Rushing the Goal
Page 61

“Who’s Rayne?”
“My assistant.”
“Oh, okay, well, do me a favor?”
“Benji, I will not be naked in your bed when you get home,” she said dryly and he laughed.
“So unfair. So selfish,” he accused playfully and she grinned. “No, after we hang up, listen to the song ‘Kiss Me Thru the Phone.’”
“By Soulja Boy?”
“Yeah.”
“Are you a closet rapper?”
“You know it,” he said, moving his thumb along his lips like he was cool.
“Dork.”
“Hush, do it.”
Exhaling a breath as Rayne opened the door to get in, she agreed, “Okay.”
“And if you want to be naked in my bed when I get home tonight, you know where the key is. I should get in at three.”
“Don’t hold your breath,” she said, ignoring Rayne’s shocked expression. “I gotta go.”
“Why, don’t want Rayne to hear us talking about banging each other all night long?”
“Good Lord, bye,” she said, hitting end as her face burned.
“Well, goodness, who did that sexy voice belong to?” Rayne asked as Lucy grabbed her phone.
“No one,” she answered simply, clicking on her Spotify to find the song. She remembered it, but she wanted to listen to it again. Before she could click on it, though, a text message came through.
Benji: I miss you, call me later?
Her heart fluttered as she typed back quickly.
Lucy: I will. Sorry for hanging up on you.
Benji: No, you’re not, but that’s fine. You can make it up to me by being butt-ass naked when I get home.
Lucy: Bye, Benji.
Benji: Bye, sweetheart.
Laying her phone in her lap after hitting play, she looked over at Rayne. “Let’s go.”
“Wow, you’re smiling, like, so hard. It’s so cute!” she cheered and Lucy rolled her eyes.
“Shut up,” she said, pulling out of the driveway.
“I can take a hint, but it’s nice,” she sang, but Lucy ignored her, hitting play and heading toward Benji’s house. It was nice, it felt good, but she wasn’t ready to talk about Benji like that. Not until she was sure. In the back of her mind, she knew she was sure; this had the potential to work. But she didn’t want to get ahead of herself. No reason to get excited about something that would probably fail.
Nothing ever worked out for her. Why would this?
As the song played, her smile didn’t drop. It was silly and crazy, but the song fit them. It was disgustingly cute. When the song was over, though, Rayne and Lucy talked about some clients and how everyone was really understanding about her current situation.
“I mean, the work isn’t suffering. We are still kicking ass,” Lucy said and Rayne nodded.
“Yeah, which everyone sees. But those applicants really want to be interviewed.”
“Yeah, I know. Let’s get a place first,” she said simply, turning onto Benji’s street.
Rayne made a face before looking over at Lucy. “I thought we were checking out a potential office building.”
“We are.”
“Um, this is a neighborhood. Wait, this is Benji Paxton’s road.”
The downside to having a good assistant was that she forgot nothing. Nodding, Lucy pulled into the driveway and shut the car off. “Yeah, he has an in-law suite that he thinks can work as an office for us. And I was thinking, since I’m designing this whole house, it could work. I can use his house as a model. Not sure on the latter, haven’t asked him, but yeah, that’s my plan. Let’s check it out.”
Rayne didn’t move, though, her lips curving. “So you guys talked about something more than his design? Because how would he know we need an office space?”
Lucy made a face. “Everyone knows, Rayne, come on.”
“No, you like him! Your face is red. Was he the one on the phone? Is he your boyfriend? Finally!” Ignoring her, Lucy got out of the car and went to the bush to get the key. “He told you where the secret key is? Wow, is this more serious than I thought?”
“Hush,” Lucy demanded as she headed behind the house. Then her eyes widened. The backyard was huge, with an in-ground pool and a pool house. And then in the very back was the guesthouse. “Man, it’s bigger than I assumed.”
“That’s not a suite. That’s a minimansion,” Rayne said as they walked down the walkway to it. “It’s cute. Like a mini version of the house.”
“Yeah,” Lucy agreed as they reached the guesthouse, or minimansion like Rayne had said. The brick was white like the rest of the house, it had big windows, and she was pretty sure it was bigger than her old shop.
“I think it’s great. He sounded really nice on the phone,” Rayne said as she unlocked the door. “And it’s obvious he likes you if he is offering his guesthouse to you.”
“I’ll be paying him,” she said as she pushed the door open. Her eyes widened at the size of the suite. Benji wasn’t playing; it was huge and no wonder he thought it could work. He was right.
“That’s probably ’cause he knows it’s the only way you’ll agree to take his help.”
Lucy turned to her. She may be right, but Lucy didn’t want to hear that. “Do you like your job?”
Rayne giggled, her brown eyes flashing with humor. “You wouldn’t fire me. You need me. This is a great space.”