Page 4 of Gross Misconduct
I was having my fun, and Ethan wasn’t going to shit on that. I figured once I hit my thirties, when my career started to wind down, then I’d think about settling down. Far too many guyshad gotten married and started a family way to young, and I’d seen firsthand how it had affected their gameplay. Nope, that wasn’t going to happen to me.
“When I find the right woman, you’ll be the first to know. But this one isn’t it.”
Ethan narrowed his gaze. “I guess I find it weird that you’re keeping her a secret. You usually don’t do that. Unless it’s serious.”
If only he knew … Nope. This wasn’t serious, just dangerous. “It’s not.” I could see him opening his mouth to say something else, but I cut him off. “Before you even ask, no, I’m not bringing her around.”
“How did you know I was going to ask that?”
“I know you better than you think. Just like I knew that Brandi was bad for you, that you should have never fucked up your relationship with Tangi, and that the two of you were meant to be together.”
Ethan grunted something unintelligible, and we headed back to join the ladies. They were in the living room, looking at something on Tangi’s iPad. Tangi looked up when she saw us.
“You’re done already?” she asked with surprise.
“It wasn’t that hard,” I said.
Tangi seemed confused. “Oh. Because Ethan’s been working on it all morning.”
“Not all morning,” Ethan protested.
“Busted,” Jill said and laughed.
I had to admit she had a gorgeous smile when she let it loose, which so far, hadn’t been often.
“Do you want to stay for dinner?” Tangi asked me. “It’s the least we could offer you for helping with that furniture that would have taken Ethan weeks to put together. We were looking up some places in the area, and there is an Italian place nearby. It’s got some great reviews.”
I could see a twinkle in Tangi’s hazel eyes, almost too playful, but I was starving, and Italian food sounded like a great idea. Forty-five minutes later, the dining room table was filled with two pizzas, chicken parmigiana, gnocchi, two different salads, and some garlic breadsticks. I figured it could be my cheat meal for the week.
We sat down, and I piled my plate full of food while Ethan grabbed us a few more beers, and the ladies sipped wine. I glanced over at Jill who seemed completely disinterested in me and Ethan. She had her focus on Tangi, and that gave me a chance to check her out some more. She’s was likely Tangi’s age, but she looked more mature, not that Tangi acted like a kid or anything. Jill seemed older. Her blue eyes popped against her lightly tanned skin, and her dirty-blonde hair was swept up into a high ponytail that still managed to make her look all business. Maybe a little uptight?
She caught me staring, and I smiled, but she didn’t return the smile. In fact, she gave no reaction at all, and set her attention back to Tangi. Whoa! She certainly didn’t like me for some reason, and I barely knew her.
Ethan decided to get in on the conversation with the ladies, though I was pretty sure they didn’t want him to.
“How is the job going so far?” he asked Jill, obviously to be polite.
She shrugged, but remained stone-faced. “Good. I haven’t been at it long.”
“What did you do before?” I asked, then tore off a piece of a garlic breadstick.
“I worked for Richardson’s. I was head of PR for their Canadian expansion.”
Impressive. “Sounds like a great job. What happened?”
“The expansion was a disaster, and I was fired along with most of the middle management. We were the fall guys.”
“That sucks,” I said. “Good thing Ethan helped you get this job.”
Any speck of warmth on her face—and it wasn’t much—evaporated in a split second.
“I got the job on merit.”
Shit. “Of course you did. I was just pointing out that Ethan’s help didn’t hurt.”
Her blue eyes were like laser beams, silently cutting me to shreds.
“I’m sorry, I’m not sure what you’re talking about. Ethan mentioned the job, and I applied. Are you suggesting something else happened?”