“How’s Harry?” she counters. “My bleeding heart wants to know.”
I catch her eye with mine. “Harry is just fine.”
“Good.” She glances at her building. “I’m going home. I’ll see you in the morning, Mr. Bane.”
Before I have a chance to respond, she bends her knees to see into the car. “Goodnight, Drew.”
“Night, Juliet.”
I get nothing more as she takes off toward her apartment without looking back.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Juliet
“How was your date, Juliet?”
I’ll answer the question this time since it’s my sister asking. I drop my purse on the couch before I shrug out of the cashmere cardigan Margot let me borrow.
I wanted to keep my outfit simple yet sophisticated, so the cardigan was the perfect touch.
“He’s not for me,” I sum up.
Margot glances to where I’m standing.
I can tell that she got home just a few minutes before me. She’s in the kitchen with her hip propped against the counter as she eats leftover quiche.
“No spark?” she asks.
“Nope,” I respond, wondering if there might have been a spark at another time.
All I could think of throughout dinner with Slate was the heated conversation I had with Kavan before I left the penthouse.
I kept replaying his words over and over again in my mind.
“You crave a man who hears the echoes of your desires in your moans, and your screams. You want a man who knows how to fuck.”
All of it is true.
I want that and more.
My dinner with Slate was fun. He talked sports and I listened. I can tell that we’d make great friends, but anything beyond that won’t happen for us.
“How’s work?” Margot asks as she takes another bite of food. “We haven’t talked about that recently? Are you working on a new assignment?”
I nod. “I am. It’s top secret.”
Swallowing, she chuckles. “Aren’t they all?”
“They are,” I affirm with a quick nod of my chin. “How is work for you?”
“Brutal,” she confesses before she picks up a glass of wine to take a sip. “I love it though. I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”
I wouldn’t trade a moment like this for the world.
She’s relaxed. She didn’t text me twelve times during my date to see if I was okay. She limited that to twice.
“Do you want to watch the Duke do some naughty stuff?” She wiggles her brows.
“I’d love to.” I gesture to the hallway. “I’m going to throw on some sweatpants, and make a bowl of popcorn.”
“I’m all for that.” She glances down at the designer dress she’s wearing. “I’m sorry he wasn’t the guy for you, Juliet.”
“Don’t be,” I smile as I approach her. “Isn’t part of the fun of finding the one, dating other guys?”
“If you say so.” She laughs.
“I like it here,” I whisper. “New York has been good to us so far, hasn’t it?”
Her eyes mist over. “Other than that time you rescued a woman from a mugger, you mean?”
Her defenses are starting to melt, so I can’t confess that I was that woman. I may need to take that to my grave.
“I’m proud of you, Juliet.” A tear trails down her cheek. “You’re so brave, and fearless.”
I reach up to swipe the tear away. “So are you.”
“New York really is starting to feel like home to me too,” she admits. “I may never master the subway but that’s what rideshares are for, right?”
“Right.”
“Get changed so we can forget about everything but the Duke.”
Nodding, I head to my bedroom.
I can’t forget about everything.
Kavan came here to watch me with Slate. Either he doubts I can take care of myself, or jealousy speared him tonight.
My heart wants to believe it’s the former, even though my common sense is telling me it’s the latter.
“Good morning, Juliet,” Nigel says cheerfully as I exit the elevator with Alcott by my side.
“Hey, Nigel!” I raise a hand in greeting. “You’re looking sharp today.”
He’s dressed as he usually is in a suit with a white button-down shirt and a patterned tie.
“As are you,” he reciprocates the compliment.
My look isn’t sharp. It’s as dull as a marshmallow and just as comfortable.
I’m in jeans, a pink sweater, and a black blazer.
I overslept, so I had to hop in the shower quickly, put on a spot of make-up and get dressed in the span of twenty minutes.
Drew was waiting for me on the sidewalk in front of the building with a coffee. I thanked him profusely before I crawled into the waiting SUV and devoured every berry in sight.
I’m hoping that the linen napkin I used before I exited the SUV caught every spot of red and pink that was lingering on my lips.
“Is he already working?” I question Nigel. “I was hoping to get in a solid few hours of interview time today.”
“He’s running late.”
Huh? How does one run late when they sleep in the same penthouse they work in? Is Kavan’s bedroom so far from his office that he waits for Alcott to piggyback him there?
I hold in a laugh at the imagined image of that.
“You look amused,” Nigel says. “What’s on your mind, Juliet?”
I glance to where Nara is approaching with a coffee in her hand.
These people definitely know how to accommodate my coffee addiction.
I take the mug and thank her for the trouble.
She smiles. “I’m preparing the lunch menu, Juliet? Any special requests you’d like included within the options.”
Nigel’s brows perks up but he doesn’t say anything.
I lean closer to her and lower my voice. “Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, please.”
She looks at me with an expression that I can only classify as horror mixed with confusion. “What?”
“I’ll take responsibility for it,” I assure her. “You like PB and J sandwiches, Nigel, don’t you?”
“Love them.” He smiles.
Nara laughs before she starts back toward the kitchen.
“I’m going to head to my office to twiddle my thumbs,” I announce. “When Mr. Bane is ready, can you tell him that I’m eager to get started?”
Nigel’s gaze drifts over my shoulder. “You can tell him yourself.”
I take the hint and glance back and oh my fucking god.
Wearing nothing but black sweatpants slung low over his hips, I catch sight of a very sweaty Kavan Bane standing barefoot less than ten feet behind me, holding a white towel in his hand.
His body is magnificent. Every muscled inch is utter perfection.
“Good morning, Juliet,” he says in a way that is more a growl than a greeting.
I seriously wonder for a moment whether I might pass out from sensory overload.
“Good morning,” I repeat unable to tear my gaze away from him.
He approaches me, and then brushes past me to head down a hallway. “I’ll be ready for our interview shortly.”