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She smiled back and swirled her own glass in the air before finishing off the last of it. The diamond ring on her hand sparkled in the light—hypnotizing me right along with her entrancing glare.
I knew that look in her eye, and it was trouble. If I were with any other woman over dinner and drinks, it would be game on. But with her I had to resist…no matter how hard it was.
The waiter came by with the check, which I was quick to grab up and pay.
“I can pay,” she offered, reaching to dig her wallet out of her purse.
“You’re a recent college grad,” I argued. “It’s my job to pay. And anyway—I’m making it a work expense. Our first official company dinner meeting.”
“I’m going to want to see our records of those expense charges,” she said coyly. “I don’t abide cocky male executives using the company’s bank account to woo women and buy them expensive dates all over town.”
“What makes you think I’d do something like that?”
She leaned back again with that graceful, yet aggressive air to her—like she was so certain about everything. Especially her hunches about me.
“I know men like you,” she replied. “I’ve been around you my whole life, remember? Not just you specifically…but all of my father’s arrogant business associates.”
“So, you think I’m cocky and arrogant? And a womanizer?” I huffed, acting flirtatiously wounded.
“Am I wrong?” she arched her brow.
I tilted my head and smirked. Thankfully, the waiter returned with the check for me to sign just in time. Anymore witty banter and I’d lose all resolve. It was like another round of foreplay to me, and I could see it obviously was for her too. Maybe she was good at playing those sorts of games and knowing when to quit before she was in too deep—but I couldn’t say the same for myself. Not with the way she had me feeling.
Cat didn’t stop shooting me those tempting glances the rest of the way out. She kept her seductive eyes trained to me as I pulled out her chair and led her out of the restaurant. I called my car around, but stopped just before getting in.
“The car can take you home to your fiance,” I announced regretfully.
“You’re not leaving the strip?” she hesitated.
“No, I’m going to hit the gym on the way home.”
“Get in. I don’t mind dropping you off first,” she commanded.
I let out a sigh. “No, really. It’s okay. It’s a nice night. I think I’m going to walk. It’s not far and it’ll be a good warm-up.”
She wrinkled her face and stared me up and down. “You’re in a suit,” she scoffed before turning to look off at the clouds in the distance. “And it looks like it’s going to rain.”
I shook my head and flashed a smile. “Goodnight, Cat.”
“Suit yourself,” she answered before climbing into the back of the car.
I stood on the sidewalk as she drove off, and clicked my tongue—thinking to myself what a shame it all was. I couldn’t remember the last time a woman had me so riled up, so of course it just had to come from a woman I could never possibly have. Not because she was out of my league. That’s what made it sting so bad. The two of us were rare birds and in a league of our own.
No, I couldn’t have Cat for much worse reasons than that. I let out another sigh and started off down the sidewalk. I didn’t mind the walk—even in my leather shoes. But of course it had to start pouring rain when I was two blocks from the gym. I ran inside and immediately went to my locker where I kept an extra bag and changes of clothes for random, unfortunate circumstances such as these.
After drying off and getting changed, I went to the bench press and started trying to blow off all the steam and pent up tension. With every lift of the weights, I puffed out a gush of air and reminded myself why I had to get my urges under control.
It wasn’t just her fiance or her father that were big red flashing lights telling me to pump the breaks. I needed this deal to go through. I wasn’t in financial distress by any means, but I also hadn’t accomplished everything I had hoped to by this point in my career. If I was going to live up to Mark Whitaker’s standards and teachings—I needed us to purchase Heartstring without anything putting the deal in jeopardy.
