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A time machine so I could never have applied for the job as Red’s personal assistant? That way I would have never gotten myself in this situation, a situation that was feeling more and more complicated with each passing day?

“A date together. Like a real date.” Of course, why didn’t I think of that?

“I moved in with him. I think we’re spending enough time together.” Any more time, and I might actually do something stupid like—

Oh, who was I kidding, it’d all be stupid.

And the last time I was stupid had been with his brother.

I knew firsthand it wasn’t a good idea to get entangled with a man, especially a Lyons, not in that way.

Not that they were anything alike. In fact, was one of them adopted?

Switched at birth? Note to self: dig into that a little because something had to explain how drastically different they were.

Perla shook her head. “No. It’s not the same. Trust me on this, you need a real date. Real time together. He just has to know you want it.”

“Have you let him know you want it, Jade?” Bianca inquired, her brows raised.

“If you guys are using it as a euphemism for dick, then yes,” I explained, seemingly much to Maria’s shock. “He knows I want it. In fact, I’ve already had it more than once.”

Banging her hand on the table, Allie leaned forward and seemed to quickly sober up at talk of Red’s dick, which should definitely be evaluated.

Later. “Ohmigod! You didn’t tell me! What did you two do?

How was it? How was he?” she asked, a brow hitched, as she moved her hands together, then apart like she was measuring something. “I want to know everything.”

Oh, who was I kidding? Denying them would have to be a sin or something.

Almost like it was a sin that I had been denied his dick for as long as I had been.

I licked my lips just thinking about it.

“Well, I’ll say this—” I bit my bottom lip and moved my hands apart.

Far apart. Wait, was that right? Hmm, maybe a little more.

I moved them a tad more apart and then chuckled because fuck me.

“I knew it,” Allie practically shouted, her voice hitting an insanely high octave for a crowded restaurant, one I was sure only animals could fully understand. “You need to go on a real date with him, Perla’s right. You have to. No ifs , ands , or buts about it.”

So his package was better than all the ones I’d ever opened on Christmas morning, but what did that matter?

That didn’t seem like a reason to date him.

Not for real, anyway. “Why? He knows this is fake. Besides, I’m getting all the benefits, so I don’t see the point.

” It wasn’t like things could get any better than this, right?

Sex was the peak of a relationship. Just look at married couples, after about a decade together, they have sex, what, once a month? No, thanks.

“It matters,” Maria stated, her expression as serious as a heart attack. Then she pulled my phone from the pocket of my purse and handed it to me. “Text him. He texts you all the time. You can totally text him.”

“He texts you all the time?” Bianca inquired, placing a hand on her chin, like she was here to hear more about these texts.

She wasn’t getting that, though. Instead, I nodded, looking down at my phone. “A lot of the time,” I answered vaguely. But what did that have to do with the phone in my hand? Call me dense, but the two didn’t equate to anything for me.

“Do it!” Perla urged because apparently a lot of the time meant something to her. I really needed to learn to speak whatever language they spoke. Note to self: see if there was an online course for Morelli sister speak.

“You guys know I’m not a love and commitment type of girl.

Foreplay and sex, yes, but not love and commitment.

This feels like a waste. I’m already getting the best I’m going to get with him.

” Didn’t they understand there was a real difference between caring for someone, for starting to feel something for someone, and deluding yourself into thinking it could be something more serious?

Shoving my hands holding the phone up to my face, Maria looked stern as she said, “Text him.” It must have been something she picked up from being a mother because I actually considered doing what she said. For two seconds at least.

“Don’t ask for a date,” Bianca said, winking.

What was the wink for? Didn’t they just tell me to do exactly that.

Pull my hair out? Text Red?

Pull my hair out? Text Red?

Pull my hair out? Text Red?

Nope, I hated both options. Third one—get up and leave.

Nah, seemed rude.

Perla nearly choked on her own saliva, trying to get out what she had to say. “But suggest a date. Casually. No one likes an eager beaver.”

“An eager beaver?” I furrowed my brows. Where did she get this shit from?

“And when all else fails, use your body,” Allie added, earning her looks from our sisters. “What? It worked for me and Brady.”

When no one responded, just looked at her, Allie rolled her eyes and gestured to her breasts. “Nipple cream? Works like a charm.” Then she held a hand up, turning her lips downward. “It won’t work for you. Brady is a boob man. Is Red a boob man?”

“He’s an everything man.”

“Oooh, I’ve never been with one of those before,” Bianca said, a hint of intrigue evident in her voice. “What’s it like?”

They got off topic way too often. Ignoring Bianca’s question because it was only going to delay things further, I went back to Allie’s original statement.

“Okay, but you wanted to be with Brady,” I pointed out, nudging my chin toward her.

“It’s different.” Why was no one listening to me?

I didn’t know if I really wanted to be with Red in the way they wanted me to be with him.

It felt hypocritical. Like it went against my beliefs.

Allie shook her head. “Originally, all I wanted was to have sex with Brady, not have his baby and fall in love with him. Sometimes the best things are unexpected.”

It was official, I liked Allie better when she was buzzed.

I pushed a drink back to her, hoping she’d take another sip, before looking at my phone.

I had to text Red something, or I’d never get these four off my ass.

But what did I say? I wasn’t the coy and cutesy type.

I also wasn’t the type to lead a man on.

Turning over a few ideas in my head, I let my fingers run over the keys a few times.

Jade: You have a nice dick, but maybe you could be more than that to me.

Delete.

Jade: I hear sex is better on a full stomach.

Ugh. Delete.

Jade: How are you with small talk?

Delete!

This.

Sucked.

I deleted everything I typed.

Until, finally, something popped in my head that didn’t make me want to gouge my eyes out. And I knew that it was as good as it was going to get.

Jade: I don’t want to, but we should go out.

Shit. I was so not one to type and delete like I’d been doing. I said what was on my mind, take it or leave it. If men had a problem with it, then that right there told me everything I needed to know.

* * *

Reddington

I shook my head at the text. Jade really had a way with words, and no one could convince me otherwise.

Never once did I expect Jade to be poetic. She just wasn’t like that, and she hated, loathed, really, talking about anything that made her seem human. I found it attractive actually, but I also wasn’t going to let Jade get by that easily this time.

See, the way I read the text she’d sent me was that she wanted to go out, but didn’t want to come off like the person who was asking me out.

No, that was too serious for her, and I knew her well enough to know that she was thinking it came across that she cared about me, more than she wanted me to think she did.

Here was the problem: I didn’t need her to say bupkis because I could tell just by the way she acted when she was around me that she cared about me.

Was she deeply guarded? Yes.

A pain in the ass most days? Yes.

The woman I couldn’t stop thinking about? Abso-fucking-lutely.

And it was because of those things that I wasn’t going to make this easy on her. I typed back a response, and when I was happy with it, I hit send.

Reddington: I fully support you wanting to suck up the air outside, so count me in.

Jade: Can’t you be normal?

Reddington: Define normal.

Jade: The opposite of your natural state.

Reddington: Why can’t you just say you want to go out with me?

* * *

Jade

Screw.

Him.

I was going to say no such thing. That would have been a lie, and I tried to tell tall tales as infrequently as possible.

Perhaps he should talk to my sisters. They obviously wanted this bad enough. Maybe they’d give him what he wanted.

Meanwhile, in all the back-and-forth with Red, our food had come to the table and mine was getting cold. Asshole that he was had me eating cold food. Obviously, nothing good came from putting time and effort into a relationship, especially with persistent, obnoxious, and controlling men like Red.

I wasn’t texting him back. I had nothing to say.

I put my phone down and leaned forward, picking up my fork, ready to dig in. I was starving. “I tried it, but it’s not going to work,” I shared with my sisters.

They all gasped, their eyes homing in on me. “What, why?” Perla asked, speaking up first. “What did you say?”

“Yeah, maybe you came on too strong,” Bianca added.

Maria shook her head, swallowing a bite of her food. “No, I know Red. He’s not one to scare off easily. He’s”—she rolled her lips and her eyes simultaneously—“intense.”

I exhaled. Here we go again. “He’s insistent, that’s what he is,” I clarified.

“It’ll happen, sweetie,” Perla said, giving me a comforting smile.

Yeah, that really wasn’t necessary. I wasn’t torn up about not going out with Red. Frankly, I was happy about the whole thing.

Then why was there a pit in my stomach that made eating what was in front of me seem like the very last thing I wanted to do?

It was official. Red had spoiled my appetite. Couldn’t the ass just go on a date with me? Why did he have to make things so complicated?