Page 113 of Discretion
“Yeah?”
“Are you and Jasper going to get married?”
My eyes darted to Kai’s face, my heart stopping at the unexpected question. It had come out of the blue.
“I, uh—” I cleared my throat. “Why would you ask that?”
I braced myself for his response. I expected something like, because he’s always over. Or, I saw the two of you kissing. Who knew?
“Because he’s nice,” Kai said. “And I love Rosie. And I want to keep her.”
I laughed. “Ah, okay. So this is really about wanting a dog.”
He frowned. “Not just any dog. Rosie.”
“She’s pretty great, isn’t she?” He smiled, so I continued. “And I know how much you love her.”
“But what’s going to happen when we move out of the hotel?” he asked.
Kai had come into my room the other morning when I’d been looking at house listings from Alexis. He’d joined me on the bed, giving his opinions about the various homes. We’d talked about moving, but I hadn’t realized how much he’d been thinking about it.
He sniffled. “I love seeing Rosie every day. I’m going to miss her so much. If you and Jasper got married, she’d be part of our family too.”
“She is part of our family, baby. And I’m sure Jasper will still be happy to let you visit.”
Tears poured down his face. “But it won’t be the same.”
“Maybe not,” I said, thinking of how the move might impact my ability to see Jasper. Our rare moments together would likely become even more limited. “But that doesn’t mean it won’t still be good.”
“I don’t want to move,” he cried.
He seemed more emotional, and I chalked it up to adrenaline and anesthesia. Even so, I knew this transition would be difficult for him. Not because he’d grown accustomed to living in a luxury hotel, but because he’d gotten used to seeing Jasper and Rosie every day.
I wasn’t sure what I was going to do about it, but I knew one thing. We couldn’t keep living at the Huxley Grand LA. Yes, it was convenient—for many reasons. But it wasn’t a home. And while Sloan had convinced the board to extend our accommodations for the maximum period allowed, I was running out of time to find something more permanent or risk paying an exorbitant amount to continue staying in our suite. It was time to get serious about finding a place to call home.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
“We should do this more often.” I glided my fingers along Halle’s spine, tracing patterns on her bare skin.
“Have sex?” she teased. “Because I’m not sure my body can take much more. Three orgasms in the last hour.”
“Want to go for round four before we have to head back to the office?” I teased. Well, half teased. If she was game, I was.
She snuggled deeper into my side. “I would, but I found the perfect spot and now I don’t want to move.”
We were ensconced in her bed, enjoying our lunch break away from the office. An hour alone felt like sheer decadence. A luxury we so rarely got to indulge in. Slow sex. In a bed. Time alone to talk. To cuddle.
“Me either,” I admitted. “Maybe we should just spend the rest of the day in bed.”
“Right. Because that wouldn’t look questionable at all.” She laughed. “It might be Friday, but there are still enough people at the office to notice.”
Sometimes, it seemed ridiculous that we were continuingto keep our relationship a secret. Lately, I felt as if I were bending over backward just to make sure no one knew about the most important person in my life.
“Come on.” She pushed up, patting my chest. Her hair cascaded down her shoulder, over her breast. She was stunning. “We promised this wouldn’t affect our work.”
The trouble was, it already was. Even if she didn’t realize it. Even if neither of us wanted to admit it.
Pierce’s earlier comments rang in my ears, his ultimatum to tell my family, tell the board about our relationship. I didn’t want to pressure Halle, but the longer we waited to disclose it, the more suspicious our actions would seem. The last thing I wanted was for the board to lose faith in Halle or me. As Pierce had so bluntly stated, it was all about politics and perception.
