“I’m not entirely accustomed to this.”
She chuckled, and he had just a little more hope. “I imagine you have a very finely tuned sense of exactly what it is that you want.”
“You would not be wrong.”
“So what is it that you want?”
That was the $64 million question, wasn’t it? “Right now, I want to have dinner with you. It seems to me that I made you a promise this afternoon, and if you want, I’m still more than game to fulfill it.” There was a small sound on the other end of the line. Unless he was utterly mistaken, she’d just swallowed a whimper. His cock sprang to attention, and he closed his eyes for a moment, visualizing the Wall Street Journal’s bland black and white pages, and the endless streams of pluses and minuses in the financial section.
“I want to write an article about AEGIS,” she blurted out. “I can’t do that if we’re in a relationship.”
The fog of lust faded, and a cold stone of fear settled in his stomach. “Well, how about this, then. I’ll take you out to dinner, and you explain to me what it is that you think is going on at my company.” He expended more effort than he’d expected keeping his tone from sounding threatening. Sweat had broken out under his arms. There was always some scandal in the wings, something about to go wrong, but there were too many possibilities right now, too many things that people weren’t telling him. And if it took a gossip reporter to clue him in, then fine. He’d take that. He’d save his pride for the places where it mattered.
“You show me yours and I’ll show you mine?” This time, it was her voice that was flirty and interested, and somewhere back behind the cold fear of what legacy his father had really left for him, he felt the desire for her flaring again. There were so many things a relationship could mean. After all, everyone in the world was in relationship with everyone else. Not that she meant that.
“Whatever you’re comfortable with,” he said. “How about you meet me at—” he ran through some very quick calculations in his head, between what he wanted to eat, and what would probably make her flinch. “Tap and Grill at about seven. We’ll talk.”
Another long pause. Apparently, he was good at making those happen. “I’m not familiar with the place. Dress code?”
“Casual is fine.” He waited, and she was quiet. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“This afternoon.” He hadn’t quite expected to say this, but curiosity was whirling through him. “It has been a very long time since someone paid attention to what I was actually asking for, instead of assuming that they knew better than me.”
She cleared her throat, which brought his smile back. “You’re welcome.”
“If you don’t mind my asking, why did you stop me from returning the favor?” A little whisper of sound came from her, and he pressed forward before he gathered enough sense to stop himself. “I know I only got my mouth on you for a minute last night, but I hope I didn’t do something that put you off.”
“No,” she answered quickly, her voice thready. “That’s not—I’m sorry.”
“I don’t need you to apologize,” he said. “You have every right to tell me no at any point, and you don’t ever have to apologize for that. I just want to make sure I didn’t hurt or upset you in some way.”
“Just confused me,” she said again. There was a little hitch to her breath that interested him.
“Because I keep saying that I don’t do serious, but here I am, calling you again.”
“Yes.”
“And there you are—where are you, at work? At home?”
“Home,” she said. There was that light sound again, that light breathiness. His cock was a rod of hot iron in his pants.
“At home. You probably changed into something more comfortable once you got there. Jeans? Comfy
She chuckled, and he had just a little more hope. “I imagine you have a very finely tuned sense of exactly what it is that you want.”
“You would not be wrong.”
“So what is it that you want?”
That was the $64 million question, wasn’t it? “Right now, I want to have dinner with you. It seems to me that I made you a promise this afternoon, and if you want, I’m still more than game to fulfill it.” There was a small sound on the other end of the line. Unless he was utterly mistaken, she’d just swallowed a whimper. His cock sprang to attention, and he closed his eyes for a moment, visualizing the Wall Street Journal’s bland black and white pages, and the endless streams of pluses and minuses in the financial section.
“I want to write an article about AEGIS,” she blurted out. “I can’t do that if we’re in a relationship.”
The fog of lust faded, and a cold stone of fear settled in his stomach. “Well, how about this, then. I’ll take you out to dinner, and you explain to me what it is that you think is going on at my company.” He expended more effort than he’d expected keeping his tone from sounding threatening. Sweat had broken out under his arms. There was always some scandal in the wings, something about to go wrong, but there were too many possibilities right now, too many things that people weren’t telling him. And if it took a gossip reporter to clue him in, then fine. He’d take that. He’d save his pride for the places where it mattered.
“You show me yours and I’ll show you mine?” This time, it was her voice that was flirty and interested, and somewhere back behind the cold fear of what legacy his father had really left for him, he felt the desire for her flaring again. There were so many things a relationship could mean. After all, everyone in the world was in relationship with everyone else. Not that she meant that.
“Whatever you’re comfortable with,” he said. “How about you meet me at—” he ran through some very quick calculations in his head, between what he wanted to eat, and what would probably make her flinch. “Tap and Grill at about seven. We’ll talk.”
Another long pause. Apparently, he was good at making those happen. “I’m not familiar with the place. Dress code?”
“Casual is fine.” He waited, and she was quiet. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“This afternoon.” He hadn’t quite expected to say this, but curiosity was whirling through him. “It has been a very long time since someone paid attention to what I was actually asking for, instead of assuming that they knew better than me.”
She cleared her throat, which brought his smile back. “You’re welcome.”
“If you don’t mind my asking, why did you stop me from returning the favor?” A little whisper of sound came from her, and he pressed forward before he gathered enough sense to stop himself. “I know I only got my mouth on you for a minute last night, but I hope I didn’t do something that put you off.”
“No,” she answered quickly, her voice thready. “That’s not—I’m sorry.”
“I don’t need you to apologize,” he said. “You have every right to tell me no at any point, and you don’t ever have to apologize for that. I just want to make sure I didn’t hurt or upset you in some way.”
“Just confused me,” she said again. There was a little hitch to her breath that interested him.
“Because I keep saying that I don’t do serious, but here I am, calling you again.”
“Yes.”
“And there you are—where are you, at work? At home?”
“Home,” she said. There was that light sound again, that light breathiness. His cock was a rod of hot iron in his pants.
“At home. You probably changed into something more comfortable once you got there. Jeans? Comfy
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