Page 83 of By Invitation Only

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Booker

Carrie:Are you ever coming home?

Istared at the text message and sighed. I hadn’t slept in my own bed for almost a month, and when I did go over to grab my clothes, she wasn’t home. Therefore, I hadn’t seen much of mywife. Everything was weighing heavy on my shoulders. I thought about how I needed to work my arse off each day, how I needed to make sure Peyton was happy, and now how Carrie was basically telling me that I’d been neglecting her.

Me:Miss me?

A few seconds later she texted back.

Carrie:I have something to tell you.

That sparked my interest.

Me:What is it?

Carrie:I want to tell you in person.

Me:Is everything okay?

Carrie:Of course.

Me:Okay, I’ll talk to Peyton, and I’ll come home tonight.

Carrie:Bring her.

I blinked at the words on the screen.

Me:Bring her?

I knew she wanted to meet Peyton officially and probably apologize for being a bitch toward her that night at Sensation, but if she had something to tell me, I didn’t think she’d want to do it in front of my girlfriend.

Carrie:Yes, let’s order Chinese.

I swear these women knew nothing about my diet. While I burned an excessive amount of calories at the gym each day, I needed to go back to chicken, ground turkey and sweet potatoes. I’d put a lot of hours into sculpting my body, and I was trying to not let the women in my life make me fat. Granted I loved Peyton’s cooking. It felt like home.

Me:All right. See you tonight at seven.

Apparently, I was getting off workearlytoo.

I started to type out a text to Peyton, but instead, I decided to call her office. After going through the receptionist, Lorelei picked up the phone.

“Peyton Winters’ office.”

“Lorelei, Booker.”

“Hey, Mr. Jameson, let me put—”

“Actually, I want to talk to you.”

“Oh.”

“Peyton told me that you wanted to come Saturday?”

“Yes.”

I nodded, even though she couldn’t see me. “I talked to my mate Randy, who you met at Rick’s.”