Coldhearted Boss(49)

I look down at my oversized t-shirt. “Uh…”

“And humble too! Oh, this just keeps getting better and better.”

I stay perfectly silent, trying to figure out who this person could possibly be. I scratch out jealous lover.

“Are you two friends?” she continues.

“No!” I rush out. “No. Not really. In fact, I feel like he can hardly stand me most of the time, to tell you the truth.” Whoever you are.

“And yet you’re answering his phone. How…intimate.”

I worry I might have been wrong. I don’t want her getting the wrong idea.

“I swear it’s not like that. You don’t need to be upset with him over this.”

“Upset?”

“Yes, because…well—”

“Oh! Oh, no no. You have the wrong idea. Totally wrong idea. I’m Ethan’s sister—twin sister, in fact.”

I’m floored by this information. Ethan has family! A sister! In a mere moment, my brain generates a million and one questions. I want to know every detail of his childhood. Who wronged him? Who flushed his head in a toilet or stuffed him into a locker in middle school? Who made him into the callous man he is today?

I’d get around to asking these questions if Ethan didn’t walk out of the bathroom in that moment wearing only a pair of workout shorts and towel-drying his hair with a rough hand.

“Give me my phone,” he says brusquely.

I swear the man takes the world’s fastest showers. He can’t stand the idea of me using his phone. He doesn’t trust me as far as he can throw me. No, that’s inaccurate—with those toned arms and muscular shoulders, he could toss me halfway to Africa. Better to just say he doesn’t trust me.

“Now,” he bites out, stepping closer.

“Is that him?!” his sister asks, gleeful. “Oh good, put him on!”

“Okay, Mom,” I deadpan. “Good talking to you too. I’ll call you tomorrow. Bye!”

Then I hang up and toss him his phone, praying he won’t check his call log.





Chapter 20





Ethan





“I talked to your lovebird last night.”

“Excuse me?”

Isla chuckles. “I called your cell phone trying to reach you and your assistant answered instead. You can imagine how excited I was to—”

I hang up on Isla, suddenly furious.

A second later, a text pops up.

Isla: Did you just hang up on me or did the call drop? Either way, I didn’t get a chance to say we’re planning a Memorial Day Weekend trip to the campgrounds to visit you and see what you’ve been working on! Everyone’s in: Jace and Alice, Brody and Liv, Tanner…maybe Camille. I knew you’d say no if I asked you first, which is why I’m not asking. We’ll barbecue and camp out. It’ll be tons of fun!





Ethan: No campout. No visit.





Isla: Yes campout. Yes visit. Invite your assistant. She’s a lot nicer than you these days.





Obviously, I’m getting nowhere with her, so I chuck my phone across my desk and stand. This week’s been crazy because we’re prepping for the foundation pour. There’ve already been a few hiccups, but Robert and Hudson have stayed on top of things and it should be smooth sailing into the weekend with no major issues to resolve before Monday.

Well, other than the brunette currently acting like a thorn in my side.

She’s outside with Robert and a few of the guys. She’s wearing a hard hat and a neon safety vest—the items I took from her on her first day, ones she apparently stole back.

Robert says something and nudges her with his elbow, and she throws her head back and laughs. Every single man in that group stops what they’re doing and watches her, dumbstruck, half in love already. Even Hudson is a simpering fool around her these days. Robert’s the only one who treats her normally, and that’s because he’s three times her age and thinks of her as a daughter.

I stomp down the steps of the trailer and make it halfway to them before Taylor notices me. Her smile fades and her eyes narrow with suspicion.

When I reach the group, my booming voice makes three guys jump out of their boots.

“I need a word,” I say, effectively parting the group in half.

I don’t take my eyes off her as the guys slink away quickly, more than happy to find that my ire isn’t directed at them.

Robert stays beside her. “Uh oh, what have you done this time?” he quips, shooting a teasing smirk at Taylor.

She returns it with one that sends my heart into overdrive. “Oh, who knows. It could be anything. Yesterday, he found a pair of my underwear accidentally mixed in with his laundry, and you should have seen his reaction. It’s like he’s never seen a pair of panties before.”

I was taken aback, that’s all. Can’t a man put away his laundry without having to come across a silky thong? So what if I stood motionless, holding it in my hand until Taylor walked out of the bathroom, saw me staring down at it, and quickly lunged over to snatch it out of my grasp.

Robert doesn’t give me the benefit of the doubt though, whooping and hollering like he’s never heard anything half as funny in his life.