Page 73 of Sexy

I settle back in the booth and let out a sigh and then gasp.

“What the—?”

Cole is across the restaurant, sitting at a table with a beautiful blonde girl.

“I thought he said he had meetings?” I whisper to myself.

“Oh, he’s got meetings all right,” the waitress says. “Maybe this one will stick.”

“What?” I look up at her dumbly. “What do you mean?”

“He’s got a new meeting,” she says as she does a little upper body shake and stresses the word, “every afternoon.”

“You mean, with vendors?” I try, hopefully.

The waitress snorts. “No-ho-ho,” she says through a laugh. “At least I’ve never seen him kiss the vendors.”

“He’s been gone half the week—”

“Oh, he’s here all the time, Miss Preston.” She squints at me. “You didn’t know?”

I get that sinking feeling in my stomach. That one that comes when the doubts creep in. “Know what?” I ask, feeling the truth before the words ever come out of her mouth.

“He’s been coming here for almost three months. Except…” She pauses, like the thought just occurred to her that she should shut up.

“Except what?” I prod, looking back over at Cole and his blonde bimbo.

“Well…” She looks over at her shoulder at him as well. “We never knew who he was until you came together. Usually he’s just here for fun.”

“With that woman?” My heart is cracking.

“Oh, lots of them, I guess. At least a dozen meetings since I first started noticing him. And when he showed up with you I figured he was spying on us. He is, isn’t he? We were all told when the merger went through that the Landslide was on a short list for liquidation.”

Since when? I want to scream. My father gave me control over the Landslide as soon as the deal went through. But I hold my cool so she doesn’t realize how my tension is ramping up and my heart is beating even faster than it already was. “Hmmm. I’m not sure. Maybe my father sent him.”

“I bet that’s it.” She smiles at me. “At any rate, I hope he’s found what he’s looking for in this one. He’s met with her three times already last week. And each time they get a little more cozy. I guess Fletcher really does know what he’s doing.”

“What?”

She cocks her head at me with a quizzical look. “I thought you were working with him?”

I stare dumbly at her again.

“A matchmaking deal. Sorry.” She laughs. “I’m nosy. And Fletcher is so interesting the way he works. I can’t help but take notice every time he meets a girl for lunch. That girl there with Mr. Cole is Fletcher’s last week’s client. Fletcher works fast, right? Did he find someone for you yet? If he does, you can bet he’ll be a keeper. My girlfriend swears by his pick for her. She’s already engaged.”

I want to throw up. But I take a deep breath and say, “Can you get some water with lemon?” instead.

“Sure, Miss Preston. Be right back.”

She gets distracted with other tables, and I take that opportunity to slip out of the restaurant and make a dash for the elevators. When I get to my room, I hope and pray that Claudio isn’t there. He’s been gone a lot with that stripper, Steve, and my luck holds. Still out from last night, probably.

I lock myself in the bathroom and turn on the shower, just in case he comes home. I am in full-on hiding right now. I need to come to terms with what I just saw and heard.

Cole has been coming here for months.

Rumors of a selloff.

Either he was sent by my father to spy on the operations, which is highly unlikely, or he’s been using the Landslide as his personal fuck palace.