Chapter 6
Ilike her. We should work together. But I don’t want to because I would rather do many other things with her. I can’t do both. I understand why Adam Harris would date Dani, besides her being gorgeous. She’s not what I expected, and I’m sure he felt the same way. A surge of desire washes over me.
Shit! I slump my head into my hand, accepting the fact that I can’t ask my VC’s ex out.
“Everything okay?” she asks, lightly grazing my thigh.
“Yeah, I forgot to tell my assistant something,” I lie, avoiding eye contact as I pull out my phone and send Jess a stupid request.
I’m fighting an internal war, and it’s showing. Get a hold of yourself, G.
I glance down at her hand, which is still on my thigh. It’s small and delicate, with a perfect nude polish. A large diamond dangles from a band on her middle finger, catching my eye. Who casually wears a three-carat ring?
She moves her hand back to her lap, and I want to pull her on top of me and kiss her. I want to tell the driver to go to my place. I want to do so many things to her, but I can’t. I’ve never felt this out of control. I’ve never felt this strong of an immediate connection.
Is this what happens to you when you haven’t had sex in months? You want to pounce on the first viable … Viable? What am I even thinking? There have been girls around. There have been options. But none of them have gotten my attention how Dani has mine right now.
We arrive at the perfect time to end my internal tailspin. Jess phoned ahead, and the general contractor is ready, waiting for us outside.
“G, nice to see you,” he says, handing hard hats to Dani and me. “What brings you here today?”
“We’re going to do a quick tour of the top floor.”
He nods, visibly relieved. As our GC, I bet he’s shitting his pants, wondering why the developer is here on such short notice.
I almost grab for Dani’s hand to lead her into the site but refrain. “Is this your first construction walk?” I ask.
“No, I’ve done a couple of these with other clients,” she says, putting on the hard hat.
“I mainly want to show you the view,” I say, leading us in. “This building has unique zoning. It will be commercial condos and the embodiment of live-work space.”
She takes in her surroundings, intrigued.
“Sorry, I should have warned you about the stairs.” I realize I’m asking her to walk up six flights. At least I’ll know what kind of shape she’s in at the top. Another dirty thought crosses my mind, and I clench my jaw. I’m going to crack a tooth by the time this meeting ends.
“We think that people will pay a premium for lofted units,” I share, refocusing on this meeting.
“We’ve designed them so that the first level of each unit can be used as office and the second floor is home.
The top floor is still in flux. We’re debating how much space should be allocated to common areas and amenities,” I add, leading up the stairs.
“We want to keep a balance between a modern feel while embracing the existing structure.”
“Did you bring me here for the female perspective or the PR perspective?” she asks, and my eyes dart between hers for a couple of seconds, curious if she meant to be flirty with that question.
“I welcome both perspectives.”