Rush by Maya Banks Read Free Book Online Page A

insane. But more insane was the fact she hadn’t already torn it up and let Gabe know exactly what he could do with it.
    Was she actually contemplating agreeing to it?
    Her emotions were a mixture of holy fuck and oh my God . Part of her wanted to find out just how debauched Gabe was. Judging by this contract, he leaned pretty far away from anything resembling conventional.
    She vaguely remembered the fallout of his divorce from Lisa, but that had been several years before, and she’d been young. She knew it hadn’t been pretty and that it had affected his relationships with women ever since, but had they had this kind of relationship? Had he been burned by it? Normal people wouldn’t go to these kinds of lengths to cover every nuance of a relationship.
    Now she wondered about all the other women Gabe had been with. Not that she’d ever been introduced to any of them, but she’d heard Jace and Ash talk. If he had a contract ready at the drop of a hat, that told her it was likely one that he furnished to all his women.
    That left a sour taste in her mouth. No, she didn’t expect that she’d be any different than anyone who came before her, but it was nice to think that she was special or at least original. Not lumped in with every other female he’d slept with.
    But then she’d rather he be blunt with her and not mislead her. At least she knew precisely where she stood with him. And he had been clear that he wanted her to go in with her eyes wide open. Well hell, after reading this, her eyes were going to be permanently wide.
    She checked her watch and realized she had time to get to the pastry shop if she started walking now. She folded the contract and shoved it back into her bag, and headed in the direction of La Patisserie.
    She dug out her phone as she went, and not surprisingly, there were half a dozen messages from her best friend already. All wanting to know how it went with Gabe and threats that if she didn’t spill soon, Caroline was going to kill her.
    What the heck was she supposed to say? Somehow, typing Gabe wants me to be his personal plaything didn’t sound right, even if it would probably make Caroline swoon.
    And oh God, if Jace found out…
    She sucked in her breath. Jace was a huge problem. He would lose his mind if he ever found out about any of this. Surely Gabe had considered that. Hadn’t he?
    There was no way she could ever let her brother know about this. It would ruin his friendship with Gabe and would likely ruin their business as well. Not to mention he would never understand, and it would put a huge wedge between her and Jace.
    She was contemplating it. She must be if she was factoring in all the potential obstacles, right? Had she lost her mind?
    She should so be running as fast as she could in the other direction, and yet…
    She made it with ten minutes to spare and opened the door to La Patisserie. The bell jangled, a familiar sound as the door shut behind her, and she smiled a greeting at Greg and Louisa, the owners of the shop.
    “Hello, Mia!” Louisa called out from behind the counter.
    Mia offered a wave and quickly ducked into the back to get her apron and hat. It was a ridiculous French beret, and she always felt silly wearing it, but Greg and Louisa insisted on all the employees wearing them.
    When she made her way back to the front, Louisa waved her over.
    “I’ve got the counter today. Greg will be in the back baking. We have a huge order to fill by tonight, so can you man the tables?”
    “Sure,” Mia said.
    There were only five tables in the tiny café. It was mostly a takeout spot for coffee, croissants and delicious confections, but a few of their regulars liked to take their coffee and food inside on their lunch break. There were an additional four tables on the sidewalk, but they were self-serve and she didn’t have to wait those tables.
    “Have you eaten?” Louisa asked.
    Mia smiled. Louisa was always concerned that Mia didn’t eat enough or that she