Page 64 of Not In The Contract

“Oh come on, I can be good! I want to meet the woman who lives with the Queen of the Clock!”

“Fuck off, you pest,” I laughed. “You’re supposed to be here to talk about the resort you want me to build for you.”

“Of course, how could I forget?” Taylor giggled. She hooked an arm around mine and walked us forward, her body still racked with laughter. “But you can’t deny that teasing you is just a tad more fun than talking shop.”

“Whatever,” I scoffed, failing to hide the smile threatening to widen my lips. “You’ll get yours, Taylor. Mark my words. We’ve been snickering at our friends’ sexcapades for far too long.”

“Sexcapades?” she cackled. “Then is Devon your latest sexcapade? I imagine she’s quite beautiful.”

“What makes you say that?” I shot back, warmth climbing high into my cheeks.

“That,” she said, pointing at my face. “I can’t shake the feeling that you’re hiding her on purpose.”

“Can you blame me?” I sighed. “You all pretty much forced me into living with her. I needsomecompensation, don’t I?”

“And your compensation for this egregious punishment is keeping her a secret?”

“Correct,” I said with a shrug. “You get to chuckle to yourselves about turning my schedule upside down for two months and I get to keep Devon’s face all to myself.”

“Well, now Ihaveto meet her.” Taylor pouted. “Is she here?”

Taylor craned her neck, searching for Devon in a sea of unfamiliar faces.

“No, she’s back at the office,” I lied, tearing my gaze away from Devon’s chestnut curls that were partially hidden under a hard hat. “She has classes and it’s too loud here for her to focus.”

“What a pity.” Taylor hummed, her eyes snagging on the group of architects a few feet away. “Maybe I’ll drop by your place unexpectedly. Take you both by surprise.”

“I’m changing the biometrics,” I said blandly. “Yours will be deleted from the system, and you’ll be stuck outside.”

“Okay, okay.” She giggled. “I get it. No interruptions, no unexpected visits. It’s no fun being on the receiving end of punishment, you know?”

“Yes,” I emphasized with a grin. “Idoknow.”

21. Digging Deeper

Devon

Myfingernailtappedanuneven rhythm on my keyboard, my eyes staring right through the screen where my professor tiredly scrolled through a ten year old presentation. I should have been taking notes. In fact, Ihadbeen, but the longer the lecture droned on, the further my mind wandered.

It wandered back to the previous night, inevitably to my awkward interaction with Alex’s sister. Jamie had both met and surpassed my expectations, in that I’d expected her to be unhappy with my presence and she was a lot more abrupt than I thought she’d be.

Alex had briefly explained that her relationship with Jamie was somewhat strained, but I hadn’t thought it would be toxic. I itched to ask her about it, despite the hesitance tugging me back.

My phone vibrated on the table next to my laptop and I glanced at it. Without a second thought, I muted the lecture and answered the phone.

“Hey,” I said, dropping my chin into my free hand.

“I thought you had a lecture,” Tamera accused.

“Then why did you call?” I chuckled.

“I was testing you,” she whispered. “You failed.”

“Ah, shoot.” I sighed. “What’s up?”

“I wanted to find out if you had time for lunch today.”

“I could honestly skip this lecture,” I said with a shrug. “I’ve heard this professor talk about the same thing for over a year now. Where do you want to meet?”