“Get ready. Come with me,” Roxie said, swinging into her bedroom.
“Come with you to Crimson?”
After a night under Roxie’s roof, the shock had given way to determination. Work. She needed work.
“Yeah, I have this meeting and want you to meet the contractor.”
“Why?” she asked. Her legs crossed under her laptop, she rested against the headboard. Toria’s headboard actually. “Is he cute?”
Roxie laughed, resting her temple on the hand she had curled around the doorjamb. “We have a whole squad working on the building. Bet there’s one in there who’ll distract you from Gauge.”
“Oh, that’s what I need, more men in my life.” She put her laptop aside to scoot to the edge of the bed. “I need a job.”
“And I’m giving you one,” Roxie said.
Wait, what? “You’re…?”
“The internal construction is mostly complete, we’re onto the fun part of refurbishment. We have plans but need someone on site we can trust. Someone to make quick, tasteful decisions, when to forge on, when to pull back.”
“And you trust my taste?”
“It’s the same as Zairn’s,” Roxie said. “Z picked me, so I know his taste is top-notch. He also picked Gauge, who picked you.”
“So it’s a six degrees thing?” she asked on a laugh. “You don’t owe me anything. I appreciate it, but—”
“This is not me doing you a favor, you’d be doing me one. And Zairn one too. He asked me to oversee the club opening and then we went and got engaged and moved to New York.”
“He didn’t think to pull the plug?”
“It still means something to me, my city. We might live in the Big Apple, but Chicago will always have a place in my heart. Z knows that. He cares ‘cause I care.”
“What else can you make him do?”
Roxie cackled. “I plan to spend the rest of my life finding out.”
“Next time we take a weekend trip, I want to meet this Casanova. I’m not sure there’s a mortal man capable of containing you.”
“Maybe he’s not mortal. You know, I never asked.”
“Not something that comes up much in the course of a date.”
“You know we don’t really do that either.” Roxie bent a knee to raise a foot. “Huh, not much of a relationship, is it?” Her foot hit the floor again. “We have a lot of sex.”
“That’s the main thing,” she joked. Her cellphone rang. “One sec.” Lying on the bed, she stretched to the other side and dragged her phone across the bed, hitting answer as she did. “Hello?” She pressed speaker. “Hello, sorry.”
“Button?”
“Hey!” she called, her grin matching Roxie’s. “Are you calling to break up with me?”
“Calling to break—no, why would you think—”
“These things come in threes,” Roxie said.
“Ms. Kyst,” Xander exclaimed. “Sticking around in Chicago?”
“For another day or two,” Roxie said. “‘Til I can be sure you’ll treat this gem right.”
“You better be bringing her over to our side. You poison my girl and I poison your guy.”
“Good luck with that. I know where my guy’s bodies are buried and have all kinds of kinky sex tapes to blackmail him with. He’ll be in my bed for a thousand years. And if you break this beauty’s heart, I’m taking her to California as my sister wife. I call him Casanova for a reason, trust me, he can handle it.”
“I take care of all those duties, Roxanna.”
“Take care of them quickly,” Roxie said, pushing off the doorframe. “We have an appointment with a gang of hotties.”
Roxie winked and closed the door as she departed.
“Button?”
“She’s gone,” she said, picking up the phone and taking it off speaker as she lay down. “How are you?”
“How am I? What was she talking about things in threes?”
“I’ve had an eventful twenty-four hours. Not even twenty-four hours. It would be like twenty hours. No, damn, less, closer to twelve hours. God, that’s depressing. How life can just—”
“Babe!”
“I got fired,” she said, leaving enough time to sigh before continuing. “It’s embarrassing. I never thought I’d be embarrassed to tell you. I didn’t do anything, it wasn’t some dramatic exit. Though, it could’ve been. Maybe I should go back there and make a scene.” She laughed. “It hit me out of nowhere, you know? It’s crazy. One minute you’re secure, never thinking twice about how you’ll make rent, then wham, you’re a day away from a box in the street.”
“They fired you?”
The depth of that growl was new.
“It’s no big deal,” she said. “I wasn’t madly in love with the company or anything. It just sucks to give your loyalty to something that spits it back at you. And then, as if that wasn’t bad enough, Tia announced Bryan’s moving in with her.”
“She announced it? Why didn’t you say no?”
“I doubt Bryan would let anyone say no. He does what he wants when he wants.”
“I’ll get security to—”
“It’s okay, Gwenie and I moved out.”
“You’re at ours?”
“We’re at Roxie’s. She called when we were packing and invited us to stay.”
“I gave you the key to our apartment, Button. I want you to use it.”
“It was easier to be here, Roxie has more room. Besides, I don’t want to be one of those limpet people. I’m not a limpet type person. We have never established what we are, but whatever it is, I don’t think we’re at a place where it’s time to move in together. If we get there and decide we want to do that, we have to decide together. I don’t want to do it because I’m out on my ass with nowhere else to go. Your place only has one bed anyway, and I wouldn’t want to leave Gwenie or make her think she might be a burden.”
“She’s there with you?”
“She’s at work. One of us has to earn a living if we’re going to be apartment hunting.”
“You have your credit card.”
“I can figure this out. Roxie’s been amazing. She helped out with the landlord getting both of us signed off the lease. At least we don’t have to worry about that chasing us down.” She caught a length of hair and slid her fingers down to toy with the ends. “And I know we were kidding, but thank you for not being the third shock. If my best guy friend was to call and dump me right now—”
“I will never dump you,” he said. “Have you heard from Demetri?”
“No, why?” She frowned. “Should I hear from him?”
“No, I don’t want him sneaking back in while I’m out of town.”
“We said no other guys, didn’t we? You don’t have to worry about that. Losing my job and apartment in one night blindsided me, but Roxie may have me lined up for a job already.”
“You should’ve called me, babe. I was worried when I didn’t hear from you last night. Damnit, I should’ve just got on a plane.”
“We’re fine, it’s fine,” she said, looping her hair around her finger. “We had a few drinks and just crashed last night. Anyway, it’s like I said, it’s embarrassing.”
“Embarrassing that you lost your job?”
“You’re out there taking over the world one corporation at a time and I can’t even get my shit together for a nine to five. I was the one who told you Viva would be fine if we just got the Northberg bill paid. Now it’s like I wasted your money.”
“You didn’t ask me to do that, and it’s just money. I don’t give a shit about that. I give a shit that they cut you off for no good reason.”
“They wouldn’t have if they knew we were together, and I don’t want to trade off your name like that. It is what it is.”
Even if Roxie employed her to help with the Crimson Chicago opening, it would be a temporary gig. Eventually the club would be complete, the doors would be open, and she’d be hunting the job market again. Still, beggars couldn’t be choosers, she couldn’t refuse work, any work. They’d need a deposit and rent for wherever they moved to next.
“We’re supposed to be doing honesty. And I’m your guy, Rainie. You tell your guy when things like this happen.”
“You’re right. I’m sorry. I should’ve called.”
“What job is Roxie offering?”
“Crimson Chicago,” she said. “Zairn bought it for Roxie and asked her to oversee its completion and opening. Then—”
“They got engaged and started jetting off all over the place.”
“I’m not sure it’s a real serious thing that they were worried about, but Roxie’s been nice enough to take me along. I’m looking forward to seeing it. I’ve never seen an empty nightclub… I should go get ready, I don’t want to hold Roxie up. She wanted to go over there last night, but with everything that went down, we missed it.”
“You want off the phone?”
“I don’t want off the phone, I just…”
“You just what?”
“It’s like the middle of the night there, isn’t it?”
“Just hit midnight.”
Rolling onto her side, she breathed out and closed her eyes. “And you’re about to lie down in your bed… I dreamed about you last night.”
“Oh yeah?” he said, dripping with swagger. “Want to tell me about it?”
She laughed, though her body relaxed. “When I came to bed, I couldn’t stop thinking about you. About how I needed your arms around me, how much I wanted to just lie with you.”
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there,” he said, solemn. “This is why I didn’t want to leave you. I want to be there for you when shit happens in your life.”
“These things… when these things happen, you learn who really cares.”
“I really care.”
“I know. But you also learn about yourself, about what’s really important to you.”
“Am I on that list?”
She drew in a breath, enjoying a few seconds of just breathing with him. “I miss you.”
“I miss you too, Button.”
“Did we take each other for granted?” No, that wasn’t the right question. “Did I take you for granted? I know I want to be with you, to be close to you, but is it damaging? Am I damaging to your life?”
“How would you get there? No, you’re not damaging.”
“I don’t want to slow you down. I want you to progress, to stay on your trajectory. Your work is so important.”
“You are so important,” he said. “You’re everything, Rainie. You are what’s important. I’m so pissed you went through losing your job and your apartment to—was Bryan there when you left? Did he hurt you?”
“No. He wasn’t there. Gwenie and I packed and left while he and Tia were out.”
“You should’ve used your credit card for security, for movers, for whatever you needed.”
“Trevor’s been kind. He and his people came over to watch our backs and help us out.” Her lips quirked. “And they may have been loitering in the background when we were in the landlord’s office. I’m not sure if Zairn made a call or if Trevor was enough.”
“Trevor is…”
“Roxie’s Chicago security,” she said. “Did you know Zairn bought the apartment next door to Roxie’s to act as a security base?”
“I might’ve, I don’t know. Sounds like him though. He’s protective of her. They’ve lived a lot of their relationship in the limelight.”
“People love Roxie and she’s so good with them. I know people say you shouldn’t meet your heroes, but she lives up to the hype and then some.”
“If you need someone to make a call, ask your boyfriend, not hers.”
“I didn’t mean to step on your ego. I didn’t ask Zairn to make a call, he and Roxie talk a lot and—”
“It’s okay. You’re not stepping on my ego. I just wish I’d been there for you.”
“You’re here now,” she said, drawing up her knees toward her chest. “And you’re making me feel better. If only…”
“I was there with you. I know, Button. Me too.”
“You can sleep through. We don’t have to meet for lunch today.” Would she go back to the coffee shop now that her job wasn’t just around the corner? “But will you call me when you wake up?”
“Yes. I want to know how things went at Crimson.”
“Thank you, baby. Sweet dreams.”
Boyfriends in the past, for the most part, tended to only half listen. Demetri especially. Xander wasn’t like that. Engaged, aware, proactive, he was more than a go-getter. He’d been there and got everything there was to get. Yet, he still cared about her. Was it because they were at the beginning? Would he care as much after six months? After six years.
Picturing their life together was difficult. What did she want? How could they make it work? It wouldn’t be business as usual, not for her, and not for him either, if it involved a home base. They’d figure it out. If something was important enough, people made it happen, and Xander Gauge was definitely worth it.