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Pulling back she smacked his arm. “She told me everything you big oaf! You could have been left out there overnight,” she sagged against him, those telltale sniffles making him nervous.
He glared at Charla who only shrugged and once again ducked inside the kitchen. “Luckily your friend came along when she did.”
“How am I ever going to repay her this time,” she muttered and swiped the tears away.
Whatever he was going to say had been cut off by the reappearance of Charla. “Take these now and again in four hours,” she said about the two pills she dumped in his palm. “Bye, now.” And then she was gone.
And he was left with the curious gaze of his sister. “What?”
“You like her,” she smiled.
He shrugged. “She’s easy on the eyes.”
Rabiya laughed. “She’s more than beautiful Kasim.”
He knew that too, dammit.
And he wasn’t happy about it.
* * *
“Sorry to bother you Charla but there’s a delivery here and you have to sign.” Her assistant flashed a wary smile and waited.
Thank goodness!She hated the boring but necessary marketing meetings and would take any reason to delay it. “No problem Reese, send him back.”
She smiled when several delivery men entered the conference room. One carried a giant bouquet of roses in every shade and two more held large silver containers filled with the delicious aroma of Italian food. “What’s all this?”
Reese smiled, lifting her shoulder and letting it drop. “A delivery.” With a coy smile she turned and walked away leaving Charla to handle the deliveries and the men.
She tipped them handsomely and looked around at the amused grins of her marketing department. “Not a word,” she warned and was met with scattered chuckles. “Let’s finish this meeting and then you can all dig in, alright?”
Jase, the Marketing Director and a friend of hers, raised an ebony brow and asked what they’d all been wondering. “Aren’t you going to read the card?”
She glared at him but there was no fire behind it. Jase was nosy as hell and he made no apologies for it. “I will, as soon as this blasted meeting is over.” And as soon as it was she had Mary tell the entire staff there was food in the lunchroom. Her spa didn’t have a ‘break room’ because there was a lot of down time between and sometimes during treatments and she wanted her staff as relaxed as the customers.
Charla closed her office door for a measure of privacy and looked at the words written on heavy cream stock paper.
Thank you for saving my life. ~The Beast
She couldn’t help but laugh at the way he’d signed the note, thinking about that day in the hospital. They were even now. He’d saved her and she returned the favor. Still smiling after she’d eaten a piece and a half of delicious four cheese lasagna, she headed down to the spa store and grabbed her favorite balm to help with pain and swelling. She packaged it and had it sent to Kasim at his resort.
She knew it wasn’t smart to flirt with the man, or even be friendly with him really. Men like him were all the same. Arrogant and domineering. Handsome as sin and perfectly aware how to use it to get what they wanted. Throw in the type of money Kasim had and she knew anything other than a passing fancy was a bad idea.
But when she picked up the phone two days later at work, she smiled at the deep, silky voice on the other line. “Kasim, to what do I owe the pleasure?”
“I wanted to thank you for the balm. Smells good enough to eat but despite my hesitation it worked.”
“Of course it did. Only the best for my clients.” She was proud of the business she’d worked hard to make successful. It wasn’t a billion dollar resort empire like his, but it was hers.
He was quiet for a long time and Charla let the silence hang in the air. He obviously had something else to say so she braced herself for a warning to stay away from Rabiya. “Have dinner with me.”
It was her turn to be stunned into silence. Kasim was asking her out? On a date? It didn’t make sense. “Why?”
He chuckled and when he spoke amusement rang out loud and clear. “Because you’re beautiful and I would like to get to know you better.”
She sighed and leaned her head back against the buttery leather of her desk chair. “You want to have sex with me,” she replied sensibly. Growing up with an alcoholic mother who thought every Tom, Dick or Bubba was her Prince Charming had given her a realistic approach to sex and relationships. Sometimes too realistic.
Deep laughter sounded again over the phone. “Like I said, you’re beautiful.”
