Chapter 32

Thursday was our free day. No press, no inspections, no meetings. Bar the odd emergency, my schedule was clear. And I was fairly sure nothing would happen today when tomorrow, the final day, was so ripe for clusterfucks.

Since we had cancelled lab analysis for today given the blackmail situation, and all that data had already been sent to Gallo anyway, there wasn’t even that to do. No, today was going to be only for R&R.

I yawned and sat up. It was mid-morning, and I woke up to no alarms, planned or otherwise. I briefly checked my messages and emails, but nothing was on fire. I threw myself onto my pillows again, and dozed off for a while longer, just because I could.

Sometime later, my phone buzzed. I picked up without checking the caller and grumbled something unintelligible under my breath.

“Sir,” came a voice from the other end. It took embarrassingly long to recognize Paz. “Will you be going to lunch with us?”

“Is it noon already?” I groaned, sitting up and checking the clock.

“Fifteen to twelve,” she said, and indeed the bedside clock agreed.

“I’ll be right with you, I suppose.” I hopped out of bed and stretched. “Give me a minute.”

“We’ll be waiting, Sir,” she said, and we ended the call.

I washed my face and threw on some clothes. Opening my door, I found the two girls waiting for me. Paz was in her usual casual T-shirt and jeans, but Tala was anything but casual.

She wore a cream-white sundress that bared her arms and emphasized what was a substantial chest. Her breasts weren’t as big as Paz’s, but she had respectable C cups under all the unflattering layers she usually wore. Her dress ended just above her knees, and on her feet, she wore low, open-toed platform heels in the same color as the dress.

As my eyes made the journey back up her form, I also noted that she couldn’t be wearing a bra. There was no telltale elevation under the thin fabric of the dress. Though neither were her nipples prominent. The answer was obvious when I glanced at a grinning Paz wiggling her eyebrows.

She’d lent Tala Luz’s favorite bra: pasties. When finally I was looking the girl in question in the eyes again, I noticed both that her glasses were missing and that she was completely flushed as she avoided my gaze. She was wringing her hands and tottering from side to side.

Unthinking, and perhaps trained by the last month and change with the girls, I lightly guided her face to look at mine with two fingers to her chin. I was becoming too forward. Luckily it was Tala, but I’d be mortified if I pulled something like this on a sad or embarrassed stranger.

I recovered quickly from the self-discovery, though, and the delay only aided my gravitas.

“Tala,” I said, voice purposefully rumbly, “You’re much prettier with your chin held high.” I told myself that I just wanted her to feel good about herself. It was a lie.

Regardless, I had to resist. The current—very delicate—situation was the literal worst possible time to do anything about her crush on me.

I brushed a stray strand of hair from in front of her eyes. “There. You look beautiful. Act like it.” I cupped her cheek with my palm, then slowly moved my hand away, trailing her neck down to her collarbone with the faintest touch of my fingers. Edward, stop!

Tala shivered, a wide, shy smile replacing her earlier apprehension. Paz peered up at me with wide eyes, her mouth agape. I was definitely failing at controlling myself this morning. Those girls had spoiled me so much, I was becoming too greedy.