Scandalous by Melanie Shawn Read Free Book Online

thing. Red is coming by tonight. He wants to talk to you and Dominic together.”
    “Why? What’s up?” Cristal asked with trepidation. She knew if Red was coming over it must be important. He liked to spend his evenings in his La-Z-Boy recliner with a beer in one hand and whatever sports was in season on the big screen.
    “No idea, but he’ll be by around seven,” Raiza replied.
    “Way to bury the lede!” Cristal exclaimed.
    Raiza laughed, “Yeah, I knew you'd feel that way. I knew if I told you that part first, I'd never get any of the dirty dog details from you.” She grabbed her purse and scuttled toward the door as Cristal playfully slapped at her. As she put her hand on the knob, she added, “Oh, and by the way - you must have made quite an impression on the congressman last night. He ran a full background check on you first thing this morning.”
    “Good. I’m interested to see what his next move is going to be,” Cristal said, and then added to herself mentally, for several reasons...not the least of which is that I am more than ready to be done with this assignment!
    Raiza paused one last time as she opened the front door, “I know you didn’t ask for my advice, but you’re gonna get it anyway. I think that you should take advantage of your current living situation.”
    “Duly noted,” Cristal said dryly.
    “And, just to be clear...” Raiza continued, “by 'take advantage' I DO mean have hot monkey sex in every room of this house.”
    With that last statement, she gave Cristal a quick hug and disappeared down the walkway.
    Cristal closed the door and turned around to lean her back against it. She wasn’t sure if this assignment was going to last for a few days or a few weeks. But she was sure that even thinking about having hot monkey sex with Dominic was not going to make it go by any faster.
     

Chapter Four
    Dominic sat next to Cristal on the couch, the two of them facing Red. She had barely spoken to him since he had gotten home that night. Besides letting him know that Red was coming over, he had basically been getting the silent treatment.
    As he watched her interact with Red, he felt a twinge of jealousy. Not because he thought for even a single minute that there was anything going on between the two of them, but just because of how relaxed she was around him. She was open and funny. They had been cracking each other up since Red had arrived over a half an hour ago.
    God, he'd kill to have that kind of easy rapport with Cristal! It only irritated him to see her share it with someone else.
    “OK, yeah,” he jumped in, “So, not to rush this along or anything, but what’s going on? Why the sudden need for a face to face?”
    Both Cristal and Red looked at him strangely. He knew he probably sounded cranky but, guess what? He was cranky, and they weren’t helping his mood.
    “Right...well, I guess we should get down to it then,” Red said, nodding, then continued, “Look. I know that I've been talking about retiring for a while now, and I've talked to you both about the possibility of selling when the time is right. So, just to be fair, I wanted you both to hear it from me at the same time: I think that time has come. Are either of you still interested in buying?”
    “Yes!” They both replied, eagerly and in unison.
    Red, who was in his late sixties, was a very fit man whose only real sign of age was his white hair. He had been nicknamed 'Red' because in his youth he had sported a head full of bright red hair. From the pictures Dominic had seen, his hair had turned to a dark auburn when he was a young man...but like all great nicknames, the moniker had stuck to him longer than the attribute it was based on had.
    Red sat in front of them both now, smiling happily. Dominic could see that – although it irritated him and he was sure it frustrated Cristal that the two of them were now going to be in a bidding war – the news that they would be vying for the company was nothing short