Della heads to the bedroom, and I hear her say, “Jamie, can you come out for a moment?”
“Sure, what’s up?”
At first, I only see a girl with the same brown hair as Della, but when she steps out from behind her sister and my eyes lock on her dark blue ones, my lips part on a shocked breath.
For a moment, I feel excited at being face to face with Jamie again, but it soon fades as the reality of the moment sets in.
Fuck.
The twenty-something woman I hooked up with last week is none other than Carter’s sister-in-law.
A student at my academy.
Wait… is she even over twenty?
Fuck my life.
“Jamie,” Carter says to draw her attention, and taking hold of her elbow, he turns toward me, “this is Julian Reyes, our new business partner.”
The color fades from her face before a pink tinge comes rushing back to her cheeks.
“Oh… uhm… It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Jamie says, her eyes first wide on my face before they narrow.
Is she seriously warning me not to out her? Like I would tell my business partner, I had a wild night of sex with his little sister.
A mixture of anger and worry simmer in my chest. The repercussions of our night together could be disastrous for CRC.
Fuck, how could I let this happen?
You were thinking with your cock, that’s how!
I should’ve done a check on her, instead of letting my desire to have her overrule all common sense.
Thanks to years of putting up a front in the boardroom, I manage to keep my emotions from showing on my face. Coolly, I hold out my hand to her, and when she places her smaller one in mine, I say, “Pleasure is mine. I hope you find everything at the academy to your liking.”
“Thank you.”
Mason steps forward to excuse us. “Julian needs to meet with some of the other families. We’ll set a date for dinner next week before you have to fly back to New York.”
“That would be great,” Carter replies.
I shoot a dark glance at Jamie before I turn and leave her suite. She has another thing coming if she thinks I’m letting her off the hook. I’ll come back later so we can talk in private about what happened because I sure as hell have a lot of unanswered questions.JamieOnce my family and friends have left, I take a seat on the couch and stare blankly at the coffee table, trying to process everything that happened today.
The look Julian gave me before he left promised nothing good for me, and it’s made my body tense from not knowing what’s going to happen.
How did I get myself into such a mess? How do other girls have one-night stands and get away with it?
Ugh, this sucks.
When there’s a knock at my door, my mouth dries up as I slowly climb to my feet. My gut tells me it’s Julian, and I know I have to face him sooner rather than later.
With the intention of reminding him it was only one night, and we should forget it ever happened, I open the door.
Before my eyes can even focus on him, Julian grumbles, “Jamie Truman. Nineteen-fucking-years-old. Not a photographer like I was told, but a student at my academy.”
Crap. This is so not going to end well.
Julian moves forward, and I quickly step to the side so he can come in. Closing the door, I take a deep breath before I turn to face him.
“Let me explain,” I try to get a sentence in, but Julian begins to stalk up and down in my living room, shooting dark glares my way.
“Eight years! That’s the age difference between us. You’re a damn kid!” He pauses for a moment, and a sickening look tightens his features even more. “Oh my god, I slept with a kid.” He actually looks like he’s going to hurl, which makes anger bubble in my chest.
“I’m not a child, Julian. Get over yourself. I might only be nineteen, but judging by your overdramatic response to all of this, I’m pretty sure I’ve been an adult much longer than you have.”
“Get over myself?” he hisses.
The jerk is even hotter when he’s angry. That sucks.
“Do you have any idea what will happen if the press finds out?”
“The press finding out is the least of my worries,” I state, rolling my eyes. “I’m more concerned about Carter and my sister hearing about this, so let's just forget it ever happened.”
“How could you lie to me?” he asks, a frown forming on his forehead.
“I didn’t lie to you,” I argue. “I just didn’t bother to correct your assumptions and left out personal details of my life I didn’t want to share with a potential one-night-stand. Besides, you made me think you were a musician. I wouldn’t have slept with you if I had known who you really were.”