Page 17 of Some Kinda Romance

“You’re right, so I guess it’s a good thing I’m not dating him.”

The doors slid shut and she arched an eyebrow at me. Humor shimmered in her eyes as she gave me a deliberate onceover. “You’ve got a meeting with him this morning, right?”

“Right,” I said cautiously, wondering why she was looking at me like that.

When she brought her gaze back to mine, I even saw a little flare of triumph behind it. “You’re wearing your sexy heels and your shirt shows more cleavage than those you usually wear when we’re going out. Admit it, babe. You might not be dating him, but you certainly wouldn’t mind.”

I scoffed, dropping my gaze to my outfit and beyond, to the slinky black heels I’d pulled on without even thinking about it earlier. “I like these heels.”

“So do I, but I also happen to know you think they make your ass look great. I was there when you bought them, remember? If memory serves, you wanted them specifically as a pick-me-up after you separated from the asshole.”

“I’m never taking you shopping with me again.” I groaned, but I couldn’t argue. She was right. I had bought them for that purpose and I did think they made my ass look great. I might not have been thinking about any of that when I’d put them on, but she had a point. “I have a confession to make.”

I glanced around us as the doors slid open on our floor. The foyer and waiting room were empty at this time of the morning, so I doubted we’d be overheard. “I had a sexy dream about him this morning.”

Julie’s eyes bulged. Laughter bubbled out of her as she reached up and patted my shoulder. “Well, it’s official then. You like Mr. Grumpy.”

“I do not like him,” I protested firmly, rolling my eyes at her laughter. “I just—my body likes his body.”

“That’s how it begins,” she said wisely, checking her watch before she sighed. “I have to get to a meeting, but call me after yours and let me know how it went. If he ravages you in your office, I want to be the first to know.”

“He’s not going to ravage me. His mother will be there.”

She laughed. “Oh. Is that the only reason why there won’t be any ravaging then?”

I shoved her shoulder playfully, trying not to think about him ravaging me anywhere or at all, but I wasn’t succeeding. “There are hundreds of reasons, but the most important is that he’s a client and I’m a professional. There won’t be any ravaging. Ever.”

Arching her eyebrow at me again, she gave me a look that said she didn’t believe me. Then she wiggled her fingers in a wave and took off to her office while I made my way to mine. Amelia gave me a panicked look when I reached her desk, her eyes wide and her face slightly pale.

“They’re early,” she whispered urgently, pointing to my office. “The St. Clairs. They’re already here.”

Crap.

My heart lurched and anxiety bloomed in my stomach all over again, but I drew in a deep breath and nodded at her, leaving my things on her desk. I straightened out my dress before I squared my shoulders. “Alright. That’s okay. Thanks, Amelia.”

In all the time this office had been mine, I’d never been as nervous walking in as I was right then, but I didn’t show it, simply striding in with my head held high and a welcoming smile on my face. “Good morning, everyone. I’m so sorry I kept you waiting.”

Diana was out of her chair first, shaking her head. She grinned and opened her arms for me. “We came in a little early. Richard has some things to take care of today, so we wanted to be sure we had enough time.”

As I hugged her, I was surprised to see her fiancé standing behind her. “Of course. We’ll get it all done on time. It’s so nice to meet you, Richard. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

Once I released Diana, I stuck my hand out to shake his, pointedly ignoring the other man in the room for now. Richard gave me a polite smile, shaking my hand in a firm grip before placing his palm in the center of Diana’s back.

“I’m very excited to be here,” he said. “It’s about time I meet the woman who’s making the magic happen.”

I chuckled. “Let’s hope.”

Finally unable to ignore him anymore, I glanced at Dash. “It’s good to see you again as well. Why don’t you all let me get you some coffee before we get started?”

The man stared back at me as I walked around my desk, but he wasn’t scowling this time. “Coffee would be wonderful. Thank you.”

Confused I picked up my phone and called in their order to Amelia, all the while wondering why he seemed so much less hostile today. Eventually, I attributed it to Richard’s presence and did my utmost to get to work without letting the puzzle dominate my mind.

Diana smiled warmly, holding Richard’s hand in her lap. She turned her attention to me. “Thank you for all that paperwork you sent us. It really helped to be able to see everything laid out in front of me. Dash and his father have always had a gift for envisioning things as they could be, but I need to see it to be able to picture it. Our family may be in this business, but I just don’t know as much as they do.”

I returned her warm smile, but as I did, I gave Dash a sympathetic look. I knew what it felt like to lose a parent and I couldn’t even begin to imagine how hard it had to be for him to be heading up his father’s company now, working in his field every day but without him.

As our eyes met, I swore I saw a flash of humanity, a flicker of pain or maybe even just acknowledgment of the sucky experience we had in common. Neither of us talked about it, though. Diana also didn’t linger on the topic, just moving on to discussing the color scheme, but Dash almost seemed like a different person today.