Page 89 of Power Play

“I was hydrated and observant. She walked across the beach toward the water in that white bikini, and you stared at the lake for forty fucking minutes like somebody had hidden the meaning of life in it.”

Easton laughed while Rider covered his mouth. Cade looked far too entertained for my liking.

I pointed at Briggs. “I was respecting boundaries.”

“You were trying not to look at her ass again.”

“That was part of respecting boundaries.”

Briggs laughed hard enough to lean back in the booth, but Cade shook his head and brought the conversation back.

“Why now?”

The question settled the table again.

I looked down at my phone. “Because she was hot then.”

Easton nodded. “She’s still hot.”

“Yeah.” I looked at him. “Careful.”

His eyebrows rose while Briggs made another delighted noise.

I ignored all of them. “She’s a problem now because I know her.”

Cade’s amusement softened. “What does that mean?”

“She’s funny as hell when she forgets to behave. She gets mean when she’s comfortable, and she argues with me now instead of apologizing before she says anything. She’s smarter than she thinks she is, but somebody taught her every thought has to be perfect before she’s allowed to have it.”

Rider nodded faintly. “I’ve noticed that.”

“She puts pressure on herself over everything.” I rubbed my thumb across the edge of my phone. “I went over there last night after she spent the day shopping with Crystal.”

Briggs’s expression shifted. “What happened?”

“Nothing dramatic, and that’s what bothers me.”

Cade leaned his forearms against the table. “What did she say?”

“She bought a dress for some cotillion thing.”

“Rich people prom,” Easton said.

“Basically.” I looked back at the thread. “She told me it was navy, long, and had beautiful construction. Her mother liked it. The saleswoman liked it. It photographed well, and her father would approve.”

Briggs frowned. “What did Charm think?”

“That’s what I asked.”

“What did she say?”

“She didn’t know.”

His expression changed, and I nodded.

“Four hours of people telling her what worked, and she stopped knowing whether she liked the fucking dress.”

Cade’s face tightened. “She told you that?”