Complications by Cat Grant Read Free Book Online Page A

remnants of regret along with his perspiration.
    Ally rolled over next to him, still dozing, as he slid back into bed. Eric wasn’t usually much for cuddling, but tonight it didn’t bother him. He was grateful to have her here. She helped the time pass more quickly—time he’d otherwise be spending with his old friend Johnnie Walker. In many ways, she’d helped pull him back from the edge.
    It had crossed his mind more than once that he was using her, but he rejected the notion. There was nothing wrong with two friends offering each other a little simple human comfort. He might as well savor it and hold the memory close for all the other long, lonely nights when she wasn’t here.

Chapter Five
    The next six months swept by like a tornado. Between twelve-hour days at her new job and trying to find a new apartment, most nights Ally ended up collapsed on Holly’s couch, half asleep before she could feel that one loose spring poking her in the ass.
    On weekends, she stayed with Eric. Usually he had at least one business or charity soirée to attend, but she was more than game to accompany him. It was a real education, circulating in this world she’d had only brief glimpses of before, and she made sure to keep her eyes and ears open. But she did her share of talking too; one memorable evening at a benefit for the New York Philharmonic, she found herself engaged in animated conversation about the global stock market with a soft-spoken middle-aged gentleman with a German accent.
    She had no idea who he was until Eric came by to escort her into dinner, then leaned over to whisper, “Congratulations. You’ve just impressed the president of Deutsche Bank.”
    That night on the way home, he made good on his promise to fuck her in the back of the limo—although, to her relief, he didn’t roll down the windows. One more kinky fantasy realized.
    But she enjoyed her quiet times with Eric most, and she was starting to think Eric did too. Once spring rolled around, they went out for long walks in the park on Sunday afternoons, sometimes heading over to the Metropolitan to wander through the galleries. She was amazed to discover how much Eric knew about Impressionist and Cubist art; he had a story for every piece, and she couldn’t help noticing how much pleasure it gave him to share it with her.
    “You missed your calling,” she said to him one Sunday after they’d returned to the penthouse for coffee. “You should’ve been a professor, or a curator.”
    “If my mother’d had her way, that’s the direction I would’ve taken. She never wanted me running the company. She said it would swallow me whole, like it did my father. And she was right.” He glanced at his watch. “I should call down to have James bring the limo around for you, unless you’d like to stay for dinner.”
    She was tempted, but dinner would lead to other, more naked activities, which usually left her running late for work the next morning. “I’d better not,” she replied with genuine regret. “In fact, I should tell you now, I’m going to have to skip next weekend. Holly and I have a hot date with the real estate classifieds.”
    “Still no luck finding a new place?”
    “Being stuck at the office all day makes it difficult. Every time I’ve gone to check out a place, it’s already been rented. Holly’s asked her super if we could move to a two-bedroom unit in her building, but there’s about fifty people ahead of us on the waiting list.”
    “I know a few real estate agents. I could give them a call tomorrow, see if they have any listings.”
    “That’s very sweet of you, but there’s no way I could afford their commission.”
    “I’d be happy to cover it.”
    “No,” she replied firmly, reaching over to grasp his hand. “You’ve done more than enough for me already.”
    He fell silent for a moment, sipping at his coffee. “There’s a rather obvious solution. You could move in with me.”
    Laughter bubbled to her lips, but