Page 35 of Stolen Voices

“It’s a client.”

“A female client?” Mason’s voice rises in interest.

“Geez, what’s with the third degree? Yes, a female client. Are you going to help me or not?”

He answers my questions in order. “The third degree is because unless it’s family, you never have people at your house. Not women, not clients, and especially not women clients. And of course I’m going to help you.”

“Thank you.”

“Does this have anything to do with you-know-who and the security cameras at Ricochet Lounge?”

I fucking knew he’d be quick to draw the line from A to B.

“Eli, are you keeping tabs on a girl without her consent?”

Mason bursts out laughing at Emery’s loaded question.

“Fuck off, Mase. I have dirt.”

“No. You. Fucking. Don’t,” he grits out, making me laugh as Emery asks him what I’m talking about.

Take that, brother.

But it backfires when Mason opens his big trap and rats me out. “Eli put cameras in the concert hall to watch Callie Wright rehearse, and I’m pretty sure she doesn’t know about them,” Mason blurts, throwing me under the bus.

“You asshole,” I grumble.

Emery sniggers and sings. “Ooh, Eli has a crush. Workplace romance. That’s so hot.”

I roll my eyes at my sister-in-law. “You have got to stop reading those books with Rylann. She’s turning all of you into romance-aholics. All you see is love and budding relationships, and this is not that.”

“Baby Doll, doesn’t he sound like Cameron did not that long ago?”

“He sure does,” she agrees.

“You two suck,” I groan. My brother and his wife continue to laugh as I pull into the underground parking garage at my office and slide into my spot by the elevator. “I’m at work and one hundred percent over this conversation. Text me when you have what I need.”

“E, wait a second,” Mason says. Emery shouts goodbye, and I hear a door slam. “Sorry for giving you a hard time.”

“It’s fine. I get it.” Doesn’t mean I like it, but I teased him before, so I guess I deserve it.

I’ve been battling with myself over my feelings for Callie since the day I met her. Before her, I had never been attracted to a client. The rules were easy to follow; my personal and business lives never intersect. In the past, I’ve only hooked up with women who didn’t know who I was or what I did for a living. Now there’s Callie, and I have no idea what the fuck to do. This is all new to me.

“I’m here if you need to talk to someone. You know it’s okay to have feelings for her, right?”

“No, it’s not.” I shake my head. He doesn’t understand. My feelings for Callie go against everything I stand for.

“You can fight it all you want, but in the end, it will be so much easier—and a lot less painful, for both of you—if you go with your heart.”

Easy for him to say.“When did you get all sappy?”

“When I saw a gorgeous woman walk behind me at an airport. I didn’t even know her name. You know I fucked up big with Em, and I am so grateful she took me back and gave us another chance. Don’t lose out on something because you’re scared of how it looks. Of what people will think.”

Damn Mason for being so perceptive. “This isn’t the same thing.”

“Maybe not to you. But it is, so don’t fuck it up, man.”

“Expert advice, old wise one.”