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“Because you want me all to yourself?”
She laughed at the way he batted his eyelashes at her. “You’re a funny guy, Hunter.” She was about to say more but Tammy returned with their drinks and took their orders. Skylar watched them flirt a bit more before she sauntered away and she knew already, accepting this date had been a mistake. “Tell me Hunter, what do you do when you aren’t working?”
The smile that split his face made him look a work of art. “I love extreme sports and whenever I have time, I fly off to ice climb, BASE jump, white water rafting, surfing you name it. I love the rush of conquering nature.” He sipped his scotch with great satisfaction. “I’ll be ice climbing in Norway this winter.”
She nodded, mildly interested in what he was saying but mesmerized by his enthusiasm. Dismay quickly set in when she realized he wouldn’t ask about her interests. “You do love a rush, don’t you?”
“I do! When I’m not traveling for extreme sports I indulge in cars, mostly fast cars. I have all the quality sports cars, Porsche, Lamborghini, Corvette and I just bought a Formula One car.”
Their food had arrived and Skylar had never been more grateful. Conversation was stilted and boring and she was ready to go home. There would be no more attempts at conversation on her part. He wasn’t interested and she didn’t need to waste her breath. The only sounds she made were a few moans while she finished off her torte. “That was delicious.”
“Can I ask you a question?”
“Sure go ahead.”
“Are you a real redhead?”
Her brows wrinkled in confusion. “I don’t dye my hair if that’s what you’re asking.”
He leered at her and she grew nervous. “I’m eager to find out for myself, Skylar. Will I? I’ve heard good things about redheads in the sack.”
His words sank in. “Okay Hunter, time to go.”
His eyes widened. “Let’s go.”
Before she could tell him he’d misunderstood he was out of his chair and in search of Tammy. Oh well, she thought and stood to gather her purse and jacket. She had nearly made it to her car when Hunter caught up with her. She turned at his voice. “Thanks for dinner Hunter, the food was delicious.”
“And the rest of it?”
She nodded. “It’s been interesting.” Hunter leaned and cut off the rest of her words by shoving his tongue down her throat. His kiss was too wet and too aggressive for her taste and she pushed him back. “Jeez Hunter, read a room!”
“I thought we were on the same page, babe.”
“No. We’re not. I’m not sleeping with you.”
Realizing his mistake, Hunter stepped back apologetically. He was not deterred thought. “Sorry Skylar, you’re just so hot I guess I lost my mind for a moment. Can we start over, please?”
She knew she would regret it but she nodded her agreement. “Fine.”
“Great, let’s go out again on Saturday night?”
“Sure.” What’s the worst that could happen?
***
Ryder stood behind his desk, looking out over the city as rained drenched everything in sight. The grey sky combined with the grey concrete made everything look lifeless, vacant. He loved the rain though and he spent a few minutes just enjoying the monotony of each drop falling from the sky. It had been more than week since he’d seen Skylar and he felt about as happy and the dreary landscape beyond his office window. He’d probably handled the entire situation badly, but no one had ever accused him of having good people skills.
“Ryder, Lyla Peterson is on the line,” Mimi interrupted his thoughts over their shared intercom.
He pulled himself away from the rain reluctantly and picked up the phone. “Lyla, so good to hear from you.” Lyla was President of a private school organization that oversaw more than 60 schools across the U.S. and Canada. Their focus was on students with learning disabilities, autism and any other obstacles to traditional learning. He’d tried to get her on the phone for weeks.
“Ryder, I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to get back to you. We’ve just opened a school in Connecticut and the homeschool parents are being difficult.”
That was a new one. “Why?”
“Because a dozen of their students have been enrolled at New Day and they don’t like it. They’re terrified I’ll be teaching evolution and sex ed,” she laughed but it was more frustrated than humorous. “Listen Ryder, I’m interested in your services but I don’t want a pre-existing program. I want you to create a few programs specific to the needs of our students.”
A smile spread across his face. This was the next step in growing Edu-Tech and Lyla had jumpstarted the process with her request. “That is wonderful to hear. I can send Hunter to you to get the information we’ll need and he can answer any questions you might have. He’s my brother and in charge of Business Development.”
