Page 16 of The Playboy
I’m standing with the girls, holding the coffee for Tait, and I take a sip of my own, elated as the warm caffeine travels down my throat. Caleb and Elena arrive downstairs together, and Caleb looks like someone kicked his puppy. I smirk as they approach us. She must have gotten to him bad. Giselle and Chloe hand coffees off to their respective owners.
“Caleb and Elena, this is Sam. She’s Tait’s new PA since Emily had to go home sick,” Chloe introduces us.
“It’s nice to meet you, Sam. Welcome,” Elena replies.
“Thank you, nice to meet you as well.” I’m trying my best not to be starstruck, but it’s Elena Conners! How can I not be? We all manage some idle chitchat as we wait for the car to arrive. Tait still isn’t down here, and I’m afraid he slept through his alarm. I hear a ding of the elevator and look over at the doors. They slide open, and Tait steps out wearing in a pair of jeans and a button-down shirt. He looks good, really good. I give him a small smile. “Morning, Tait.”
He walks toward me, and I hand him his coffee. He accepts it without saying another word and walks outside, waiting for our ride.That’s weird.
“Good morning to you, too,” I mutter to myself.
“Don’t stress it, I don’t think he’s a morning person,” Chloe states and we all head outside.
I want to ask him what’s with the cold shoulder, but he climbs into the car before I have the chance. I slide in next to him but decide to bite my tongue. No one else needs to know what I’m thinking. He then does the one thing that surprises me—he places his hand on top of mine and gives it a gentle squeeze. I look over at him. He has his shades pulled down over his eyes and his face turned toward the window.
The car slows to a stop once we arrive on set. He removes his hand, focusing on his coffee, and gives me a small nudge to get out of the car. “Come on, I’ll show you to my trailer.”
I trail behind him, taking in all the people walking around setting up microphones and lights. It’s early, but I’m sure some of these people have been here for the past few hours making sure everything is ready. He slows to walk beside me. “Coffee’s good. Thanks.”
“Tait, what was that about? You ignored me this morning, and now you’re talking to me. Are you too good to acknowledge me when others are around?”
He stops walking and looks around, making sure no one can hear us. “Do you know what it was like waking up at four this morning to find you’d snuck out of my room?”
“Do you know what it’s like knowing that if I’d followed through last night, I probably would have regretted it. I don’t do one-night stands, Tait. It’s not something I want, especially with my boss. I don’t need to mess this all up.”
He cards his fingers through his hair and huffs a breath. “I told you, what we do outside of business hours won’t change our work relationship. It’s not a one-night stand if it’s something I want to continue with.”
I widen my eyes. “What do you mean, it’s something you want to continue with?”
“I’m not thinking of a relationship, lass. Just we can help satisfy each other’s needs, and then I don’t have to worry about the girl having to sign an NDA. You’ve already signed one.”
What. An. Asshole.
Chapter 11
Her eyeswiden and her mouth is slightly ajar before her face turns red and her jaw clenches.
She’s pissed.
I know I fucked that one up.
Bad.
“Look. How about we work on working together and we will see what happens. Can you get me a bottle of water and an egg white vegetable omelet?” I point her toward the direction of the cafeteria area, and she saunters off without saying another word to me.
I sit in the chair and pull out my phone to text Quinn. Over the past month, we’ve gotten close, and while I still want a chance to fuck her brains out, I’ve come to terms that she doesn’t want me like that.
Me:Loverboy is over here pouting. You still haven’t told me what you did to him.
Me:Hurry up and get your arse here. I have a problem and I need a hand in fixing it.
I pocket my phone and look toward the mirror, allowing my makeup girl, Karen, to give me a few cuts along my cheek. Sam returns after a few minutes with breakfast in hand, setting it down on the small table next to me.
“Do you need anything else right now, Tait?” she asks.
“No.”
She sits on the small loveseat with her food and eats quietly as Karen finishes. I watch her from the mirror but don’t say anything. I need some time to get my head on straight and figure out what I can do to make her see it my way. She wants me, that much I’m sure of. It’s a matter of convincing her brain what her body already knows.