Page 60 of By Invitation Only

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Booker

Monday morning my alarm blared, waking me from my dream of Peyton. Every morning I woke up to go to the gym, and every morning I was happy to do so, but this morning, I wanted to slip back into dreamland. Instead, I crawled out of bed, got dressed, and made my way to the kitchen.

As I made my protein shake, I couldn’t stop thinking about Peyton. After five plus years of watching her arse in court and having cases against her, I was finally,finallygoing to get to spend time with her outside of the courthouse to get to know her. And it wasn’t only going to be at Sensation.

From day one I had been smitten with her. There was just something about a strong woman that turned me on. It also helped that she was fit as fuck. I knew I wanted to continue to pursue things, and I’d pretty much begged on my knees for her to give me another chance.

Now I just needed to make sure I didn’t fuck it up.

“When do I get to meet her?”

I jumped at the sound of Carrie’s voice from behind me, the protein scoop falling from my hand. “Jesus, woman. Don’t do that to me.”

“Did you forget I live here too?” she asked as she reached for a coffee mug.

“No, but fuck. You’re like a ninja and shit.”

She laughed. “I think your mind is just elsewhere, or should I say onsomeoneelse?”

“Should I say someone else?” I mocked. “Yes,love.”

She stopped pouring her coffee and glared at me. “Okay, someone is in a bad mood this morning.”

I shook my head. “It’s not that. I’m just worried about the whole secret relationship thing.”

“Relationship?” Her eyes narrowed. “You’re dating her?”

“Yes.”

“Why are you worried?” She took a sip of her coffee, and I started to shake the brown powder with water in my tumbler.

“I’m not worried about dating her. I want to take her out, go to the beach, stuff like that, but we both agreed that it needs to be a secret so no one finds out until after I make partner.”

“I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”

“Yeah,” I agreed though I wasn’t entirely certain I would. Los Angeles was a big city, but at the same time, it was small as hell.

Carrie reached up on her toes and kissed my cheek before leaving the kitchen. “But I do want to formally meet her.”

“You will, sweetheart.”

“Soon?”

“Soon,” I agreed.

After my workout, I still had Peyton on my mind. I wanted to see her again, and soon. As I sat in my car before going up to my office, I called a local flower shop to deliver three dozen red roses to her.

Not romantic? We’ll see about that!

Randy knocked and then stuck his head in my office door. “Ready?”

“Yeah.”

It was time for our monthly staff meeting, and I’d just gotten off the phone with Peyton. She’d got my flowers and was going to cook me dinner. I hadn’t had a woman cook for me since I was a young lad jerking it in the shower every night—sometimes twice a day.

Just like every meeting I’d attended, I sat next to Randy at the giant conference table. People piled in and then it commenced. It was boring but necessary.