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The restaurant boasted a large seating area, and the hostess led us to a table against the wall of windows where a middle-aged man, a few years older than us, rose to his feet with a smile on his face.
He held out his hand to Vander, a warm twinkle in his eyes. Vander shook his hand and gave him a wry smile. I hadn’t realized until that moment, how weird it might be for Vander to introduce a potential client to his main competitor.
A frisson of regret spooled in my tummy.
Vander turned toward me and placed his hand on my lower back. One side of his mouth curled into a smile at catching me in the act of studying him.
“Ruby, this is Gary Dolman. He’s a good friend and a fierce competitor. Gary, this is Ruby. She owns Spuds and we think it would make a great candidate for franchising.”
Gary grasped my hand with a firm handshake and greeted me with a smile that reached his eyes. I liked him immediately. Over the course of the evening, as he spoke about what his company could offer, he revealed a few obstacles.
First, his offices were a good half hour outside of my safe zone. I wouldn’t have to go too often, but this was not necessarily a point in his favor. Not going regularly, and often, meant I wouldn’t attain any level of comfort. Each time I had to drive to his office would be a battle, and being so far outside my zone, I could not be certain of victory.
The fact that he did not currently have an available consultant to assign to my case created a second obstacle. There would be a three to six month wait.
Third, while his company recommended locations, they leant heavily in favor of extensive travel to meet with franchisees.
The fourth obstacle was cost. Of course, I knew franchising would be expensive, but I did not know the possible range could be so vast.
After he left, I relaxed back into my seat. Vander had asked questions I hadn’t thought about, to which he most certainly knew the answers. He’d championed Spuds, he’d been respectful and encouraging towards me throughout the dinner, and he’d smiled proudly when I spoke about Spuds’ history.
I loved having him in my corner.
“Well? What do you think?” I asked.
He nodded thoughtfully. “Altogether positive. He thinks you’ve got a viable business model. That’s the most important part.”
“It’s more expensive than I thought it would be.”
“Your expenses will run at the lower end of the scale.”
“You think?”
His mouth curled up at one side and his dark eyes twinkled. “I know.”
I laughed. “Of course. I forgot for a minute that this is what you do.”
His gaze sharpened. “Let me do it for you.”
“It’s tempting. It’s tempting to let you because, in this, I do trust you.”
“In this.”
“I didn’t mean to say that, but yes.” I met his eyes defiantly. “In this.”
He sat back in his chair, curling his hands into loose fists on his powerful thighs.
I tried not to look but I loved his legs, I’d always loved his legs. My eyes drifted along the curve of his thigh. I remembered the last time we were together, how he spread my thighs with his and slid his hard cock against all my wet, giving me exactly what I needed. I closed my eyes, remembering it took only a matter of moments from that point for him to drive inside me.
I pulled myself from my reverie and forced my eyes back to his face and gasped.
Gone was the affable half smile.
The determined businessman? History.
Here sat Adonis, and Adonis could read my mind just as easily as I could read his. A dark flush stained his high cheekbones and his eyes glittered dangerously. He pressed his lips together in a firm line and the muscle at the side of his jaw ticked, clearly visible through his short beard.
I remembered the tickle of his beard against my palm and slammed my thighs together tightly, then cursed myself for giving so much away.
