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“I like the last one.”
“You do?” Angela knew it was a risky move, but the buzz they could gain might make buyers come to the opening.
“Yes,” Daniel said. “We need traffic, and to get the word out about the property.”
Angela beamed with pride. She couldn’t believe Daniel really thought her idea was worthwhile.
“I’d like you to run lead on it,” Daniel continued. “I’ll send you the vCard for my marketing firm. They’re the only folks I trust to provide marketing materials for my high-profile clients.” He reached behind him for his iPad, and with several swipes of his finger he was done and set it back down on the desk.
“Thank you. I appreciate your faith in me.” Angela rose to leave, but Daniel stopped her by placing his hand on her waist.
“Did I say the meeting was over?”
Angela glanced down at his hand, which he immediately moved. “Uh, no.” She sat back down in her chair. “Was there something else?”
“Yes, I wanted to go tour the model condo of our new development downtown. It’s finally ready and I thought you might want to join me.”
“Do you really think that’s a good idea?”
“I am your mentor, am I not?”
“Yes, I just…” Her words trailed off. If Daniel could act as if this past weekend had never happened, so could she. “I’ll get my purse.”
* * *
Daniel watched Angela out the corner of his eye as she walked through the model, which had been decorated by one of the top home stagers in the business.
Instead of assessing the property, he was too busy studying her.
He admired her long, straight brown hair highlighted with blond streaks and the proud tilt of her head. She was putting up a good front that she was unaffected by him, and he admired her determination. She was refusing to allow what had occurred between them to deter her career. While he, on the other hand, was having a hard time not remembering how good it had felt to hold her. How good it had felt to have the soft press of her breasts against his chest. How good she’d tasted when they’d kissed.
He’d tried pushing thoughts of her from his mind, but there was no escaping her. She was at his office. They were showing property together. He was just going to have to face what was going on between them…but how?
He didn’t do relationships. Never had. The memory of Mia and her rejection had been seared in his memory. He never wanted to give his love so freely without knowing if it was returned. And after a time, he’d decided that he didn’t need love. If he dated a woman for too long and she became clingy, he ended it. Since Mia there really hadn’t been another woman to keep his attention or interest for long, in or out of bed, except one. His ex, Farrah Davenport. She’d traded on her beauty for tangible items and the extravagant gifts he could provide her, hoping to string him along until her inevitable endgame: marriage. Not that her plays had worked. He’d called it quits with her.
But Angela intrigued him. She didn’t appear to be like any other woman he’d known, making him want to delve deeper, beyond what was on the surface.
But he squashed any hopes she’d had the other night in the limo when he’d made it clear that theirs was a business relationship. So why was he still yearning for this woman? And not just her body. He wanted to know what motivated her, what drove her. What she liked. What—Well, he wanted to know everything about her.
She turned to face him and her eyes were lit up. “This place is pretty amazing, wouldn’t you agree?”
“It’s certainly going to raise the bar downtown.”
“Which is pretty hard considering the many developments under way,” Angela responded. “So how do we set this apart?”
“One of the keys to success is looking at each project individually and giving your singular focus to it in that moment. If you don’t believe wholeheartedly in the product you’re selling, why should the buyer?”
“Even if it’s up to fifteen hundred dollars per square foot?” Angela inquired. The price point the developer set for Daniel to achieve was staggering, and he expected Daniel to sell 25 percent of the project at the launch party.
