Total pages in book: 138
Estimated words: 133034 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 665(@200wpm)___ 532(@250wpm)___ 443(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 133034 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 665(@200wpm)___ 532(@250wpm)___ 443(@300wpm)
“We aren’t going to decline any more proposals,” Josh tells Heath. “We just need to be careful now. Really careful. If word got out about you…”
“So, you mean I need to be careful.” Heath groans as he runs his fingers through his hair. “Stop this crap now, Josh. My decisions are mine to make, not yours.”
Josh’s eyes lock on Heath’s, holding strong.
“Yes, they are, but those decisions affect all of us, not just you.”
Heath shoves his coffee mug away from him.
“Is that some kind of code for piss off and book in another slot like any other client? Just like nothing ever happened?”
“There is no piss off about anything when it comes to us and you,” Josh says. “There never would be.”
“That’s not exactly how it’s been coming across of late.”
The two men face off. The tension thrums in the air.
“Sorry,” Heath says. “We’ve been through this enough. I’m just fucked off by the whole sorry lot of it.”
“Ditto,” Josh replies, and I nod.
“Same,” I say. “It’s shit. Absolutely shit.”
Heath sighs.
“So, what do we do?”
“We go back to normal,” Josh says. “We’re just more careful about it from now on.”
“Go back to normal?” Heath scoffs. “That’s the card you’re playing here? Are you shitting me?”
Josh shrugs. “Why is that such a travesty? We were all going great together, no problems whatsoever until Ella got thrown into the shit by Connor and made public.”
Heath’s shoulders tense. I see it, even through his fluffy robe.
“Cannes wasn’t fucking normal, Josh. It wasn’t just a single-nighter with a see you later at the end of it. We were all in fucking tears at the villa before you left for the airport. I’m not just a regular client who books a slot in your calendar for some ass play. Don’t put me down as one.”
“Of course you’re not. You never were.”
Silence.
All three of us sit in silence.
Heath is right. Of course he is. Cannes was anything but normal.
“We can always book in longer proposals,” Josh suggests when the silence reaches its peak. “We just need to make sure they’re private. This one worked great, didn’t it? We had loads of fun, even if you did starve my asshole.”
Heath laughs a bitter laugh, staring out of the window.
“I was sitting here holed up for three days straight before you checked in, so as not to attract attention.” He shakes his head. “Fuck random city locations and suites down the corridor from each other. I want you to be back at my place. Home. Not in a hotel in the middle of nowhere.”
Josh reaches for Heath’s hands across the table, grabbing them in a squeeze.
“Hey, so do we. But what if we get caught on the way to yours? What if one of the paps gets a picture of two hookers turning up at your house for a filth fest? It would be absolutely fucking devastating.”
Heath looks at me now, not Josh.
“What do you think, sweet curva? How would you feel if you got caught on the way to my place? Got snapped by the paps on the way to service The Count? Because that’s what I’m known as. A fucking vampire on the show. It’s just a job, the same as anyone else’s. My social media presence is full of Nighttime Whispers news and snippets, nothing more. I don’t even bother looking at it, people manage it for me.”
I take a breath.
“I’d feel terrible if I got recognised on the way to your place. If you had to go through what I did, trolled online and chased by a hate mob, I’d feel horrible for it. It would be a million times worse for you than it ever was for me. You wouldn’t just disappear into the woodwork like it never happened once the dust settled. Your name would be associated with mine for ever. Heath and the hooker.”
Another bout of silence.
Three minds churning as my guts lurch.
Josh finishes up his coffee and puts his mug down.
“This needs a lot of thought, from all three of us. Not just a conversation in a random hotel room when we’re all still reeling from seeing each other again.” He looks at me, then to Heath, locking onto Heath’s gorgeous eyes. “At least tell me I’m right on that one. Let’s do it this way. You think, we think, we come back together and we work it out.”
“Great. Excellent,” Heath says. “We all have a jolly good think and come back together to work it out? Alright, Mr Rational. How about we get a project planner and map out some pros and cons when we do? We could all put some bullets points on it, for consideration. Maybe even have a talking spoon and take turns presenting our case around the table.”
Josh gets unusually flustered, his eyebrows raised high. He holds up his hands in frustration, and I squeeze his knee under the table, letting him know I’m feeling it, too.