Page 43 of The Heartbreaker

I stared at the mouth of my coffee cup, the caramel-colored caffeine halfway up the ceramic. I pounded back the rest, wishing it were an endless supply of a filthy vodka martini.

I needed vodka a hell of a lot more than I needed coffee.

“I’m not going to lie. I’m a little floored right now,” Rowan added.

She stared at me with wide eyes and a shaking head and a lip that was being gnawed on.

I didn’t make it a habit of always discussing my sex life with my sister, but she’d walked into my office at the same time as my brother, and I had seen no reason to keep it from her. There was a chance she could even offer a perspective that I hadn’t thought of.

And, shit, all I’d done since I’d gotten to the office several hours ago was think about Addy.

“Does Jana know about any of this?” Rhett asked.

“No,” I replied. “I told her I was going to the restroom, and she waited for me in the car. She didn’t know until after that I had gone to check on our daughter, and I left the Addy part out.” I exhaled. “I don’t know how she’d react, and I don’t want to handle the weight of that right now.”

“Which part would cause weight?” Rowan asked. “That she’s also a stripper? Or that you’ve slept with her?”

I rubbed my hand over the top of my desk. “That I’ve slept with her teacher. I don’t think the stripper part would bother Jana. She understands hustle and wouldn’t knock another woman for that. But this is Daisy’s first real class—it’s the start of everything—and that affects our daughter.”

The room turned quiet.

“All you’ve said is that you slept with her,” Rowan voiced, her hand going to the edge of my desk. “What you haven’t said is if you want to date her or if it was just a one-night stand … because, in a roundabout way, that also affects your daughter.”

I gripped the back of my neck as I focused on my sister. “I gave her my number before she left my house—she didn’t stay the night even though I wanted her to—and she never reached out. I had no way of getting in touch with her, but if I did, I would have.”

“You haven’t answered my question.” She smiled.

“I liked her.”

“Liked?” Rhett asked.

I hissed out a mouthful of air. “I’m pissed she didn’t text or call. What the fuck, man? I thought things had gone well between us. We’d left the strip club, gone and grabbed some food. Then, I invited her over—something she didn’t have to agree to—and things happened once we got back to my place. It wasn’t one-sided, it was two-sided.” I massaged my neck a bitharder, trying to make sense of it all. “She wanted me as badly as I wanted her. So, why the hell didn’t I hear from her?”

“Maybe she thought, given the circumstances, you were only after one thing,” Rowan offered.

“I’d made it clear that wasn’t the case.” I released the mug, unsure why I was still holding it. “We talked about that actually. I couldn’t have been more reassuring. Had I slept around? Of course. But I told her I was one of the good guys—and I meant every word of it.”

Rhett shrugged. “Maybe she has a boyfriend?”

“Jesus, I hope that’s not true.” I stretched my arms up over my head. “Whatever is holding her back, I’m going to get to the bottom of it. We’re meeting up tonight.”

“Where?” Rowan asked.

“My house.” I bent my arms, resting my hands behind my head. “Daisy’s with Jana, and my place will give us some privacy since everyone in LA is a fucking spy.”

“True that,” Rhett muttered.

“Let’s get back to our girl,” Rowan said, leaning forward to rest her arms on her knees. “Are you going to switch Daisy out of her classroom?”

My brows rose. “Are you suggesting I should?”

She tapped her hand on my desk. “Well, the school is top-notch with an impeccable reputation. They wouldn’t employ her unless she was exceptional at what she did.”

When I had gotten to the office this morning, I’d checked out the school’s website where her bio was listed. I was relieved Addison Lark hadn’t given me a fake name, assuming her friends and family called her Addy for short. I’d also plugged her name into the social media sites and checked out the little information that was public, which was nothing more than a handful of photos.

It didn’t matter what angle the picture was taken or what she was wearing in them.

She was one gorgeous woman.