms so strong yet tender. The man was almost reverent in his actions. He let out a deep sigh and dropped a palm on the window, letting the cool glass ground him in the moment, and closed his eyes.
What started out as an experiment to see if Beckett was truly behind all of Julian’s newfound feelings had ended in a rigid hard-on that still sought attention twelve hours later.
How would Thane feel if he learned Beckett was the catalyst to everything that had happened to Julian over the last week? The blissful numbness of the last year had been a blessing in disguise. Beckett had opened a floodgate of confusion and longing. Desires he’d thought were buried forever had risen to the surface and stirred that part of him that had been lost. The sensual tingles that lit Julian’s body on fire were out of this world and—
You need to stop right there.
“Stop what?” Thane asked. Shit. Julian thought he said that in his head. “Look, I knew you’d be resistant because you always are. I’ll table it for now, but I need you to meet us at Escape at three o’clock in the conference center room we always use. Arik and I need to talk with you.”
“What about?” Julian asked, trying to decide whether the meeting had merit or if he needed to avoid it too.
“This isn’t open for negotiations,” Thane said with finality.
Julian strode back to his desk. “Business 101 taught to me by the irritatingly successful Thane Walker: Everything is a negotiation.”
“I regret that class, and much like everything I’ve taught you, you’ve proven me resoundingly wrong. I’ll meet you in the conference room at three. Come prepared to take notes.”
Julian rolled his eyes. “I have thirty minutes available. I have interviews scheduled this afternoon,” he explained truthfully.
“Get Ricco to take your interviews. I’ll need you for a couple of hours.”
“You’re annoying,” Julian said. He’d planned to be available for the liquor delivery this afternoon. The current inventory didn’t add up. Either the liquor wasn’t arriving properly, or they had someone with sticky fingers working there. Julian was determined to find the truth. “When do you go back to Maryland?
“Sooner than you realize.” Thane ended the call. Julian slowly lowered the phone as his belly growled. Another result of the soul-destroying kiss last night was that his appetite had returned with a vengeance. He’d had breakfast twice this morning, a couple of snacks and now needed lunch. He’d also added meat back into his diet by way of bacon. Man, bacon tasted so damn good.
“Julian.” Arik Layne greeted him as Julian peeked his head through the door. The man was always crazy aware of his surroundings. But somewhere between Julian’s lunch and this three o’clock get-together, he grew skeptical that there was, in fact, a business meeting at all. Instead, the appointment was no doubt some sort of ruse to introduce him to a trainer or instructor for Thane’s asinine idea of self-defense. Thane never gave in as easily as he had during their last phone conversation.
Relieved to see only the three of them in the room, Julian pushed open the door and stepped inside as Arik got to his feet and stuck out a hand. He gripped Arik’s hand in greeting.
“Thank you for taking the time to see us this afternoon.” Arik’s words made him feel on equal footing. Julian appreciated the respect Layne always gave him. In Julian’s life, he’d rarely ever earned anyone’s respect.
“No problem. Why am I here?” Julian asked, nodding at Thane, who looked knee-deep in paperwork on the other side of the small table. Arik and Thane had joined forces on several different projects, the ownership and expansion of Reservations being one. When the two men got together, Thane regularly left with a list of tasks to accomplish. Arik, not so much. The man knew how to delegate without anyone realizing it.
“Take a seat,” Thane said, setting a large, loaded file folder on his lap, flipping pages over from a stapled packet. “Regardless of what this says, I believe we should begin construction on the East Coast, Layne. We’re ready to begin. Contracts, permits, and funding are ready to go. There’s no reason to wait. DFW can come in next, maybe early next year.”