Chapter 14
“Ithink this is the most expensive bottle,” I say, removing it from the liquor cabinet in the cigar lounge.
“And it’s too bad we’re not going to work together.
” I give him an involuntary flirty look as I pour the bourbon into a rocks glass.
I should not be flirting with him, especially in Adam’s house.
I’d like to get to know more about Gideon, though.
Can I do that while figuring myself out?
“Ice?” I ask, and he shakes his head.
“Dani,” a voice says from behind me. I turn to find Eric, Adam’s brother, smiling. He greets me with a cheek kiss, surprising me.
“Is Lily here?” I ask, excited to see her and distracting myself from whatever that was.
“I’m enjoying a night out.”
His eyes quickly dart down. Did he just check me out?
“Have you met Gideon Stone from Real-ity?” I ask.
Eric shakes his head, then extends his hand. “Eric Harris.” They shake hands before Eric squeezes my shoulder. “Let’s catch up later.” I watch him walk away, fucking thrown off, then turn back to Gideon, who’s smirking.
“What?”
“You’re very popular.”
“Ex’s younger brothers are not my thing,” I quip.
Declan. He’s inevitably going to be around tonight. Agh.
Gideon’s eyes land on the glass of bourbon I’ve been inadvertently holding hostage. Why did Adam have to insist on a black-tie affair? Every man here looks incredible, especially Gideon. His arms might bust his jacket’s seams if he moves too fast.
“You would be the best client.” I smile, handing him the glass and getting our initial conversation back on track. “Easy to train.”
“No one has ever said I’m easy to work with,” he says gruffly.
“I said train.” The pitch of my voice does not hide my flirty tone.
To prove my point, I extend a closed palm like a microphone to him.
“Why should the average American give your company their money to invest in real estate?” I say in a mock journalist voice.
“Why not put it in the market? Or invest in real estate themselves?”
“We’re doing this?” He laughs and takes a sip of his neat bourbon.
I stick the imaginary microphone closer to him. Making him squirm is hot. He thinks he is an alpha CEO controlling the world. Like others, they have huge egos, yet simple questions terrify them.
“Only invest with us if you plan on keeping your funds in for ten years. I know our marketing says you can extract returns sooner and that we have a minimum term of three years, but I don’t agree with that.
Give us ten years, and we will always outperform the market.
” He smiles confidently as if he just answered that perfectly, which he did not.
Not at all. “And since it’s you,” he continues, “I’ll guarantee that statement. ”
“This is why you need me.” I chuckle when he frowns.
“If we were working together, I would put you through a media training program. And you would know the answer you just gave was a C, at best.” His eyebrows raise in disbelief.
“You didn’t say your company name once, and the quote in the article would be ‘CEO does not agree with marketing.’”
I think his face is processing just how right I am. We hold extended eye contact and his jaw clenches. “You shouldn’t look at me like that,” he softly growls.
“Like what?” Although we both know that I was just eye fucking him.
“You’re really not going to work with Dani?” Adam’s voice cuts in as he approaches us.
“I don’t mix business and pleasure,” Gideon says curtly. Adam shoots me a questioning look.
It takes everything in me not to react to that loaded statement. Adam stands close to me, like territorially close. He cannot know that Gideon and I kissed. I take an exaggerated sip from my emotional support flute of champagne while the two of them exchange a silent, tense moment.
“I hate PR too.” Adam breaks the silence. “But it’s a necessary evil.”
A group of men enters the room, taking Adam’s attention. Thank God. He squeezes my hand before leaving us to speak with them.
Gideon sips his bourbon, then leans into me. “Let’s get a drink. Away from here,” he whispers in my ear.
“Again,” I say like a brat. “Take a girl to dinner first.”
He smiles, then finishes his drink. “Any dietary restrictions?”
“Free eater.”
“Would you rather wear jeans or a dress?”
“Jeans.” I smile.
“Fully developed frontal lobe?”
Laughing, I answer, “Yes. I’m twenty-six.”
“Good. I’ll make some calls.”
“You do that.” I fucking love banter.
My phone vibrates.
Adam Harris
I need your body.
The message makes my heart race. I’m playing with fire, and these tuxedos are only adding fuel.
I do not have the capacity to be in a love triangle. I need to work on being less messy. I am not a messy girl. What a joke that is.
“I’ll be right back,” I say to Gideon and make my way to the closest bathroom to gather myself.
Staring in the mirror, I weigh what’s most pressing on my mind. It’s time to truly break it off with Adam. It’s overdue.
Our current relationship is anything but typical or easily explained at this point. He still feels a sense of ownership over me. It’s evident. I’ve been on dates a couple times since our breakup, but I feel he would disapprove if I actually dated someone.
He’s made enough introductions that my business is billing sixty thousand dollars a month. This rapid growth since the start of the new year has been a wild ride.
But … is Adam the one? I don’t know. I’m hesitant, and that hesitancy is why I need to cleanly break it off with him.
The door opens, and Gideon slides in, locking it. Consumed by my thoughts and raging monologue, I apparently forgot to lock the door.
“What are you—” I spin away from the mirror.
His lips crash into mine for a long, passionate kiss. The force pushes my back against the sink. His presence engulfs me with one hand firmly on my jaw and the other squeezing my waist.
“I couldn’t leave here without doing that.” He smirks, then slides out the door like he was never in the bathroom with me. Fuck. I exhale and actually lock the door this time. Gideon is going to be trouble. All kinds of sexy trouble.
The door handle jiggles. “One sec,” I yell out, frazzled.
Taking a deep breath, I open the bathroom door.
“Declan!” I squeal. A dramatic reaction, but the last few minutes have been a lot.
Seeing him in front of me now, I realize I haven’t seen him since he walked me home from dinner all those months ago.
Had I thought about calling him since the breakup?
Yes. But he’s not interested in a booty call.
He made that very clear, and that’s all I’d been looking for.
There’s this undeniable attraction and tension between us.
But it’s never going to work because here I am, a couple drinks in and feeling guilty about it because he’s always clocking my drinks.
I’m sure he’s heard that Adam and I broke up by now.
He could have reached out at any time, yet he hasn’t. It’s never going to fucking happen.
Declan is casually perched against the wall.
I almost prefer the way he looked when I met him nearly six years ago, with shoulder-length blond hair and displaying all his tattoos, so I wouldn’t forget he grew up in the Polish Mafia.
He’s hot, and I hate that. The only tattoos on display are on his hands.
The turtleneck under his tuxedo jacket does a great job hiding the rest. This look is deadly hot.
“You—” he starts.
I cut him off, waving my hand. “I don’t have time for this,” I manage, stuffing down how I’ll have to reconcile with the fact that if I were sober, he would be pursuing me aggressively.
If I were sober, would I even seriously consider him?
Sorin’s brother, of all people. That’s an existential crisis for another day.
My heels make an exaggerated clack as I walk down the hardwood floor to find Adam. Declan has a way of making me feel seen. I hope he didn’t see Gideon leave the bathroom before me. It would be yet another thing for Declan to have an opinion about.