Backstage Benefits by LaQuette

Author:LaQuette
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2021-09-15T13:00:30+00:00

Eleven

“You didn’t need to follow me home in your car. I’m perfectly capable of driving myself.”

“Your safety notwithstanding, I followed you home because I wanted to talk to you about what happened with Bianca. Do you mind if I come in?”

He waited for her to refuse him. She should have. It was late, and they were alone, and all he wanted to do was peel that jumpsuit off her until she stood before him in nothing but those sexy-ass heels.

She typed in her security code on the door’s keypad and then opened the door, calling him to follow once she’d turned the hall light on. “You up for a nightcap?”

“I’d love it, but I’m driving.”

“Peppermint tea, then?”

“Sounds good.”

He followed into her foyer and down a long hall until they reached the kitchen in the back of the house. On previous occasions he’d entered her brownstone, he’d only seen her studio in the basement. But as he sat in the kitchen on the first floor of the building, he marveled at the spaciousness of the room.

“They don’t make ’em like these old brownstones anymore, do they?”

She washed her hands, then set about opening cabinets and pulling down mugs.

“Peppermint tea or coffee?”

“Tea, please.”

She grabbed her kettle, filled it with water, and placed it on top of the glass stove top before pressing a few buttons that made beeping noises. When she finished, she stood across from him at the island.

“To your point about these buildings, no, they don’t make them like this any longer. It’s why I bought it. Randall and I split our time between Devereaux Manor and a condo in Manhattan that he felt was more becoming of a Devereaux than these old buildings in Brooklyn.”

“You can’t buy one of these bad boys for less than a million dollars. And that’s a raggedy one that needs all sorts of renovations.”

She laughed and canted her head to the side. “Welcome to the world through the Devereaux perspective.”

Josiah leaned forward, bracing both elbows on the counter. “I’ve known Ace since high school. He never gave me the impression he thought he was too good for Brooklyn because of the Devereaux last name.”

She picked at some imaginary speck on the black marble countertop as she gave him a cautious smile.

“No, Ace doesn’t share that perspective. Brooklyn is his home and he isn’t leaving it. Let’s just say every branch of the Devereaux clan is different. Appearances have always mattered to Martha’s branch. She had many rules defining what was acceptable for a Devereaux. Ace, and even his brother, David, are very much focused on building an empire for their family, but not so concerned about what people think of them. Just so happens the branch I married into stressed the importance of being seen in the right light.”

He tried to school his features. It wasn’t his place to pass judgment on her in-laws or her late husband. But the more she talked about her experience as Mrs. Randall Devereaux-Smith, the more he wanted

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