Page 145 of Titus

I leaned back against the edge of my desk. “When I’m with him, I act like a foolish schoolgirl. Then, once I’m out of his presence, I pull myself together and can’t believe I acted so…” I paused to search for words.

“Sexy and desirable,” Dani chuckled.

“More like out of line.”

“Out of line?” Aria said, looking at me like I was ridiculous. “That’s the lamest thing I’ve ever heard.”

I pushed off the desk. “Trust me, if you saw me with him, you wouldn’t recognize me. When I’m in the office talking about him, I have to keep my mind on business. The second I start thinking about him outside of work, I can kiss my productivity goodbye.”

“Something tells me you’re in love,” Dani smirked.

“Love?” I laughed. “You girls need to get your heads out of the romance books. You don’t fall in love with a man after a weekend on his luxury yacht, even if—well, you know…” I stopped. “I’m not having this conversation. Okay, so the Acquisition Gala next weekend aboard Eterna.”

“Investor Gala,” Dani corrected.

I smiled at her. “See? Already fucking up events because we started talking about man-crushes.”

“Girl, please,” Aria said as I walked past them, leaving my office. “What you have with Titus Hawk is not a crush.”

“Good night, ladies,” I said, waving over my shoulder as I walked toward the lobby.

I’d been dealing with this daily since everyone seemed to find out about Titus and me. If it wasn’t my sister asking questions, it was the ladies. My family and co-workers knowing about us was one thing, but the unwanted outside attention was another.

I was still trying to figure out who leaked the information, but apparently, once Titus started making headlines with social media influencers and celebrity gossip accounts, I somehow ended up dragged into that world as his girlfriend.

From what Amelia told me, a lot of what was being said about me online was pretty awful, but I shrugged it off. I couldn’t bring myself to care about the opinions of strangers on performative gossip sites.

It had all just become background noise for me until, of course, everyone I knew found out we were a couple, which brought me to tonight. All of us ladies were planning to meet at Lido Bottle Works, where we would typically enjoy drinks by the water as the sun set. However, I had a strong feeling—since I hadn’t seen anyone much since Titus and I spent two nights on his yacht a few weeks ago—that this evening would turn into an interrogation.

And I couldn’t use focusing on work, as I’d just done, to get off the subject.

My phone vibrated just as I reached my car. I couldn’t help but smile like the silly, love-struck woman I’d become whenever this man called or texted me while he was overseas.

“Most normal people would be sound asleep where you’re at,” I said, answering his call and grinning like a teenager as I started my car.

“I’m not like most normal people, preciosa,” he said. “I’ve missed you.”

“You’ve been gone for four days,” I said after the car’s intercom took over the call.

“Four hours, and I’m a desperate fool, Catalina,” he chuckled.

God, I loved the way he said my name.

“How did the investors’ summit go today?”

“We’re just getting back to the resort,” he answered. “We met with multiple architects, and thank God that Bree and Alex Grayson were there, because I was sure to throw someone off a granite rock on one of the islands we toured.”

“That bad?” I cringed, pulling out into traffic.

“Always,” he answered. “As I said, I’ve missed you, and my tolerance for stupidity did not accompany me on this trip.”

I never imagined this man feeling this way about any woman, much less me, but I also knew that new relationships with big-talking men usually went this way.

It’s why I had to be careful.

“Well, you’d better pull your shit together because I’m looking forward to planning that event once you’re ready for Crown Reserve’s grand opening.”

“I’d prefer someone else to run that event so you can be on my arm all evening.”