Page 54 of The Marriage Bid
Her blush was so cute it made her look younger than her thirty years. She glanced around. “Give me my underwear, you perv,” she whispered.
“In here? What? You think I carry it around?” I flashed a grin. “You guessed right.” I put my hand into my inner jacket pocket, and she shot up and grasped my arm.
“What the fuck, Tyler!”
“I’m kidding! But they’re staying with me.”
“Why? So you can use them as a cum sock?”
“Yes, exactly. What can I do? You’ve refused to assuage the pain in my loins.”
“Ugh… I would have thought a man like you would not be so—”
“One macchiato and one pumpkin spice latte,” Lake said as he placed the drinks on the table. His gaze flicked to Saffron, and a note of recognition appeared on his face. “Oh! You were here the other day! Mom said you—”
“Thanks, Lake.”
He noted the abrupt tone in my voice and drew back, but not before he winked at me. I had no idea what Ivy told him, but it could not be good. She probably assumed Saffron was mygirlfriend and ran with it. Thinking of which, maybe staying in here and having a coffee with Saffron might fuel the rumors.
“Wanna go for a walk?”
Saffron raised her brows. “You want to talk business over a stroll?”
“I want to stretch my legs.”
She didn’t trust me, but she got up anyway. The streets were busy, but there was minimal jostling. The rush hour was almost over, and strolling didn’t feel like you were slowing down people in the rush.
“Like I said,” Saffron started, “if you want the best, then an extension is the way to go. The hotel is coming along well. And if you read the emails you sent me, you’ll agree with me.”
“I read your emails all the time.”
She snorted. “No, you don’t,” and took a sip of her coffee. “I can tell Matt’s the one I’m speaking to nowadays, not that I am complaining. He’s a lot more professional than some people I know.”
“Trust me, I read them. I just don’t reply to you, that’s all. And you’re right. I do want this hotel to be the best.” We turned around the corner onto a new street, this one busier than the last. We were walking aimlessly now, not that I cared. “We will extend the budget.”
“Thanks.” Saffron sounded relieved. She exhaled and thrust her hand into her jacket pocket. “What do you plan to do with the hotel? Are you going to keep it?”
“No.” I took a sip of my own drink for the first time. The macchiato had an unexpected earthy taste that went down my throat smoothly. “I want to sell it to Massimo. He seems interested. Or at least he was until…”
“I told you I am working on finding out who it is. Speaking of which.” She took a giant sip of her coffee. “I have some filesI found amongst my father’s things. He was opening multiple bank accounts in my name without my knowledge.”
“Interesting. You can send me the files, and I have my PI look into it?”
She paused. “You hired a PI?”
“I like the initiative you’re taking on this, but maybe a professional might be better suited for the role.”
She gave me a side-eye. “You don’t trust me. Is that it?”
“Not at all. I don’t think you’re the one blackmailing me.”
She stopped dead in her tracks. “That’s a first.”
“Listen, now that I have thought about it, it doesn’t make sense for you to sabotage a business that you’re reliant on. And also—” I held myself back from throwing an insult that might come back to bite me. Now that I wanted to sleep with her, insults were not going to get me in her bed.
“Also what?”
“Nothing.”
