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“Leave Dominic out of this.”
“Ah, so his name is Dominic. I wonder what Dominic would say about you sneaking into my room? Pretty convenient timing, too, with me just getting out of the shower.” He pretends to be in shock. “Wait a minute. Was this your plan all along? To seduce me?”
“What? No!”
“Are you sure?” he continues smoothly. “I’m not saying that I’d mind.”
“I’m not trying to seduce you! And not that it’s any of your business, but Dominic is my ex-boyfriend from college. He just moved back to town. This is a ridiculous conversation. Can you please get some clothes on?” I ask frantically.
“Well, of course… if that’s what you really want.” He lets his hands go for the towel at his waist.
“Not yet! Wait until I leave.”
“I’m so confused. Do you want me to get dressed or not? I’m getting some conflicting signals here,” he says with pretend confusion on his handsome, smug face.
I swivel my body and head for the door.
I can’t get out of the room fast enough, but I purposely slow my gait so that he doesn’t know how badly he has gotten under my skin. With my hand on the door handle, I turn back to him.
“I’ll call the front desk and arrange another room,” I snap at him. “The travel agent must have messed up the reservation.”
Jake sighs dramatically for effect. “Well, if you’re sure you don’t want to stay here…” He pauses and says seriously, “The travel agent didn’t mess up.Liz and I have always shared a two-bedroom suite. You have your own room within this suite, on the other side of the main room. It’s just like having separate hotel rooms but with a living-slash-meeting space.”
“I’m not sharing a suite with you!” I say with a huff. My heart is pounding at the thought of us being in close proximity for the next two days. There is no way I can handle another interaction like the one that just occurred.
Jake puts his hands up in surrender. “Okay, okay, I apologize. Cross my heart. I won’t make another comment about us sharing a room. Liz and I usually share a suite because we like to come back and do some work after our meetings in the living space. It would be helpful if you could be here with me. Going forward, you can inform the travel agent to book separate suites if that is your preference.”
He seems sincere, but it’s hard to take him seriously when he’s still standing there in a towel.
“Fine,” I reluctantly agree. Pulling open the door, I practically run from the room. As the door closes with a quiet thud, I hear him chuckle from the other side. Jerk.
I grab my suitcase from the entry and make my way to the second bedroom. It’s a terrible idea to share this suite with Jake, as was proven by the interaction we just had. I am so confused by what just happened in his room. That went beyond mere flirtation and was highly inappropriate. I’ll need to have a conversation with him once everyone is fully clothed, because this can’t be allowed to happen again.
At least there is one positive to come out of us sharing a suite. This forced proximity will give us the chance to know each other better. If I can establish trust with him, he will allow me to handle additional clients. And really, that’s the goal here. I just need to keep my wits about me when he’s around.
If there is one thing I’ve already learned, it’s that Jake is far too arrogant and sure of himself. And more importantly, I know that he can’t be trusted.
Hours later, Jake and I come back to the hotel from our dinner meeting with the client and Bill Jeffrey. The meeting went great, and plans were made to move forward with the deal.
During dinner, it was interesting to watch Jake in action. He was charming and interesting and had the ability to draw the client in until they were as comfortable as old friends. With his uncanny ability to put people at ease, I can easily see why Jake is so successful at his business. If my uncle hadn’t already told me the truth, I would never have guessed that Jake was capable of sly business practices.
Unfortunately, we have yet to talk about the situation that happened in his hotel room earlier. I am reluctant to bring it up because dinner went great, and we have been getting along really well. Jake was a perfect host and boss all evening. He included me in the dinner conversations and went out of his way to make sure that I was comfortable and had everything I needed. Maybe it was his way of apologizing for his part in what happened in his room earlier. Now that I’ve had time to cool down, I realize I probably overreacted. I shouldn’t have baited him like I did and should have left immediately after realizing it was his room.
The shock of seeing a practically naked man must have addled my brain.
With that in mind, I change into some leggings and an oversized T-shirt and head from my room into the shared living space of our suite. Jake is already there, sitting on the oversized sofa. He’s reading through some documents and has his laptop balanced on the sofa beside him.
Jake had also changed into more casual clothing. He is wearing jeans and a T-shirt and seems more relaxed. This is the first time I have seen him dressed in anything so casual. I walk over to the sofa and sit quietly on the opposite end. Jake finally looks up from his document.
“Hey. I’m just looking over the preliminary financials the client provided this evening. This isn’t everything, of course. He won’t provide the full documents until we’ve decided to work out a deal. But I reallylike what I’m seeing here. This could be great for the company. We’ll just need to do some background checks and make sure that we don’t have any hidden surprises.”
“That’s great,” I say. “I enjoyed getting to know the client this evening. He seems like a genuine guy. So, hopefully, it all works out.”
I pause, not knowing exactly how to bring up the subject of earlier. Jake ends up beating me to it.
“Lana, I want to apologize again for how I acted earlier. I’ll admit that I enjoyed our bantering, and I took it way too far. I sincerely hope this doesn’t make you want to quit,” he says.
“I’m glad you brought it up. I owe you an apology, also. I said some things I shouldn’t have said, and let’s not forget that I shouldn’t have been in your room anyway. Could we just forget it and start over?”
