Page 34 of Contentious

“She’s a great person and a wonderful mom to an incredible boy named Ty.”

“Not to mention she’s a total smokeshow.”

“Who taught you that term?”

“Roman.”

“I’m going to have a talk with him about that.”

“Listen, I’m not one to tell you how to live your life.”

“Since when?”

“I’m being serious.”

“So am I.”

“Anyway… I looked into this Cresley woman, and I like what I see. There’s not a whiff of scandal, and she uses her massive platform to take principled positions on issues that matter. She seems like a quality individual.”

“She is.”

“So again, I ask, why is it that you’re not more interested than you are, and don’t spew shit about work at me. I wrote the rules, and this doesn’t break them as long as you hand off the investigating of her case to someone else on the team.”

“Why are you pushing me so hard on this?”

“You had one of the world’s most famously beautiful women at my house last night, and you took her home. I want to understand why.”

Carson struggled not to squirm under the heat of his glare. “Not everyone jumps into bed the first time they go out, you know.”

“Most people your age do.”

“That’s not true.”

“My research indicates otherwise.”

“I’m going to talk to them about limiting your time online. You’re becoming a screenager.”

“Whatever the hell that is.”

“It means you’re rotting your brain with too many hours online.”

“My brain is just fine, thank you very much. Don’t tell me this is about that stupid vow you made with your siblings.”

“How do you know about that?”

Spence rolled his eyes. “Please. I know everything.”

Because that was actually true, Carson wasn’t as surprised as he should’ve been to find out that Spencer knew about the vow. “It’s not because of that.”

“Liar. If it wasn’t for you thinking you have to remain single to stay sane, then you wouldn’t have taken her home last night, and you know it.”

“Maybe I took her home because I have a nosy old man spying on me. How do you know what happened when we got to her place?” Carson put down a book of queens but was still six books behind.

“Did something happen?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know.”

“Yes, in fact, I would. Please tell me you at least kissed her.”