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She tucks a strand of that long, golden hair behind her ear. “Dane,” she implores, “will you consider our petition?”
Her eyes are wide and pleading. She looks so innocent and young.
“How old are you?” I ask her.
Somehow her eyes get even wider. She looks confused, but she answers anyway, “Eighteen.”
Thank fuck. She’s legal. Barely legal but legal.
“Go out with me,” I don’t present it as a question. I don’t want to give her the chance to say no. No isn’t an option. I need to be near her, learn more about her. It’s not an option or a want. It’s a need, like I’ll die if I don’t continue looking at her. I’ve already spent three days in hell wondering if I’d ever see her again or if she was a mirage my mind had somehow conjured up. I’m sure as hell not going to let her slip away from me again.
I don’t know where the hell all this is coming from, but I’m not a man who’s used to denying himself anything he wants, and I’ve never wanted anything in my life like I want her.
Her little brow furrows in further confusion. “What?”
“Have dinner with me tonight, and we’ll talk further about your proposal,” I slowly take measured steps toward her, closing the distance between us.
I notice how she takes a step back from me, but then she stops and lifts her chin almost defiantly like she refuses to show any weakness. My blood surges through my veins. I like her bravado. It shows she’s got fire, and fuck if it doesn’t make my cock even harder.
I’m so hard I could fucking break and I haven’t even kissed her yet.
“But I already gave you our proposal,” she countered.
“You gave me a petition,” I correct her. “You merely asked me not to bulldoze the building down because of the circumstances of the tenants who live there. You haven’t presented me with your proposal on what I should do to increase the value of the property instead. The building’s an eyesore and a liability. It can’t stay standing as it is,” I finish.
I see her face fall. Did she really think should would simply show up here with a few signatures and that would be enough to change plans that have already been set into motion?
One look at her youthful face, and I know that’s what she’d hoped. Somehow that innocence and naiveté pull at my heartstrings.
“But,” she sputters, “but you’re the developer. You know better than I do what to do with the property.”
I raise an eyebrow at her and fight back a smirk. Of course, I know the best thing to do investment-wise. The best thing to do is to raze the place to the ground.
She scowls as she realizes what she’s just confessed.
She’s endearingly flustered, and I fight back my grin as I reach out and lift her chin with two fingers, forcing her to meet my gaze.
“Have dinner with me tonight, and we’ll discuss it.”
She stares up at me, her eyes wide pools I could drown in.
She doesn’t say anything. I can see the war in her face. She doesn’t really want to fraternize with the enemy—me—but she’s starting to see that she doesn’t really have a choice if she wants a chance at saving the building.
Maybe I’m an ass for exploiting her this way, but no one has ever accused me of playing fair. I’m a businessman. I see an opportunity, and I take it.
When I see the resign settle in her eyes, I feel a stroke of victory. “I’ll have my driver pick you up at eight,” I tell her.
She opens her mouth as if she’s going to deny me, but then she things better of it, snaps it back shut, and finally nods in acceptance.
I can’t stop the chuckle that leaves my lips as I stare down at her, allowing my fingers to trace across the curve of her neck as I remove them from underneath her chin. I watch the goosebumps rise up on her flesh and have to physically refrain from pulling her into my arms right then and there.
“I’ll see you tonight, Summer,” I promise her, watching her lips part before she pulls in a shaky breath and leaves my office.
I watch her go, smiling, already strategizing how I’m going to keep her.
