Page 72 of Nefarious
“D—” She shut hurt mouth and restarted. “I don’t think either of them would like that.”
“Possibly. But what they don’t know won’t hurt them.”
Selena adjusted her glasses. “I don’t know how to juggle. To be perfectly honest, this is all totally new to me. I mean, I’ve dated back at school, but I usually scare boys away.”
“You’re too smart for a lot of men, Selena. Have you spent much time around truly smart men? Men who are secure enough in their own intelligence to respect yours instead of fearing it?”
“I thought I had. Although my father set me up on so many dates with sons of his friends that ended up badly.”
“And let me guess, they condescended to you but still expected you to put out by the end of the night.” Selena’s face grew red, and Val pressed on. “Or you talked too much, and they felt intimidated by your wit and dropped you off politely without much more than a chaste kiss goodnight?”
“Is it so common?”
“For women like us? It can be very hard to navigate a sea of worthless idiots and come up with a man who can match us intellectually. And physically.” Val pointed toward Selena’s neck. “Don’t tell me you burned yourself with the curling iron.”
Selena’s hand clapped over the hickey. “I’m so embarrassed.”
“Don’t be. You shouldn’t feel compelled to put out for the cretins who expect it as payment for an evening spent in their odious company. Never sleep with a man who can’t keep up with your mind. But neither should you refuse yourself the pleasure of an enlightened man.” She waited until Selena looked her in the eyes before she said, “Especially someone with the experience to teach you what you otherwise might take years to learn.”
Selena’s eyes popped open. “How did you guess?”
“Oh, please. You’d be crazy not to. But remember our conversation last week. Dane’s a lot of things, but a boyfriend is not one of them. Enjoy him while you can.” She stood to go. “And, Selena, don’t throw away your budding romance with Anthony, if that’s what’s going on. He’ll never be able to compete with Dane in nearly any way. You know that already. But he might be able to fill in the gaps.”
She left the training room, pondering the many recent developments. She hated when people did things she couldn’t anticipate and forced her to reconsider her entire strategy.
Perhaps playtime with Anthony had come to an end.
Val could sit back and enjoy the dog fight that would result when Selena got caught between the two men. After all, Selena had served her purpose. She deserved a moment’s reward.
On the other hand, Val wasn’t quite ready to give Anthony up. She’d miss the young man’s eagerness when he was in the throes of hero worship. Surely she could find a replacement quickly enough.
Decisions, decisions.
Val headed for the stairwell. Maybe she needed that cigarette after all.
Anthony sagged in the seat. Dane had created a fairly simple test for him, but he dragged the mouse around with lethargy, sighing heavily between each exercise. Dane wasn’t sure he was even bothering to read the questions.
“Is gravity affecting you more than everyone else today, Anthony?” Dane pinched the bridge of his nose, barely tolerating this display of gloom. “Would you rather go home?”
Anthony shoved an empty chair away from Dane’s desk, and it rolled until it hit the wall, though it had slowed in momentum considerably so that the resulting collision was anticlimactic. “Can I talk to you about something personal?”
Dane closed his eyes to hide their intense rolling. “Can you finish this test first? Don’t you want to move on to the trading floor?”
“What’s the point?” Anthony’s face was buried in his palms, and Dane wanted to grab him by his shirt collar and shake him.
“Stand up.”
Anthony lifted his head out of his hands. “What?”
“I said stand up. We’re going out.”
“What about the test?”
“The test is bullshit. We’re going to go get a drink. I’m tired of watching you sit around here moaning.” He grabbed his suit jacket off the back of his chair and started toward the door. When Anthony remained seated, he turned back. “You coming? Or would you rather calculate net rate?”
Anthony’s eyebrows furrowed, and he glanced from the computer back to Dane. “But—”
“It’s my test, and I’ll say you passed it. Normally, you would have. I made it ridiculously easy. So come on.”
