Kinged(12)

“Oh gross, I don’t need to hear that.”

Amy laughed. “That’s not what I meant.”

“Whatever kiddo. I’m going to bed.”

“Alright. Sleep tight, Darce. See you tomorrow.”

“Night, Amy,” I said then hung up.

I turned away from the mirror and plopped down on the couch. For the most part, I was lucky. I had a relatively easy childhood, and I was blessed with decent looks. I had been with my fair share of guys over the years. But of all those men, I had never been in a relationship that lasted longer than a few months, and I was beginning to crave more long-term companionship. Maybe making out with a dangerous stranger in a bathroom stall wasn’t the best way to fall in love, but at least I was trying.

I turned on the television, wrapped myself in a blanket, and spaced out in front of some crappy reality show. I thought about Rex, his muscles, and the way his hands roamed my body. I hoped he would call, though I wasn’t sure why. He probably wasn’t the serious relationship type, but I wanted to find out.

The next morning, I felt like shit. I stayed up too late and drank too much, and I was paying for it in spades at work. I huddled down in my chair and tried to act invisible as Marissa droned on about wildlife preserves or something. I was way beyond hung over to even try and deal with her.

Rex hadn’t messaged me, although I didn’t expect him to. There was something strange about him in those last few minutes, as if he were afraid of something. I could tell his mind was elsewhere, even if my mind was firmly locked on his chiseled body. In fact, my mind had been firmly locked on his full lips ever since I left him. He definitely was an arrogant, quiet asshole, but I found myself powerfully attracted to him.

Before I could get too lost in daydreams, my phone rang. I groaned at the noise, and then answered.

“Darcy Thatcher speaking.” I hoped it was Amy offering a magical cure to my headache.

“Darcy, it’s Janice. Got a few minutes to meet with Shane?” Janice was Shane Green’s personal assistant and all-around awesome lady. They apparently were good friends, at least according to Amy, but nobody knew that and they didn’t act like anything other than business associates at work.

“Sure thing, when?”

“Right now, if you’re available.”

“I’ll be right over.”

“Thanks, he’s expecting you.” She hung up.

I hadn’t been invited into Shane’s office since I first started at Adstringo. Most new hires at least got to meet Shane once, despite how notoriously private he was. He rarely engaged in any non-work associated conversations, and nobody knew much about his personal life. Whenever I tried to pry anything about him from Amy, she would tell me that he prefers it if people didn’t know details about his life and drops it. He was frustratingly enigmatic, but also cold and distant. I understood what Amy saw in him, but he wasn’t exactly my type.

I was more into the hot-blooded, asshole wild man, apparently.

I closed down my laptop, unplugged it, and carried it over to Shane’s office. I wasn’t sure what he wanted, so I figured it was good to be prepared. As I got closer, Janice smiled and gave me a wave from her desk outside of Shane’s office.

“Head on in,” she said.

“Thanks,” I said, and pushed open the door.

Inside, his office was simple. I was surprised all over again at how clean and empty it felt. There was a table with chairs, shelves with books, filing cabinets, and Shane’s desk. As I entered, he gestured for me to sit in a chair facing him. For a billionaire, he was shockingly Spartan in his tastes.

“Hey, Mr. Green,” I said, and smiled.

“Hi, Darcy, how are you?”

“I’m pretty good.” I sat down and looked at him expectantly.

He cleared his throat and looked uncomfortable. “Well, Darcy, this isn’t exactly a business meeting. So call me Shane for now, if that’s okay.”

“Sure, Shane. What’s going on? Is something up with Amy?”

He looked a little surprised. “No, Amy is fine. It’s actually you I want to talk about.”

That was surprising. Even though he was engaged to my best friend, he had barely shown any interest in me beyond what was expected. Amy said he was just difficult to get to know, but I had a feeling he was just too busy.

“Okay, spit it out. What’s up?”

He looked uncomfortable again. “Are you seeing a man named Rex?”

I laughed. “I guess, sort of. Not exactly seeing him. I take it Amy told you.”

He nodded. “Yes, she told me. Does Rex spend time at a certain bar called Drake’s?”

That gave me pause. It wasn’t unusual for him to know the name Rex, but how did he know about Drake’s? I remembered then how awkward and strange Rex had acted when I mentioned Shane’s name the other night.