Casanova(65)

“I hope that’s a good fuck.”

He laughed quietly. “A very, very good fuck.”

I blew out a long breath which only made him laugh louder. “Um, Brett? I feel awkward.”

He pulled back and met my eyes. “You do?”

“Yes. Our...um...cum is dripping down the insides of my legs.”

He ran his tongue over his upper lip, amusement flickering in his gaze. “I can see how that would be uncomfortable.”

I pressed my legs together and squirmed. “No, no, you don’t. I really need to shower or something.”

He laughed...again.

It was nice to know that my awkwardness was so amusing for him.

“All right. You go shower.” He kissed the corner of my mouth and stepped back. “Throw me a towel, then I’ll go order us some food so you can write your next stunning character reference for me.”

I tugged my skirt down over my ass and upper thighs with one hand and grasped the door handle with the other. “You’re...not leaving?”

The condom snapped when he rolled it off, punctuating the speed with which his eyes found mine. Light lines appeared on his forehead as his brows drew together. “No. Why would I leave?”

I opened my mouth to answer and then shook my head.

Brett pulled up his clothing and came back in front of me, buttoning his jeans. “You thought I’d leave?”

I didn’t answer him.

Something flared in his eyes as he cupped my chin. “Not you, okay?”

“Okay.” My voice was quiet, but something inside me...niggled.

It felt a bit like regret.

And it didn’t dim when he kissed me again.





“I can’t do this.”

William barely glanced up at me from whatever he was working on. “Do what, dear?”

I always hated being called ‘dear.’ “This...this thing.” I waved my arms around. “With Brett. I can’t do it anymore. I have enough for one more article that I promise will make him look like the good guy I know he is, but I just can’t do this.”

He swept his pen across the bottom of the page and, with a sigh, set down the pen and pushed his work to the side. He pinched the arm of his glasses and pulled them down from his face. “Lani,” he said quietly, finally looking up at me with eyes several shades darker than his son’s. “Of course you can.”

“Of course I can?” I blinked at him. “No, trust me, I can’t. This is not going the way we agreed when I took that damn check. It was supposed to be minimal contact with Brett and the rest through you, Mae, and Camille. This is not working the way I thought it would. It’s Brett all the time and I...” I paused and looked away to take a deep breath. “I can’t...do...that.”

William studied me for a moment, his face expressionless. The only indication that he was thinking came from the way he scratched his forefinger slowly beneath his chin. “Sit down.”

I didn’t move.

“Please, sit down.” He motioned to the chair opposite his desk.

This time, I did as he asked and nestled myself into the comfortable chair with my hands on my lap.

“There was a reason I asked you to do this for me. And no, it wasn’t because Camille suggested you. She and Brett like to think it was, but when he agreed to this, I was already thinking of you.” He put the glasses on top of his closed laptop off to the side of his desk.

“Why?” I ran my hand through my hair. “Why me, of all people?”

He looked me dead in the eye and said, “Because with you, he’s a different person.”

“You could have fooled me.”

He chuckled quietly and reached for his packet of cigarettes. He tapped one out of the packet, put it between his lips, and lit it. “I’m assuming, then, that there is one glaring point nobody has mentioned to you about his behavior.”

I raised my eyebrows.

“Lani...The day you left was the day these problems started.”

I took a deep breath. “What?”





CHAPTER EIGHTEEN


BRETT



“What?” Lani’s breathy tone caught my attention as I turned the hall toward Dad’s office.

What was she doing here?

I stopped a foot away from the door and turned my face toward the open doorway.

Dad sighed heavily. “When you left, he changed. Almost immediately.”

Fuck.

“I don’t understand,” Lani said in a small voice. “Why would he change just because I wasn’t here?”

There was silence for a moment. “That’s a conversation that’s best left to the two of you.”

“Feel free to stop speaking in code at any time.”

Dad laughed. “No code, I promise. Besides, if you’d like to know what I’m talking about, he’s standing right outside the door.”

“Shit,” I muttered.

“Hi, son.”

“Hey...” I shuffled toward the doorway. “I was just passing by your office and...”

“Decided you’d stop and listen to our conversation.” Lani turned and speared me with her gaze. “Hear anything good?”

“Well, everything I heard involved discussing when you left, so I guess that depends whether or not you’re gonna tell me why you did.”