The Hating Season Read online K.A. Linde

Categories Genre: Angst, Billionaire, Contemporary, Romance Tags Authors:
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Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 96802 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 484(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
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But after a solid thirty-minute wait outside the gentlemen’s club, it wasn’t Court that appeared. It was Camden.

“English,” he said with a hard, steady gaze and next to no kindness in his voice. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m here to see Court.”

He arched an eyebrow. “He isn’t here.”

“He’s been coming here every Monday for a month,” I told him.

“I can assure you that Court has not nor has he ever come here on a Monday afternoon. He doesn’t actually care about keeping up connections or appearances,” he said stiffly.

“If he’s not here, then where the hell is he every Monday? This is what’s on his calendar.”

Camden just stared at me. “How should I know?”

A bad feeling settled into the pit of my stomach. Why would Court lie about what he was doing? Was he seeing another woman? It would make sense based on his past actions. But he had said that he hadn’t been with anyone else. He had no reason to lie about that. But still… I was uneasy.

“I don’t know. You’re his best friend.”

“And you’re his publicist.”

I was. And I had somehow managed to lose my client.

“Well, thanks, Camden,” I said, putting on my best publicist voice and smiling at him. “I appreciate your help.”

“Was I helpful?”

“I know he’s not here. That’s more than I knew before.”

Camden took a step forward. He was so domineering. A power unto himself. An asshole, but to get to the position that he was in, he likely had to be. “Be careful, English.”

A shiver trailed down my back. It sounded more like a threat than anything. “Careful with what?”

He shrugged. “You tell me.”

So… he knew.

Court had told him.

Was he saying that I should be careful with my heart because Court would break it? Or something more sinister?

“I don’t know,” I finally said. “But… I’ll keep it in mind.”

“You do that.” He stepped back. “Now, you’ll have to excuse me. You interrupted a meeting.”

Then, he walked into the club without a backward glanced. Leaving me to feel chilled and uncomfortable. Camden Percy was slightly terrifying.

I strode away from the entrance to the gentlemen’s club and paced the sidewalk. How the hell was I going to find out where Court was? And what would I find when I did? I couldn’t stop imagining him with another woman, and despite it all, it made my stomach turn.

I scrolled through the calendar, checking over the last couple of Mondays. Nothing unusual. They all said they’d be here. He’d even said that. He’d lied to me, even when he claimed to hate lying. But… why?

Another thought hit me. When Court had started working at Kensington Corporation, I’d hired a full-time car service for him. Before, he’d been content to get around with cabs or on foot, but with the job, it looked good for him to have the car.

And that car service came with an app. Its main function was like Uber or Lyft. You could flag your service down, see where the car was parked, communicate with the driver, and the like. I had the app as well as Court so that I could call the car for him. I’d used the same thing with other clients on occasion and found it convenient.

Well, I hadn’t thought about using it as a GPS before.

I pulled up the app, expecting to see the car parked on the Upper East Side in front of an apartment building or something. But instead, it was parked on the Upper West near Central Park.

“Weird,” I muttered to myself and then flagged a cab down to take me to the car.

It was a half-hour trek to get to the car’s location on my phone. I was certain that it would move, and I’d have to follow it around through the city. But no. It was exactly where the app said it would be, parked harmlessly in front of a bagel shop.

I paid my cab and strode over to the car. I rapped on the window twice. The driver rolled his window down.

His eyes rounded in surprise. “You’re… English, right?”

“That’d be me,” I said with a smile. “I’m here for Court. Can you point me in the right direction?”

“Yeah. Sure.” He stepped out of the vehicle and gestured in front of him. “One block up into Central Park, and then he’s on the third field on the left.”

The third field? What the hell?

He must have seen my confusion. “Do you want me to walk you?”

“No. That’s quite all right. Thank you.”

“No problem. Let me know if you need anything else.”

“I will.”

I headed across Central Park West toward the fields inside the park. I regretted my heels and lack of jacket as I hustled through the tree-lined trails. It opened up onto an array of fields—soccer, kick ball, lacrosse, baseball. They were all completely packed. A few games were going on, but mostly, it looked like practice.


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