Page 68 of Pleasure Island
“Don’t,” I said, shaking my head. “You should go. My boss is bound to be calling me soon to let me know I’m fired.”
Mila’s eyes narrowed. “I came to see you.”
“So you said.” Bracing one arm on the door near my head, I kept my body in the doorway. “But you should go.”
“You’re just going to push me away?” she demanded, shoving her hair back from her face.
I didn’t know how to respond to that. What I wanted to do was pull her up against me, kiss her, hold her. I wanted her in my bed underneath me.
But listening to what Iwantedwas what landed me here.
“Just go, Mila,” I said, shaking my head.
I pushed away from the doorway and slowly shut the door. She stared at me through the narrowing space until it completely closed. Then I leaned my head against the wood, wondering if she stood out there still.
It was early yet, not quite five, but I needed a drink. Moving to the small fridge that had come with the apartment, I pulled it open and grabbed a beer. Before I could take the first drink, though, the phone rang.
I eyed it narrowly as I approached the table.
I already knew who it was.
I let it ring a second time before picking it up.
“Hello,” I said, keeping my voice neutral.
On the other end of the line, Steve said, “Kid, I’ve got to tell you, I was having a shitty day to begin with. You did not make it any better.”
I closed my eyes.
“You got anything to say for yourself?” he asked when I remained silent.
“What exactly should I say? I screwed up.”
Steve barked out a laugh. “You screwed up?” he echoed, his voice incredulous. “You’ve been fucking the woman you were hired to protect. I did make myself clear about that sort of thing, didn’t I?”
“You did.”
“I guess I didn’t make it clear enough because Christopher Golding, one of our best clients, was just in here and he ripped me a new asshole. He found you groping his daughter.”
Pinching the bridge of my nose, I wracked my brain to come up with something to say that might make this better, but there was nothing.
“Did he get the situation wrong?” Steve asked, an edge in his voice.
“I wouldn’t say I was groping,” I told him, some of my own temper snapping into my voice. “That makes it sound one-sided, and it most definitely wasn’t.”
“That doesn’t make it any better,” he snapped.
“I know that!” Frustration chewed at me, and I lashed it down. Taking a deep breath, I said, “I know that. Like I said, I screwed up.”
“And you screwed us in the bargain. You realize your actions reflect on me, on my company, on the rest of the men and women I employ.” Silence fell then, and after a few seconds of it, Steve sighed. “I’m going to have to let you go, kid.”
“I figured as much.”
There was nothing else left to say so Steve ended the call, and I went back to my bed and sat down, staring at absolutely nothing.
