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Isa looked away from her laptop at Eli, his lazy smile and hooded eyes the signature of an insanely satisfied man. As well he should be after what they just did.
She’d admit, when she went back into the dining room to grab her laptop, she’d done so with an extra spring in her step.
“Working from bed and wearing nothing at all.” He stretched one tatted arm behind his head, showing off biceps and muscles leading to a chest that was downright drool-worthy.
“Don’t you find sex invigorating?” She tapped the keyboard of her laptop again. She’d also grabbed a sleeve of crackers and two cups of coffee on the trip for her laptop. Eli’s mug was steaming away on the nightstand. Hers was half gone, its handle in one hand while she typed with the other.
“Intense, yes. Amazing, absolutely. Invigorating, not quite. All I want to do is nap.” He reached over and cupped her thigh with one hand, his eyes sliding shut. She liked how comfortable this was. How their worlds had intersected, finding a happy medium they both could live with.
Who knew sex was such a great equalizer?
“You should.”
“Can’t,” he answered. “Shit to do.”
“I hear you. That’s why I gave my assistant a promotion.”
His eyes opened. “Oh yeah?”
“Oh, yeah. Chloe and I discussed a partnership, but we agreed her taking on the role of senior manager was a better fit. Now we have to hire a new assistant for the office.” She pursed her lips as she thought. “Maybe more than one. With two people running the office, there’s bound to be twice the workload.”
“Yeah.” Eli’s eyebrows dipped. “So…” His intake of breath stalled his words.
“So…,” she prompted.
“I was considering something similar with Refurbs. Hiring someone to run it.”
“But?” She could hear his doubt.
“But it’s not easy to give up control.”
“No, but it’s smart. A team can do tenfold what you can do alone. You know this.” She nudged him. “Crane Hotels couldn’t be what it is without thousands of staff members and a board of directors.”
He grunted. For whatever reason, none of the Cranes were fans of the board. Eli had told her that much, but hadn’t expounded.
“Without a staff, you’re weighed down by the little things. If you found someone, or a few someones, to run the charity—handle the e-mail, flyers, website, scheduling—then you could be free of the duties weighing you down.”
He watched her, not saying no, which was as good as a yes from him.
“I can make a few calls. I know a lot of very capable people. Then you could be involved but only do what you want to do.” She sipped her coffee. “That sounds like you, don’t you think?”
He rolled his eyes when she grinned in triumph.
“What would you do instead?” she asked, because she wondered if he was considering the Crane Hotels COO position. He really would be so great at it. Eli was sharp, swift, and didn’t take shit from anyone. His natural air of mystery and intrigue would go a long way for him. And his family would be thrilled.
“Hmm. What would I do instead of work?” He stroked his chin, pretending to consider. “Lie in bed and watch TV? Start a harem?”
“A harem!” she barked. He chuckled, obviously kidding, but when she pictured him with another woman in bed, her hackles shot straight up. She cleared her throat and went back to typing. “Not that it makes any difference to me.”
“Hey.” It was a gentle call for her attention. “Do you see any women hanging around waiting to join us?” He moved his palm from thigh to her ass and gave her a light squeeze.
“No,” she mumbled. But she wondered if there was ever a woman hanging around. If he’d been in love before. It was on the tip of her tongue to ask, but she swallowed the question. She wasn’t scared to ask. She was scared of his answer.
Isa didn’t know what they had, or what they would have, but she was fairly certain now was the wrong time to dig into his romantic past—if he had one. They hadn’t established any boundaries, but she was happy. Happy to work with him, happy he trusted her, and happy they shared the enjoyment of getting naked together.
Really happy about that.
Eli stretched out on his back, both hands behind his head. “It would be nice to let go of the particulars in Refurbs.”
