Page 59 of Plus Size Player

“Well, first, calm down,” Russ instructed into the phone. “It’s fine. I ran into someone and didn’t hear the phone while we were catching up.”

Smirking, I made eye contact with him in the mirror, and he winked at me.

“Yeah, I’ll be right there,” he continued. “Fine, yes. Yes. Give me a couple minutes. Stall them. Let them know that I’m on the way.” He smoothed down his jacket, yanking it to mask his bulge. “Stall them!”

He ended the call but kept the phone in his hand.

“Everything okay?” I asked, turning toward him.

“Yeah, first my assistant, and now my sister.” He shook his head. “I’m late for a meeting with some people who are interested in giving me money,” he explained.

My eyebrows shot up. “You need to get out of here! Don’t lose money on my account.”

He grabbed my arm and pulled me into him. “If I were to losemoney, it would be on me.” Leaning down, his lips brushed mine softly. “But I don’t plan on losing anything.”

“Good.” I reached up and clasped my hands around his neck. “I wouldn’t want you to take a loss.”

He stared at me for a moment. “Then come back to my hotel with me.”

“I have people I’m supposed to meet up with in a few minutes.” I planted a quick kiss against his mouth. “And I don’t know how long that’s going to take.”

He shook his head slowly. “You’re going to make me wait until morning, aren’t you?”

Before I could answer, his phone started vibrating loudly.

Sighing, he took his hand off me to look at it. “I have to take this.”

“And I have to get to my own meeting,” I told him with one final look at myself in the mirror.

“Nina,” he called after me as I headed to the door.

I put my thumb and pinky to the side of my face. “Call me,” I mouthed to him as he started to put his cell to his ear.

He winked at me before answering the call. “Hello?”

I grinned as he followed me out of the bathroom.

“Where are you? I’m headed that way now,” he told the person on the phone.

I scanned the area. We’d left the little hallway and I was able to see the first floor. The party seemed to have grown, and more people were milling around on the far end of the event space. I looked around and fortunately, no one seemed to be on the second floor.

While giving instructions over the phone, Russ grabbed my arm and assisted me down the steps. When we reached the landing, his fingertips trailed from my elbow to my wrist. A smile played on his lips as he tenderly touched the bracelet he’d given me. For a moment, I thought he was going to hold my hand.

Instead, he brushed his fingers against mine and then removed his hand completely.

“Yes, I’m aware. I got this. I’ll be there in a couple of minutes,” he said bitingly before ending the call.

The shift between his professional tone and the way he talked to me was slight. There was no code-switching, which I liked. There was just a dry firmness that didn’t exist in our conversation.

The large clock high on the wall caught my eye.Shit.

“Do you know where you’re headed?” he asked me as I picked up the pace. A chuckle rumbled out of him. “I guess so with the way you’re running.”

“I’ve been gone for almost thirty minutes!”

He had long legs, so it was easy for him to keep up with me. “You want me to come with you to explain to them what kept you?” he offered.

“Yeah, that’ll go overrealwell,” I replied sarcastically, rolling my eyes. “You’re just asking for security to put us out, huh?” I elbowed him gently. “You need to worry about your own meeting.”

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