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The others looked equally perplexed.
Nate said, “So I take it you’re over Elizabeth?”
“What I am,” Ryan told his friends with a certain level of audacity, “is a newly enlightened, liberated man.”
Liam’s brow jerked. “Because of the shoes?”
“Let’s face it, gentlemen,” Ryan said. “We’ve succumbed to an upper-echelon culture of diamonds and pearls. Tuxedos and ascots. For purposes beyond our comprehension.”
“Because polite society demands it?” Nate retorted.
“No,” Ryan countered. “Because certain curriculums we follow demand it. I’m comfortable with my academic and professional associations. It’s the romantic ones that I reflect upon…and cringe. That’s where I’m dissatisfied. I blame myself, completely, for the choices I willingly made. But…” He lifted his pint and confidently added, “No more.” Then he downed the remainder of his beer. Not exactly something he was known for doing. Yet the gesture had a masculine appeal to him this evening.
Indeed, he certainly was feeling masculine—not subjugated—since meeting Maxi Shayne.
His friends stared at him. Gaped.
Yet they all seemed to recover fairly quickly.
Liam said, “I’ll confess, I could use a fire lit underneath me.”
Nate and Ted nodded.
Ryan told his friends, “We’ve thought for so long that we belong with a certain type of woman. One with all the right credentials, the perfect pedigree, the right family and friends. Where has that gotten any of us?” He thought of Maxi’s words, about how being emotionally invested in a man had gotten her nowhere. Because, clearly, she’d chosen the wrong men. Ryan had given in to that same mentality with the females he’d associated with, and had come out no better off than she had.
Already, however, he felt a stronger connection to Maxi than he’d felt with any other woman. And he suspected she was experiencing the same on her end. Even if she was in massive denial at the moment.
Ryan had previously been adamant about not getting tangled up with a woman again. Had taken the stance that it just wasn’t worth the hassle and the heartbreak.
Then he’d met Maxi.
And everything had changed.
Not just his mentality on relationships, but his own level of confidence within one.
Perhaps it was time to assert himself. Take the plunge. Go for it.
With Maxi.
He said to his friends, “Staci’s pleading with me to help her company answered my own cry for help—one I didn’t even know I’d sent out.”
And goddamn it, he was man enough to face facts and alter his direction in life.
Fueled by Staci Kay Shoes and a sexy, dark-haired dynamo!
* * *
Ryan rode a substantial high as the end of the workweek segued into a working weekend. He didn’t mind the extra hours required of him. In fact, the momentum from the newly implemented strategies continued to increase, and the building was abuzz with activity. He found that he liked all of the hustle and bustle, all the various interactions with executives throughout the course of the day.
Naturally, it wasn’t easy keeping his hands to himself whenever he and Maxi got caught in a moment alone—or trying to figure out which cards to play in his deck to win her over. He had equal trouble finding that right balance of gazing at her when she spoke to a group, rather than ogling her. And damn, curbing his intense yearning to watch her walk across a room in her high heels! That was pure torture.
So it was actually a good thing they were in crisis management mode so that he could retain some semblance of focus on something other than the gorgeous object of his desire. Maintain his professionalism.
Yet on Sunday morning, he blurted, “You look particularly enticing,” as he stole behind Maxi while she bent over the conference room table to snag a bagel from the box in the center, before the others arrived.
Okay, so that whole thing about retaining focus and maintaining professionalism was a ridiculous stretch of the imagination. An improbability when it came to Maxi. Definitely grounded in theory and completely inconceivable in reality.
His cock twitched at the sight of her very fine ass encased in a tight black skirt. And the way the hem rose not far below those perfectly rounded and tempting cheeks not only aroused him further but also gave him a rush of intrigue over what color panties she wore today, what material they were made of—lace, satin, silk…?
