“Oh come on, Brooke,” he’d teased me. “Really?”
“She threw a tantrum that I only have 2 percent milk in the fridge versus fat free.”
Bishop chuckled and took my hand in his, giving me some comfort by stroking the back with his thumb, all while his eyes glittered with amusement.
“She talks about herself nonstop,” I complained to him. “I know way too much detail about her hair, skin, stomach intolerances, her alcoholic daddy, her overachiever sister who she can’t compare to, her last ex-boyfriend who she actually trolls on social media, an affair she had with one of the assistant editors at the magazine, and her sex life.” I added that last bit with a slight shudder. “Let’s just say I don’t know if I can look Dax in the face again, as she was way too explicit about what they’ve been doing together.”
Bishop at least had the grace to look a little sympathetic before stating, “Well, that ship has sailed. Dax isn’t going back for more.”
“Because she has a certain level of crazy, right?” I asked, feeling vindicated.
“Actually, he said she wasn’t that great in the sack,” he told me truthfully. “But yeah, I think she was also latching on to him a little too hard after just a few days.”
Bishop went on to tell me that Dax politely told her last night after he dropped her off at my house that he would be too busy to see her again before she left to return home to New York. I didn’t know this firsthand, as Bishop and I were sleeping when she came in, and this morning, she was secured back in her room after taking an early shower along with all the hot water.
Now she’s in my bedroom.
Steeling myself and willing my nerves not to get too frazzled, I head in there to join her.
To find Nanette going through my closet.
My gaze sweeps the room to see several of my outfits laid neatly out on the bed with shoes on the floor below each, as if she’s putting together a wardrobe for a fashion show. She has all my jewelry pulled out and spread across my dresser.
“What—” I say, getting ready to follow it with the fuck is going on, but I catch myself. She’s a guest in my home, but more important, she’s carrying around a big secret about Bishop and me. I have to tread carefully. So I cough and say in just a generically curious tone, “What’s going on?”
She gives me a sharp expression then looks back to a dress she’s holding up to admire. Nanette then brings it up to her body and turns to look in the mirror on the back of my door. Without looking at me, she answers, “I’m just trying on a few of your things. I know you wouldn’t mind me borrowing them.”
My fingers curl inward, my hands balling into fists. Still, I keep a pleasant smile plastered to my face. “Oh yeah?”
She nods. “I’ve got a job interview next week.”
“What?” I gasp in shock.
Her eyes finally come to me in the mirror. “Yeah…I was out last night with the guys—”
“The guys?” I ask, having no clue what she’s talking about, as I thought she was out with Dax.
“Erik, Legend, Dax,” she says with a shrug. “And there were some others who work in the organization there too. I can’t remember all their names, but I met Sebastian Parr. He’s the director of merchandising, and well…he told me about a job opening in his division.”
What in the hell?
There was no job opening there. Sebastian had me doing some temporary work to determine if they could fit me into the budget in that department.
And then it hits me. My eyes narrow as she shoves the dress back into the closet and pulls out another. “Was, um…Sebastian kind of flirting with you?”
Nanette doesn’t look at me but nods with a purring type of laugh. “Oh was he ever. And I was flirting right back. It’s how I got the interview.”
I just bet. Sebastian is a flirty guy, but it’s always seemed harmless to me and I never engaged. But if Nanette was giving it back to him, I could see her “persuading” him to give her an interview.
I poke at her a bit more. “But I thought you were with Dax last night.”
“I was,” she says casually, and then turns to me. “And let me tell you, he’s got it so bad for me, Brooke. But I just don’t want to be pinned down, so I kind of broke things off last night. I’m thinking about calling Erik, though. He could totally be a nice diversion.”
Oh, just…gross. I’m all for women having the same sexual liberation as men, but in the span of just a few minutes, she’s practically told me about her using three men with no shame at all. I’m really glad Dax wiped his hands of her, and now I feel the pressing need to give Erik a serious heads up.