Free Beautiful Bombshell by Christina Lauren Page B

neck, cracking it. “So how are the boys?”
    “Replacing most of their blood with vodka and discussing the beauty of aged meats.”
    “Shall we head up for dinner, then?”
    He went to push by me but I reached for his arm, stopping him. “Look, you know what I’ve been doing and I know what you’ve been doing, let’s cut the bullshit. Back in New York, I’m lucky to get Chloe to myself for ten full minutes. They’re only here tonight. Let’s help each other out here.”
    His expression seemed to sober and he nodded. “Am I the only one that finds it hilarious that it’s Valentine’s Day and we’re the ones behaving like idiots and chasing them rather than the other way ’round?”
    “The thought may have occurred to me once or twice, yes,” I said with a shake of my head. These women made us insane. “We need a plan. It will be no problem to get our comrades lost in a meat coma but that won’t last all night. And Will is getting suspicious.”
    “Agreed,” he said. “How much do you think he knows?”
    “I’m not sure. Henry hasn’t stopped drinking or looking at the poker chips in his pocket all night, but Will—he seems to be under the impression that you and I are both suffering from some sort of horrible digestive issue.”
    Max groaned. “I’ll want to see her again, mate. I have to be honest. She’s here, and she’s . . . well, I’d like to check in on her again.” He looked up at me and I nodded, understanding. “Will would never let me live it down if he thinks I couldn’t go a single weekend without seeing her. You know him. I love the man but he’s enough of a tosser as it is; I’m not giving him this, too,” he said, shaking his head.
    “Exactly. My brother loves giving me shit about Chloe and the fact that I slept with her while she still worked for me. If he finds out about this there won’t be a Ryan family holiday where he doesn’t regale everyone with the story of the other time Bennett couldn’t keep it in his pants . Fuck that.”
    “Right.”
    “So what now? If we wanted to see them again tonight, how could that work?”
    Max paced back and forth in front of the registration desk before turning to face me. “I think I’ve got it.”
    “Tell me.”
    “I’m thinking . . .” He was looking down at the ground, still putting the pieces together in his head. “I think . . . we need them distracted, yeah? And we want to make sure Will has a brilliant night.”
    I nodded. “But it’s got to be more than booze. Those two have been drinking all night and somehow still seem to be functioning. I don’t want them blind or facedown in a gutter somewhere.”
    “Obviously.” Max pulled out his phone and began scrolling through the contacts. I shifted from foot to foot and kept glancing over my shoulder, waiting for Henry to come out and drag me back by my collar to the table.
    When I turned back to Max, he’d stopped on a number. “Who are you calling?”
    “Mr. Johnny French,” he said.
    “How do you know him, anyway? An old friend?”
    Max laughed. “Not sure I’d call him a friend. Not sure he’d call anyone a friend, really. But he does owe me a few favors and as you’ve seen, caters to the type of crowd that might be helpful in our situation.”
    “I’m afraid to see where this is going.”
    “A little faith, mate. Will is a bit of a ladies’ man,” he said, smiling. “We’ll just . . . help him.”
    “Help him?”
    Max shrugged, meaningfully.
    “You mean get him a hooker ?” I practically shouted.
    Max shushed me and glanced around. “A little louder perhaps? And who’d have thought you’d be such a prude, Ben? I’m a little surprised,” he said. “I’m not going to let him sleep with her. We just want a distraction . We’re getting him a distraction.”
    “But—”
    He held up a finger to silence me, and put the phone on speaker between us. It rang a few times before it was answered by a man with a deep, serious voice: