Page 30 of Hollywood King
I dropped my voice so the waiter returning with her drink couldn’t overhear me. “When I’m toying with you, you’ll know it. And you’ll be screaming my name while I do it.”
She tensed and swallowed heavily. Another victory for me. Ever since I realized I could do it, I loved getting a reaction out of her. A stiffening of her shoulders when she wanted to yell at me. My favorite was the way she clenched her thighs together when I turned her on. Even if her face sat completely blank, I could always tell what was happening in her head. A bad trait for the Hollywood set, but in her chosen field, probably an asset.
“We aren’t children anymore, Heath. Saying dirty things isn’t enough to get me going anymore.”
She purposefully said it loud and in front of the waiter, who backed away and out the door in a hurry. I paid him well enough not to hear anything during my meetings here.
“I’m well acquainted with what can you get you going, Cathy. If what happened in my car was any indication.”
A faint pink tinge stained her chest even if her eyes remained steadily locked to mine.
The waiter returned a moment later and took our orders before scurrying away again.
I leaned forward and braced my forearms against the white tablecloth. “I’d like to close this deal before the appetizer arrives.”
“Two million,” she threw out.
I stared her down, why that specific number? Her shares were worth more if they were viable. With the bankruptcy, a lot less. Our entire lives, she always commented how she hated money, never wanted more than she needed. So what changed? Did she need two million for something? Now I wanted to know the answer, and I knew only one way to find out.
“I’ll do two million if you come along with it.”
She stiffened and snaked her hands out to wrap around her drink. “I’m not going to whore myself to sell something that is already mine.”
“Yours are worthless. And I never said anything about sex. Interesting your mind went right there.”
“What else could you mean? Please, tell me,” she challenged.
“I want your mind. Lend stability to the company with your presence. Let me use you to show the employees and other investors the company is solvent. Your brother is useless at the showmanship. You are a pro.”
She blew out a gust of air like she’d been holding her breath. “I’m not interested in being a poster girl for your reclamation project.”
“Fine,” I shrugged. “Then we can go back to the sex idea.”
Our food arrived before she could answer. Once the server left, she locked eyes with me again. “Fine. Two million and my help for two weeks. And I’m not sleeping with you.”
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”
She drained her drink and set it near her plate. Her eyes strayed around searching for another life line. I stood, grabbed a carafe of wine from my side of the table and poured a glass for her. She stared up at, me and I let her see everything in my eyes. The ten long years of being apart from her, and all the ways I wanted to tear her dress off with my teeth.
“You shouldn’t look at me like that,” she whispered.
“Like what?”
“Like you’re a big shark, and I’m a guppie. I’m not a guppie.”
I agreed. She’d never been a guppie in her life. “No, not a guppie. More like the renegade fisherman ready for the biggest catch of her life.”
She poked her food with her fork, and I knelt down beside her. It was worth it to see the look shift on her face as I moved in closer. I gently took the fork from her and lifted it to her lips. She refused to open her mouth, but I waited until she relented. She slid her lips along the tines in challenge, and I gave her back her cutlery as I stood. The distance would keep me from touching her and ending up on the floor without clothes.
When I returned to my seat, she visibly sagged into her own. “Are you able to promise me two weeks with your work schedule?”
Now she ducked her chin, and I suspected the next words out of her mouth would be a lie. And I prayed she never played poker with any real stakes. “I am thinking I need to take some time off anyway.”
“Is that so?”
“Who says, ‘is that so’?” She deepened her voice to mock mine.
I didn’t answer her that time. She put her fork down and pulled the napkin off her lap. “I think I’m done, and since we’ve reached a business decision, I should leave.”
