Page 15 of Casita Casanova
My smile falls as the obvious answer finally occurs to me. She’s a conniving little mastermind, isn’t she?
“What?” Danielle asks, her own smile falling to match mine.
Chuckling softly to myself, I shake my head. “Who did this? Who set up this listing?”
Danielle’s eyes narrow and I wait for her to catch on.
Finally, her lips curve into a smile. “That little fucker.” She raises her glass to mine. “To asshole kids.”
With a loud laugh, I clink my glass against hers. “And new jobs.”
Danielle nods in agreement. “With hot new bosses.”
“Oh, good grief.” I clink my glass against hers again anyway. “He was twelve-teen, at most.”
“And new renters who are as single and sexy as they arewealthy.”
I snort just before I take a sip of my margarita, thankfully not after. “And you got that information from…?”
She shrugs. “The woman kept sayingclient. What kind of person would have someone else calling about a rental property for them? If she’d been someone’s secretary, she would have saidmy bossor something, right? And she called from a New York number.”
“Not everyone in New York is wealthy.”
Danielle shrugs, unfazed by my statement. “Whatever. Herclientsounds like a rich dude to me.” She sips on her drink, watching me thoughtfully. “Rich. Young. Devastatingly handsome.” She leans forward, lowering her voice. “When he sees you, he can’t stay away from you, and soon you’re thrown up against the wall, completely immobilized by his hands all over your—”
“Danielle!” I hiss, looking around to make sure none of the other diners overheard her. “This isn’t a romance novel.”
She tosses her head back and laughs. “Don’t you wish it was, though?Eroticromance.” She waggles her eyebrows. “Fifty Shades of Properly Fucked by my Tenant.”
“Oh my God.”
Her eyes widen with an idea that I’m going to hate. “Rolling Around With my Renter.”
“Stop it.” I grab my margarita and take a sip.
“Cunnilingus in the Casita.”
I snort margarita through my nose. It burns something fierce, but then our food arrives, and I’m frozen with mortification. Did our server overhear Danielle’s last words? Oh my God. I can’t look. My best friend laughs as if it’s no big deal, but I drop my gaze to my lap, avoiding the most-likelyembarrassedface of our server until I know she’s gone again. When I finally look up, Danielle’s beaming.
“You’re the worst.”
She winks and we both laugh, then start in on our appetizers.
Chapter Five
Ridge
I’ve been kicking this heavyweight punching bag’s ass for over an hour and my shoulders are still tight, still tense from the weight of my conversation with Bethany. My chest heaves with each deep breath, but I haven’t burned through my tension yet.
My dad didn’t trust me.
I’ve been so careless, so oblivious to the fact that everything I do reflects back on my father’s name and the empire he built for me. He must have been paying attention all those years.
He deserved better than what I’ve given him.
I grab the punching bag and steady it, then look up at the ceiling.I’ll do better by you, Pops. I swear it.
Beth’s right: I have to get the hell out of the city. I’m too well-known here, too high in demand. I can’t go out for causal drinks with friends without drawing the attention of paparazzi and women like flies on shit. Can’t go to the club without attracting every bottle bunny in a thirty-mile radius.
