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“This is strictly business, Mr. Carson.” – Candy Williams
“Yes, Miss Williams. Strictly business.” – Dick Carson
“Oh, Mr. Carson!” – Candy Williams
LUCKY ME
Leo
Dammit.
Why did I let him get to me?
I couldn’t blame Izzy for getting fed up with us...with me. This wasn’t the way to handle myself on a job. I knew better, and fuck, I wasn’t fourteen anymore. If Izzy didn’t choose me on her own, I’d never trust her feelings, anyway.
I stepped up to Izzy. “I’m sorry,” I murmured as I brushed a kiss across her cheek. “You look amazing. I can’t believe that not only do you still want to work tonight but you come in here looking like you just stepped off the runway and not out of the ER just a few hours ago.”
Her eyes softened. “Thanks, but it’s nothing I did. I have my new friend to thank for my appearance tonight.” She drew the woman from our hotel room up to her side. “Everyone, this is Sofia Monterey. She and Shane go way back since she’s a very talented designer, so he called in her help for me.” Izzy fluttered her free hand, showcasing her outfit. “She came in from Denver with clothes, makeup, and hair expertise.”
Of course he had. The bastard worked Izzy like the prince of her every dream. Oh, you got hurt because of me? Let me provide you with an all-new custom couture wardrobe.
Had Izzy told him about her favorite scenes from those movies?
She had to for him to be spoiling her this way. Not that she didn’t deserve to be spoiled. She did.
I bit back my anger.
Why was I so furious when the guy gave her something so amazing? Fuck. I needed to walk away before I said something she couldn’t forgive. Even I could see I was behaving like a jealous jerk.
“It’s so nice to see you again,” I said politely to Sofia, who looked at me quizzically, even though I probably looked less than friendly with my clenched jaw. “I know Izzy appreciates the help after the day she’s had.”
A few others came up to greet the newcomer and to check with Izzy about her injuries. I used the moment to escape.
“If you’ll both excuse me. I need to go speak to Ava about some details with tomorrow’s shoot.”
Luckily, Ava stood clear on the other side of the room, chatting with two of the fully recovered models.
When I walked up, she leaned away from the group. “Are you okay?”
I blew out a breath. “Yeah.” I ran a hand over the back of my tense neck. “I just really hate that guy.”
She nodded, but didn’t comment about Shane. Like everyone else, she didn’t seem to see past all that disgusting charm of his. “Izzy looks good. You’d never guess she was in the emergency room just a few hours ago.”
“Yeah.” I watched her across the room as she laughed at something Shane said. “She’s always been like that. She bounces back and takes your breath away doing it.”
“You need to tell her.”
“What?” I turned back to Ava, confused about what she was talking about.
She patted my arm and drew me even further away from the models. “Tell her you love her, you want her in your bed, and you want her to have your babies.”
My eyes widened at the idea of that, by the sudden flash of how Izzy would look pregnant with my baby. It stole my breath.
Fuck, I wanted that.
“Yeah,” Ava said with a nod. “That. You need to tell her that, before it’s too late and someone else steals her away.”
I glanced back over at my best friend. I knew her better than anyone else in this world, but I didn’t know how she’d react to something like this, even with those brief flashes of something between us.
The unknown terrified me.
What if I told her I loved her and then I lost her?
We could be great if it worked out, but if we didn’t last, it could ruin everything.
The rest of the evening quickly got swallowed up in focusing on our work for the Mod Appeal campaign.
Although the day had been disastrous on so many levels, we’d gotten the bulk of our print shots done. Both Shane and Izzy were thrilled with the raw photos I shared, which would make up eighty percent of the marketing campaign. Tomorrow we’d work on the video and while I was still the head of art direction, the video component really fell to Jasper, as we flipped roles. Tomorrow, I acted as his support all day.
It took a load of pressure off me, which was good since my focus was nonexistent tonight. All I could see and hear was the light, flirt-filled banter between Izzy and Shane. Even worse, Sofia had joined their little love fest.
I felt like I was watching a ménage à trois in the making.
Did Izzy do things like that? She’d never mentioned that kink, but honestly, we’d avoided details about sex over the years. By design...mine. In the past anytime it seemed like she might be headed toward talking about sex with her current lover, I detoured our conversation real quick.
I never wanted to know.
Had I missed something along the way? Three-ways? Did she take part in them? Ever? Her ex obviously had so it probably wasn’t that much of a stretch that Izzy did too.
I felt both sickened and intrigued at the same time. What was wrong with me?
Ava poked my side under the table. “Stop scowling at them. You can’t actually incinerate him with your glare, so stop trying.”
I took a deep breath, tore my gaze away from the three of them, and tried to focus my attention on the surrounding conversation.
That’s the way the rest of the evening went, me trying to act like normal when all I wanted to do was stomp across the room and pull Izzy into my arms while yelling, “Mine!”
I was behaving like a two-year-old, but knowing that didn’t seem to help me stop it.
When I could finally slip away without shirking my job, I made my way to a different bar in the hotel's lobby, a sports bar called You’ve Got Balls. I could appreciate the tongue-in-cheek name, even if I didn’t feel like laughing about it.
Actually, that wasn’t true. I wanted to laugh about it with Izzy. She’d love the name. But she wasn’t with me, so I slammed back the shot of whisky without her.
Drinking away my problems wouldn’t help. I’d already tried that, so I paid for my drink and headed out of the bar.
In the lobby, I could hear Izzy’s tinkling laugh. I zeroed in to where she stood waiting for the elevator with Shane and Sofia.
They were all headed upstairs...together.
Jealousy ripped through me, making me feel nauseous.
So she’d made her choice.
I could live with that.
I had no choice.
But I couldn’t face going back to our room.
So, I went the opposite direction, outside, where it was snowing again.
I walked for a good thirty minutes before my phone rang. I should have turned it off. I didn’t want to talk to Izzy, but a glance at the screen had me pushing the answer button.
“Cassandra, what’s wrong?”
“Leo, you need to come home. Mom’s been in an accident.”