Page 5 of Love is Fake (Love is Everything #1)

“Just Izzy is fine,” I smile at him. “The only person who calls me Isabella is my dentist,” I joke, “and I don’t like him all that much.”

Kai chuckles quietly, kindly lifting the tension that’s been present since Lennox made his whirlwind appearance.

“You look more like an Izzy anyway,” he says and gives me an unabashedly appreciative look.

“Do you flirt with everyone or just the people who turn your boss into a homicidal maniac?”

“You’re alright, Izzy, you and me are gonna get along.

” He gives me a friendly pat on the shoulder, and I don’t bother to tell him I don’t think we’re going to be spending enough time together for that to happen.

“But, just to be clear, Lennox isn’t my boss, although he’d like to think he is,” Kai snorts.

“Oh, sorry, I just assumed…” I trail off, hoping I haven’t offended him, but he just waves my concern away.

“We’ve been best friends since college and have roomed together ever since.”

I take in the laid-back guy with the surfer vibe in front of me and try to wrap my head around that information. “But you’re so…nice!” I finish lamely. “You and Lennox are like…oil and milk…hell…oil and concrete.”

Dissing a man to his best friend probably isn’t the smartest play I’ve ever made, but the incongruence of those two personalities meshing in any way at all has me thrown for a loop.

“You caught him on a bad day,” Kai explains. “He’s usually much calmer, quiet even. There’s a reason they call him The Iceman in the rink.”

“Quiet in an intense ‘silent but deadly’ kind of way, right?” I hedge, making Kai chuckle.

“Trust me – you didn’t meet his best side today. He’ll be more himself when you next see him.”

Sure, because there’s going to be a ‘next’ time, I think to myself.

But part of me wonders if Kai’s being truthful with me or if he’s just being loyal to his friend.

I’d like to believe the Lennox Gray I’d seen today wasn’t the real deal, although I’m not sure why it matters to me what kind of a man he is.

“Wait a minute – you went to Notre Dame?” The surfer look doesn’t quite chime with my vision of the super academic school.

Kai throws his head back and laughs. “Don’t look so damn surprised, Izzy.

I may not have gotten a full ride like our boy in there,” he jerks his head towards the gym, “but I’m no slouch.

Although, I may have copied some of Lennox’s tests during that first year when I was more interested in chasing girls than studying. ”

His eyes twinkle in amusement and I entertain the idea of flirting right back with him, but charming as he is, there’s no spark. There’s no pull of attraction with him and I couldn’t even tell you the last time I felt that magnetic draw.

My mind flashes to that moment by the side of the road when I recognized Lennox, but I dismiss that thought just as quickly as it’s appeared. Whatever butterflies I might have felt were solely down to my sixteen year old self and her teenage fantasies.

“So he has a brain?” I ask, indulging my curiosity.

“Top of the damn class,” Kai nods, sounding proud of his friend rather than jealous.

I try not to look so surprised. I always thought of Lennox as a jock who got by on his good looks and athletic prowess.

In the only classroom we ever shared, when I skipped ahead to do Advanced Physiology, he’d barely spoken.

To be fair, so had I, but mine was out of excruciating shyness, and I’d assumed his was out of boredom.

I dial back in to the present to find Kai having filled the silence between us.

“Pretty sure Nox just keeps me around because I’m the only one who calls him out on his shit.” Kai pauses, giving me an appraising look. “You’re probably the only other person I’ve seen stand up to him. Even Dec lets him get away with acting like the damn Almighty sometimes.”

“I guess when you depend on him for your pay-check, the dynamic changes a little,” I reason.

“It didn’t for you back there,” Kai points out and his expression makes it clear he thinks it’s a good thing. I’m not so sure, especially as I’m the one who’s going to have to face the music and the inevitable wrath of Kiara when I get fired.

My mind goes back to what Kai said about Lennox not hiring women.

“What did you mean about Mr. Gray not having ‘chicks’ on staff?”

I can’t bring myself to call him Lennox out loud, it sounds too intimate, and even though I feel like I have a passing acquaintance with the man I had a crush on during my sophomore year, I really have no idea who he is. Not that I care, anyway.

Kai looks a little cagey, as if he’s said too much and I frown at the shutter that’s come down over his expressive face. It’s the least animated I’ve seen him all evening.

“Nothing… he just prefers to work with guys. A lot of dudes are like that though. So, you about ready for that drink?” Kai changes the subject, motioning in the direction of what I assume is the kitchen.

I mull over the avoidance tactic, wondering what the big deal is.

After the way Lennox reacted to me, hearing he doesn’t like to work with women isn’t exactly a shocker of a news flash.

Alpha males like him can have a tendency to be kind of misogynistic, but I never got that impression from Lennox in high school.

He wasn’t one of the guys crowing about all the girls he deflowered and, in our AP class he was always super polite, the perfect modern Southern gentleman.

But, then again, what do I know? It’s not as if we’ve ever been friends.

“Oh, good, you’re still here.” Declan appears at the end of the hall, out of breath as if he’s just run after us. “How about we head into the study so that we can get all the red tape wrapped up before tomorrow?”

I frown up at the man. “Ummm…what red tape?”

“Well there’s some paperwork, some things for you to sign, some information you’ll want to study -”

I hold my hand up and Declan stops talking. “I’m sorry, I don’t want to be rude, but have I missed something? From Mr. Gray’s reaction, I’ve assumed I wouldn’t be working here.”

Declan looks between me and Kai and I notice Kai sending him a shrug, giving him some kind of unspoken approval.

“Nox doesn’t like being blindsided. He’s used to being in charge of every situation so between the car accident and him not expecting you and the anniversary today…let’s just say it wasn’t the best combination of events.”

Anniversary? What anniversary? Not your business, Izzy.

“So he’s a control freak.” The words are out of my mouth without missing a beat. Dammit, Iz, engage brain to mouth filter. I curse myself for not thinking before I speak. Kiara calls it just another one of my endearing qualities. I call it a sure-fire way to end up looking like an idiot.

Kai smothers a laugh, turning it into a choking sound when Declan gives him a flat stare.

“He likes things how he likes them,” Declan corrects me democratically. “But I’m sure I can talk him round to working with you. If you’re as good as Michael says, you’re our best bet to get him back to full strength.”

Do I want Declan to ‘talk him round’?

Do I want to work with someone as volatile and as difficult as Lennox Gray?

Am I willing to believe that I have him pegged all wrong?

And do I really want to have to explain to Kiara that I turned down our biggest client in history because he hurt my feelings?

The answer to the last question is a ‘hell to the no’, which pretty much trumps all my other concerns.

I can’t do that to Kiara, she deserves better from me - not just as her employee but also as her friend.

And, dammit, I deserve better. Lennox Grumpy Gray may be a tough client, but if I’m going to prove to everyone, and to myself, that I’m as good as Michael believes, then who better to be my trial by fire?

“Alright.” I nod in the affirmative, sneaking a quick glance at Kai who gives me a discreet thumbs up before Declan leads me away down the corridor to a huge study.

When I’m done gawking at the rows of books on the shelves, Declan guides me over to a sprawling desk, gesturing toward a ring binder on the table.

“You didn’t know who your client was before you got here, so I figured you’d want to read up on his injury before you get started. You’ll find everything you need in there.”

I grab the binder and just about resist the urge to not dive into it head-first to find out about Lennox’s mystery injury. But Declan keeps hold of it. I frown up at him, asking myself if any part of this job is going to be straightforward.

“There’s also the matter of the confidentiality agreement we require.” Declan hands me over a contract as thick as a novel. I don’t hide my surprised expression at the size of the thing.

“You want me to sign this now?” It’ll take me a week just to read it.

Declan nods. “If you don’t sign it, I can’t let you take the binder with you. Lennox’s medical history is private, and he wants it to remain that way.”

I feel myself bristle at the inference that I can’t be trusted to standard client privacy without signing my damn life away. “ All my clients have complete confidentiality when it comes to their treatment and anything else that we talk about. I can’t do my job if we don’t have that level of trust.”

A flicker of something like respect passes across Declan’s waspish features. “I’m not questioning your trustworthiness, Isabella, anyone we employ has to abide by the same rules.”

“Fine.” I hold my hand out. “Got a pen?”

Declan blinks at me, his turn to be surprised. “You’re not even going to read it?”