Page 57 of Rush
I narrowed my eyes, feeling slightly dirty…and not in a good way. “You’re right. It is a foreign concept.”
“Justin and I were forced into our marriage by our families,” she explained. “We don’t love one another, but we take comfort in the fact we have a solid friendship. We give each other security. Financially and emotionally with the pressure from our parents.”
“Wow, the trials and tribulations of rich, trust fund fuckers,” I drawled. “The travesty.”
“That’s a big word,” she retorted. “Know any more? Like cunnilingus?”
“Lick your own pussy, Margaret.”
“I’d much rather you did.” She prowled closer, placing her hand on my chest. “You have my number.”
“You keep reminding me.” I wanted to push her away, but for some reason, I didn’t.
“Call me, anytime. I’ll do anything you want.”
My dick twitched, a couple of compromising positions came to mind, and I immediately hated myself for being tempted by a poor excuse for a human being. Especially when my heart was still tied up in Jade.
“You’re tempted,” Margaret said. Taking out her phone, she opened the camera and held it up. Pouting, she took a selfie with me in the background looking stony faced. If she was going to dip her finger in and get off, it wasn’t a very good picture to do it with.
“Did you fuck Jade?” she asked out of the blue.
“What Jade and I did or did not do is not really any of your business,” I drawled.
“Ugh. I knew it.” She looked me over with unmasked jealousy.
“Listen, I’ve got to go,” I said, backing away. “I’ve got someplace to be.” Total lie but anywhere else was better than right here.
“Remember,” Margaret said, practically purring as I walked away. “Any way you like.”
21
Jade
Sittingacross the table from Margaret Anastas, I resisted the urge to hurl.
Saturday brunch? at the Langham Hotel was in full swing, and I was currently counting all the places I would rather be than having overpriced high tea with the likes of her. Scraping human excrement off the sides of a treatment pond at the shit farm. Actually, that was the most disgusting thing I could think of, and it still sounded light years better than getting a passive-aggressive grilling from a rich Melbourne socialite. ?????
Imagine what they would say if they found out I’d been fired from Slattery and I was on the verge of financial ruin. Hunting season would be well and truly open for business.
Picking up a pink macaroon from the display in front of me, I squashed the entire thing into my mouth and chewed.Loudly. I was totally skipping out on the bill this week.
“How’s work, Jade?” Margaret asked, flashing me a million megawatt smile.
“Fine,” I said, my voice muffled by meringue. She knew something was off. She could smell chaos and drama like a bloodhound. Her eyes were all twitchy…kind of like mine were right now. Or it could be the sugar. Yeah, it was the sugar.
“Weren’t you wearing that dress last week?” she asked sweetly, looking me over.
I had on a black and silver Camilla dress I’d bought a few months ago. It was full lace with flesh-colored lining and had a demure and casual look to it but still looked sexy on my figure. It was only five hundred dollars, costing nowhere near the price tag on Margaret’s revolving closet full of Valentino, Dior, and Gucci, but it was still up there.
Why was I even competing? Clothes didn’t mean anything if the person wearing them was vapid.
“It’s a great dress,” I replied. “I feel good in it.”
“How empowering for you,” she declared, her smile never reaching her eyes. To the others, she said, “Did you see what Nancy Longridge put on her Instagram account yesterday? Oh, my God. Everyone knows the only reason she got that job was because she gamed the system.”
I sank back into my seat, retreating into my battered shell as the latest target got dragged across the coals. Nancy Longridge, swimwear designer, had landed a deal of a lifetime with her business. The business that she built and ran herself for years before the other day when someone sat up, took notice, and chose to invest.
“Her designs look like a rip-off of last summer’s Seafolly collection,” Heather said, her lip curling.
