Page 47 of Wild Blades

Smiling wide, I drop my shoulders, relieved he agreed and excited that I am spending the day with him.

Nope, that’s not it, it’s just the shopping part, that’s what I am excited about.I love shopping. My favorite thing to do is shop. And has nothing to do with being in Wade’s orbit.Nope, not a thing.

“Will we get breakfast?” My stomach rumbles excitedly.

“You missed that. It’s lunchtime.”

I groan. “I’m not usually this unprofessional.”

“I know.”

“You don’t though. Not really.”

“I know you enough.”

“Great. I’ll get ready then.” I jump out of bed, instantly feeling dizzy when I stand, the room whooshing around me.

Grabbing the sides of my head, I push my fingers into my scalp to stop it from hurting. “You don’t happen to have any Tylenol, do you?”And I need water. Stat.

“Those are in the bathroom for you and there’s water by the bed.”

He’s thought of everything. A true gentleman.

“Thank you. For everything.” I give him a grateful nod and grab the bottle of water off the nightstand, stepping into the en suite to get ready for the day.

“Kali,” Wade calls out my name and when I turn around, I catch him staring at my legs for a beat too long. “Michael’s a bigger dick than I am.”

You look like you have a much bigger dick than he does, I want to say, but I internalize it and go for, “He is,” instead.

“Forget about him.”

“Trying to.”

Wade’s Adam’s apple moves slowly up and then down, then he says, “You’re not a has been, you never will be. You’re an icon and respected all around the world.” He pauses. “For what it’s worth, I think you’re really beautiful.”

I’ve heard that all of my life, but somehow, Wade saying it hits different. He’s not saying it to make me feel better or because it’s the right thing to say. It feels honest and pure and is sort of freaking me out because I don’t know what to do with the compliment.

“I’ve got a few pieces of paperwork to go over that Lola left for me. Once I’m finished, I’ll wait for you in reception.”

Then he leaves me standing in his bedroom.

I grab my phone from the nightstand he’s kindly plugged in and is fully charged, groaning at the dozen or more notifications that glare back at me.

I skim through them quickly, relieved nothing needs my immediate attention and can all wait until Monday. I couldn’t handle a full-scale public relations crisis today.

Tapping open my messages app, I type a message in the group chat with my two friends.

ME:

Thanks for leaving me.

ELLIS:

Drama queen. We left you in Wade’s capable hands.

JOY:

He looks capable of anything! Big hands.

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