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“Actually, I have to go find Goodluck. I can’t really—”
“How about dinner, then? We should catch up.”
I saw Angela almost enter the room, then back out when she saw us at the window. “Catch up on what?” I asked. I didn’t mean to be snarky. It was more like self-defense. “What should we catch up on? Whether I’ve gotten falling-down-drunk again in the last couple weeks? Because I’ve tried not to.”
“That’s good.” His smile deepened. “Come on, I hate eating alone.”
I stared at him, not believing for a second that he ever ate alone, not if he wanted company. A filthy rich jewelry heir. A serial seducer, no doubt, but the attraction crawled all over me, like a nagging insect trying to burrow under my skin. Knowing he was a Dominant made the temptation so much worse.
“I think—maybe…” I squinted at him through the light from the window. “It might be awkward to have dinner. I mean, I’ve been cuffed to your bed, and now we’re working on this ad campaign together…”
“That’s why it’ll be so fun. There’s this new place I’ve been wanting to try. Have you been to the Ivy yet?”
He looked embarrassed when he said it, as embarrassed as a rich, gorgeous man could be, because everyone knew the Ivy was impossible to get in to. I didn’t bother to ask if he could get reservations. I didn’t blurt out “that place is ridiculously expensive!” the way I wanted to. I just stammered, trying to think up an excuse before I foolishly agreed to go with him.
“I don’t know. Not sure if I’m free tonight.”
“Another night?”
I turned away, biting my nail.
“You’re hurting my feelings,” he said. “Fine. Maybe I can convince Goodluck to go to the Ivy with me. He seems like interesting company.” He took out his phone. “I’ll have to call first and make sure everything on the menu has been responsibly sourced.”
“Okay, I’ll go to the Ivy with you.” I blamed this cave-in on Angela, who was too far away to save me from this carnal pheromone bomb, with his dark, curly hair and disgustingly attractive suit. “But I don’t understand why you’d want to take me to dinner. I didn’t make the best first impression when we met.”
“I doubt I made a good first impression either, so why not try for a second impression? A better one this time?”
I glanced down at his crotch. I was sure he noticed. Why did he make me think so much about sex? The deep voice? The confidence? The bold way he looked at me? His gaze dropped to the front of my blouse. I hoped he couldn’t see my nipples, because they were hard. I crossed my arms over my chest as his lips twitched into a panty-melting smile. He knew I was in pain, and he liked it.
“I’ll pick you up at the Black Wall tonight at seven-thirty. You don’t even have to dress up,” he said, leading me to the door. “It doesn’t have to be a date. I’d just like to learn more about what makes you tick.”
That was a watch joke, from a watch heir. It took me a moment to get it because he scrambled my brain whenever he smiled at me. That was the only reason I was agreeing to go out with him—brain-scramblement. How was I supposed to survive dinner at the Ivy without falling even harder for him?
“Come on,” he said, touching my arm. “I’ll walk you downstairs and make sure they get you a car.”
Chapter Five: Fort
Ishut myoffice door and paced for the next half hour. Dinner? Nope. Fuck. Not what I’d intended.
Okay, it was what I intended, but why? Why had I suggested Boundless as an ad partner so I could see her again? Why had I waited anxiously for her to arrive at the conference room door?
And when she showed up, why did she have to be so damned enticing? So fucking different and new?
There were no over-the-knee socks today. She’d been dressed more conservatively, for business, but she still struck an erotic chord. Maybe it was her dark-lined blue eyes, the way they widened whenever she bit her lips, or the slow, sweet way she talked. Maybe it was the way she wore her hair in a loose chignon that begged to come down, or maybe it was the way that chignon bared her neck.
I’d wanted to bite her fucking neck in the middle of the meeting. I wasn’t usually one to obsess over biting women’s necks, but Juliet Pope made me go vampire. She’d even made me ask her out to dinner.
Bad idea.
She wasn’t a seductress. She wasn’t ballsy and crazy like Allie, and she didn’t strike me as particularly strong or confident in her sexuality. There could be no after-dinner hookup, no matter how much I ached to bite her. It would take me approximately four-point-three seconds to shock her sensibilities if I was stupid enough to unleash the sexual urges she inspired in me. There was no path forward for Juliet Pope and me.
But I’d stood behind her in the conference room as she looked out the window, and stared at her nape like I was hypnotized. I’d done my damndest to memorize her scent like some kind of stalker. When she’d turned around and looked at me, her blue eyes even more striking in the sun’s light, I’d had to work to not physically react to her gaze, to keep talking like we were only having a friendly encounter. I’d decided to work with her artist boss because I’d wanted to see her again—out of curiosity, I told myself—but now I was hooked on her eyes and neck and lips, on her freaking scent.
I had to cancel the Ivy, tell her I couldn’t get reservations tonight because they were booked. I’d leave her hanging on a follow-up date, tell her I was headed out on a trip and wasn’t sure when I’d be back. Devin could fly me somewhere, anywhere, to get her out of my head. I had her phone number from the ad campaign contact sheet, so I could text her. No need to hear her light, halting voice again, and fall for her soft southern accent.
My fingers hovered over the screen, but I didn’t send the text I started.Hi Juliet. As it turns out…
As it turns out, we were having dinner at the Ivy, even though it was a terrible idea.
