Page 21 of The First Deal

Selfishly, I…

Fuck.

This was insane. I was clearly going insane.

A loud buzz came from inside the suite, the grating noise of a phone vibrating against a glass table. It was annoying but timed so perfectly.

Instead of drowning in messy thoughts, I stubbed out my cigarette, went back inside, and answered the phone to Lynda’s sharp tones.

“Have you dealt with him yet?” she said curtly.

What?

“Oh for god’s sake, Shane. You landed well over an hour ago, go find the little shit and talk some sense into him.” Lynda hung up without giving me even a second to speak.

Pinching the bridge of my nose, I flopped down onto the sofa.

Leo. How could I forget? I was here for a reason, and that reason had nothing to do with the beauty in the bathtub. I needed to go and have a word with that little shit and stop him from fucking up his entire career.

Give me strength.

5

Rome had felt like a dream. A wild, sexy dream. And Shane was everything I could’ve hoped for. He had ticked every single box on my new and improved list. Old. Rich. Hung. Down to earth. Over six feet tall. Likes—but doesn’t own—cats. And most importantly, didn’t own blue sheets.

And yet, I felt as though I barely knew him.

We had arrived in London that Sunday evening and had parted ways. Then the following Friday I saw him again when he arrived in Dorset with big news. News that was great for my boss’s guy, Nate, but not so good for Juno. But I couldn’t blame Shane for what had happened, he was doing his job.

For the last month, we had spent almost all of our free time together. He had sent me gifts just because, taken me on extravagant dates, and had then dialled it back when I told him one day that I was feeling pretty run down after working so many long shifts back-to-back at the bar while my boss dealt with her painful heartbreak. He had listened and given me what I needed.

He was a great listener, and the conversation between us continued to flow every time I saw him, but as each date progressed, I noticed that I was doing the bulk of the sharing, while Shane asked me a million questions, making me feel like I was the centre of his universe.

He was holding back, and as much as I tried to be that easy, breezy girl who took each encounter as it came, I was starting to wonder why he wasn’t sharing himself in the way that he encouraged me to.

I was starting to pull back, I could feel it, and although I knew that part of it was due to him taking Nate under his wing and forming a close friendship with him, I also knew that part of it was because of this imbalance.

I wanted toknowhim. I wanted to know those deep dark places in his bright, energetic soul. I wanted to see the cracks in his grinning mask. I wanted more.

How could I tell him that though?

Shane Hudson had never settled down, never married, never been anything to anyone in a romantic sense. Yet here we were, acting like we were heading somewhere together.

Boris had revealed more each time he had arrived to collect me. I was growing fond of the driver who I spent so much time with, and I liked to think he was fond of me too. He sure was open, telling me about some of the other women who had walked in and out of Shane’s bedroom.

He never seemed to speak of them like he knew them, and often commented on the fact that they never returned. I was the first. The only one. ‘The girl who might change everything’—Bo’s words.

Staring at the back of his head, I wondered if I should ask him for advice. I hadn’t yet, not sure that the man before me would even have anything useful to say, after all, this was new for him too.

Fuck it.

“Bo,” I sang, stretching out the syllable.

He laughed. “Yes, Hannah?”

“Advice, please.”

“Go on.” He glanced at me in the mirror, then dropped his gaze as we approached a roundabout.

---