Page 119 of Hushed

“I worked for four hours.” She waved her hand at the laptop open on Gage’s desk. Technically, she’d stared at an empty Photoshop screen for at least an hour of that time, but he didn’t need to know that.

“Are you done with everything?”

She stuck her tongue out at him, trying to ease the tension in the air. “Of course not. But why does it matter if I keep working or not?”

Reggie laughed. “Not to make things weird, but I know Gage. The two of you are doing more than hooking up. He’s your Dom.”

Her face burned with embarrassment, and she picked up a pen off Gage’s desk and threw it at him. “Don’t be gross. I am not discussing my sex life with you.”

Reggie laughed. “I’m not mad, and I certainly don’t want details. But that kind of relationship only works if you’re willing to commit to your role in it. So, sit your ass down and focus on your work. I’ll make some calls and find out what I can. But I’ll need your phone. People are looking for me, so I ditched mine.”

Kenzie shuddered. Reggie’s life terrified her. And it was the same life Gage used to live. What if that's where he was now? Out there, doing all the things that terrified her.

Reluctantly, she handed Reggie the phone. When he unlocked the screen, he barked out a laugh.

“No, you don’t miss him at all, do you?”

“Stop. It’s not that bad.”

“I count twelve texts. If I go to the call log, how many am I going to find?”

She ducked her head. “Probably ten.”

“He’s fine, Gabs-a-lot. Don’t worry. He’s been taking care of himself for years.”

She blew out an exasperated breath. “Something didn’t feel right when he left. Like he was keeping something from me.”

Reggie dragged a hand through his hair. “Yeah. I got the same sensation. But I still trust him with my life, and he’s going to be fine.”

“I just want him to come home.” Her voice wobbled, and she squeezed her eyes shut, determined not to cry.

“Listen. I’ve been in some of those White House meetings. It can, in fact, take hours to get all the right people into the room.”

“OK. If you say so.”

She opened her laptop again and tried to focus on the work in front of her, but it was pointless.

Frustrated, she clicked over to her email to see if any new client requests were waiting for her, when she saw an email from Kit Dufort.

Kenzie,

It has been such a pleasure collaborating with you on the graphics for Solitaire Mansion. I especially like your ideas for the grand opening invitations. I wanted to personally invite you and Gage to join us for the grand opening. If you can’t make it that night, consider it a standing invitation to visit the club anytime you’re in town as my guest.

Kit

The email reminded her of her trip to Colorado with Gage, and she found herself looking at the Solitaire Mansion website. It made her smile to see that they’d already incorporated her graphics into the design.

From there, she started looking at hotels in the area. Somehow that search led her to look at clubs in the area where she might be able to DJ.

“You look like you’re down a rabbit hole, babe.”

She jumped and squealed at the sound of Gage’s voice. When she glanced at the time in the corner of the monitor, it told her another hour had passed.

“You’re back,” she spluttered, jumping up from the desk to run around and hug him. As she moved, she took in his appearance.

His sleeves were rolled up, and his shirt was wrinkled and unbuttoned at the collar. His hair was a mess, as if he’d been running his hands through it repeatedly.

“Did you miss me or something?” He pulled her close and kissed her, earning them another groan from her brother as he stood and left the office.

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