Page 94 of The Bad Girl

Akinyi’s hand stops. “Excuse me?”

“Shit, I’m sorry.”

She removes her hand from my pants, cutting me a glare. “Do you realize I have kings and princes on my speed dial begging for dates?”

“I-I—”

“When I put my hand on a man’s cock, the last thing I want to hear uttered is another woman’s name.”

“I’m sorry. That must have been awful!”

“Nadine? Wasn’t that the woman on the boat?”

“My old assistant.”

“Old? Are you into geriatric women?”

“No! I mean she was recently dismissed.”

“Well, if we’re going to do this, I don’t want to hear you call out another woman’s name.”

“Look, Akinyi, I don’t think I can do this.”

“Oh really, so what was that I felt in your trousers?”

I bury my head in my hands, confused and wanting to be alone. But that’s not fair to Akinyi, and I know I owe her an explanation.

“When I was on the boat with Nadine, we didn’t know what was going to happen. One thing led to another, hormones surged and…” I nod my head slightly for emphasis.

“And you fucked your assistant.”

“Yeah.”

“You’re not the only powerful man to screw the help.”

“I know.”

“So this isn’t about that. You have feelings for her, don’t you?”

“If you would have asked me that a week ago, I’d have said you were crazy, then I would have spent the night proving you wrong. But now, I just don’t know.”

“Have you talked to her about it?”

“I can’t. Legal won’t let me.”

“Do you work for legal, or does legal work for you?”

“It’s not that simple.”

“Isn’t it, though?”

“Well, it’s not just legal I have to contend with. It’s her. It’s all just so damn complicated.”

Akinyi crosses her arms over her chest and one leg over the other. “Tell me what’s going on.”

For the next thirty minutes, I pour my heart and soul into words I didn’t know needed saying. She listened silently except for the occasional ‘uh-huh’ or click of her tongue, and by the end, when I feel like I’ve said everything and I couldn’t possibly say more, I confess the thing that scares me the most.

“I think I love her.”