Club Prive Book 2 (Volume 2) by M. S. Parker Read Free Book Online Page A

exactly my work attire.”
    Howard was silent for a moment, appearing to be thinking hard about something. Then his face lit up. “Of course! Carrie Summers. Mimi’s paralegal.”
    “Yes, sir.”
    He waved his hand. “Enough with the ‘sir.’ It’s Howard.” He kept his eyes on me but spoke to the woman at his side. “Sheryl, if you would.” The woman next to him got up and moved into an empty seat.
    “Carrie, please.” Howard gestured at the seat next to him. “And, Gavin, please find a seat as well.”
    I glanced at Gavin, but couldn’t read his face. Fine, if he wasn’t going to say anything about us being separated, neither was I. I sat down next to Howard and, after a moment, Gavin sat between an attractive blond and a brunette who looked like she was half made of plastic.
    “Now, Carrie, I have to say, you look ravishing.” Howard angled his body towards me as if I captured all of his attention.
    I tried to smile at the compliment, but I thought it was a bit much. I deflected. “I’m flattered, Mr. Wei – Howard, but it’s all thanks to Prada and diamonds.” I laughed, the sound fake to my ears.
    He apparently didn’t notice. “Well, diamonds are a girl’s best friend,” he said. “But I think it’s a little more than that.” The look he gave me was right on the border of friendly and heading toward something more.
    I tried not to squirm. It wasn’t anything personal, I knew. He was like this with all women. After all, look at how many he had hanging all over him. I knew they didn’t do that just because he had money. He was charming in his own way, but I didn’t trust him. There was just something about him that made my skin crawl.
    “I must say,” he continued, “I now have a very good reason to continue to work with Ms. Styles.”
    Seriously? I was here as Gavin’s date and he was pushing the boundaries of what constituted polite conversation.
    “How do you like working for Mimi?” he asked.
    I relaxed slightly. That was better. Work talk was fine. The last thing I needed was Gavin’s employer, whom my boss had a crush on, hitting on me for some unknown reason.
    “I enjoy it,” I said. “She’s an amazing attorney, and I’ve learned so much from her.”
    “She is good,” he said. “You know, I’ve been looking to hire some people to help my general counsel. I think you’d be a great fit at my company.”
    My eyes widened. He was offering me a job?
    “You’d be quite an asset to have on hand,” Howard said. “I can think of a million different ways I could use you.”
    Okay, maybe I was reading too much into things, but that sure sounded like an innuendo. I glanced at Gavin to see if he shared my opinion, but he was involved in what looked like a deep and meaningful conversation with the blond whose name was probably Candi or Sunshine. She was sitting in such a way that I knew their legs were touching. The brunette on the other side was leaning against him, her barely covered breasts pushing against his arm. A stab of jealousy went through me.
    I couldn’t take Howard flirting with me while Gavin just chatted up some bottle blond. I needed a minute.
    “Excuse me, Howard,” I stood. “I need to visit the powder room.”
    “Of course.” He smiled at me.
    I wasn’t sure I liked that smile.
    I started to walk away from the table, not looking back to see if Gavin had even noticed I was gone. He seemed rather busy at the moment.

Chapter 8
     
    As I walked back towards the discreet restroom signs, I told myself that I was being stupid. If I got jealous every time some woman flirted with Gavin, I’d spend our entire relationship being that way. He was smart, confident, strong, sexy as hell, and rich. Just one of those things would be enough to attract plenty of female attention. Put them all together and they were a lethal combination. If Gavin and I had any chance of making anything out of what we had, I had to learn to accept that women were going to hit on