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I hurry through the house, through the bedroom that I don’t even recognize, and wash my hands in the en suite, which is also newer and decorated like it belongs in a magazine.
Yep, the apple fell really far from the tree.
With a smile, I return to the kitchen and help set the last few things on the table before we sit down to eat.
“So,” Dad says as he passes me the twice-baked potatoes. “I hear you’re seeing Ryan Wild.”
My eyes lock with Mac’s across the table. He laughs. I sigh.
Here we go again.
I miss him.
I’m lying on my back, naked as the day I was born, staring up at the ceiling, sweating, and not for any fun reasons. It’s moments like these that I question my life choices of not having air conditioning installed in my house. Sure, the hottest part of the summer is short, but it makes for uncomfortable nights.
I have two fans pointed at me, and I’m still too warm.
And it doesn’t help at all that I can’t stop thinking about a certain billionaire who’s currently sitting in an office halfway across the world, probably in a power suit, buying Egypt or something. The vivid picture of it brings a grin to my lips.
I regret not inviting him to be my date at the IWC party earlier than I did. He probably would have still had to go on this trip, but I still wish I’d mentioned it. I won’t make him feel guilty about not being able to go with me because it’s just a party, and he has important things to do. There will be other opportunities to take him as my date. But man, I wish he was going with me.
Since talking about him all evening with my family, Ryan is even more front and center in my mind, and I admit, I miss the hell out of him. I know he’s important, and he’s busy, but I would give just about anything to hear his voice.
“Screw it,” I mutter and reach for my phone. I’ll call him. I’ll probably get his voicemail, but I don’t care. I tap the screen and hold the phone to my ear, and to my utter shock, he answers.
“Polly?”
“Hey,” I reply. “I’m sorry, you’re probably busy?—”
“Never too busy. Hold on one sec.” He pulls the phone away from his mouth, but I can still hear him. “I have to take this very important phone call. Everyone, take a break. I’ll be in my office.”
He’s walking. I hear a door shut, and then he’s back.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes. I’m sorry, Ryan. This isn’t an emergency. I shouldn’t have pulled you out of a meeting.” Guilt sits heavy in my stomach. I interrupted something important just because I couldn’t sleep.
That’s ridiculous.
“Don’t be sorry,” he says with a sigh, and I hear him sit in a chair. “I needed the break and to hear your voice. But it has to be two in the morning there.”
“It is,” I admit. “I can’t sleep. It’s too hot in my house, and I’m uncomfortable, and because it’s the middle of the night here, and dark, I can admit that I miss you.”
“You can only admit that in the middle of the night?” I can hear the smile in his voice, and it makes me relax. Hell, everything about Ryan calms me down. I can already feel my muscles loosening, and I sink down into the mattress, getting cozy.
“Maybe.” I chuckle and fling my arm over my head.
“Tell me what you’re doing,” he says.
“I’m lying in bed, no covers because, like I said, hot, staring at the ceiling.”
“What are you wearing, sweetheart?”
Fucking hell, I love it when his voice goes all deep and growly like that. “Not a damn thing.”
He sighs. “Is that what you always sleep in?”
“Yeah, actually. I guess we’ve never actually slept through the night together, have we?”
