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“Romantic dates?” I said.
“What else?”
“You’ve got to be joking.”
Leo leaned back in his chair and put his hands behind his head like he owned the damn world. Well, not the world—oceans maybe, but not the world. Since last weekend after we kissed, he hadn’t said more than a few words, and most of them were orders.
Well, I had kissed him, then walked out. Again.
The first few days I had been terrified he would fire me. But so far, he’d been doing the opposite. He’d been giving me more work actually. So long as I kept my job, I’d be okay. The main point was that kissing, or anything else with Leo, was a bad idea. It was also becoming harder to resist. At least I stopped before I clawed my way through his tuxedo pants and hopped on for what I knew would have been an incredible ride.
I also stopped before those emotions, the ones I was having a hard time controlling, got even further out of control.
“You can start at the top of the list. Tonight is fine for the first date.”
“I don’t have a frame of reference for this kind of request,” I said. I had poured over Cathy’s database and the information she’d left. Never once had setting up dates with women come up.
“That’s because Cathy never set up a date for me.”
I looked up and frowned. “Then why are you having me do this?”
He smiled. “Why is that a concern of yours? We’re strictly professional, correct?”
The air hurt my throat as I tried to breathe and I realized exactly what was happening. Leo was upset with me. I had screwed up. Honestly, the way I felt about him was starting to upset me, because I didn’t want him to look at me as anything but desirable.
I closed my eyes for a moment, trying to convince myself that by desirable, I meant strictly in a professional way. But that was a lie. I knew it. And that fact was tearing at the emptiness I kept locked deep inside. Right now, though, I needed my logic. Needed to get a grip and solve the obvious issue brewing between us since last week’s make-out session on the terrace.
“Look, I know we had that moment at the gala—” I started.
“You kissed me.”
“It was a slipup—”
“And you also bit me a little, actually.” He ran his thumb over his lower lip and smiled.
“However, you are obviously trying to get a reaction out of me by this little stunt, and it’s not going to work.”
“Let me clarify a few points real quick,” he said. “First off, nothing about me, including my stunts, are little.” He gave a casual spin in his chair and I checked the urge to roll my eyes. “Secondly, I already got the reaction out of you I wanted. And it involved you moaning my name.” He winked, and nothing on the planet could have taken down this man’s swagger. “Now, that being said, do I find it irritating that you continually walk away from me right after giving me a glimpse of the real you?” He rubbed his jaw and nodded. “Well, yeah.”
And there it was. Back to this. Leo thought he saw something in me. If I was any less stubborn I might admit that his interest, or his pursuit to know me, was nice. It somewhat patched the void I’d been filling over the years with work.
It was his damn eyes. The way his voice got a little deeper, a little more accented when talking about something he cared about.
And when he opened up, just enough to see that pain he carried from some mysterious event from Greece, I instantly latched on to it. Recognized it. Wanted to chase that sad look away and make things right for him.
Which was why I’d kissed him.
It was also why I’d walked away.
Again.
Because there was more to him. Just like he presumed there was more to me. But at the end of the day, that didn’t matter. I needed his letter of recommendation and to stay focused if I had any shot of landing something permanent after my ninety days here were up. Because one thing was very clear: Leo and I weren’t meant for long term. And we both knew it.
“Well, I assure you, I’m plenty ‘real’ right now. What you see is what you get,” I said in my best casual tone.
“I disagree completely.” He leaned across his desk and in a low, accented tone said, “Because I’ve seen and I’ve gotten, and let me assure you, there’s more to you, Red.”
I opened my mouth to refute it, but he leaned back and clasped his hands across his stomach casually. “So, I need you to set up this date with Bepa Gavrikov. Her contact information should be listed.”
