Page 8 of Renegade
“I’m divorced.” He watches my face as he says it, and I feel sort of like a rabbit that’s been spotted by a hawk.
“Right. Well, as I was saying, Charlotte will handle everything. Securing the venue, the florist, the—”
“I’m not concerned with Ms. Windsor,” he says evenly. “I’m more interested in you.”
“Oh.” I’m not used to feeling flustered. I can’t decide if I like it or not. “Well, as I told you when we met previously, I have a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from Wake Forest, and I’ve won several awards for my photography. I brought my portfolio, if you’d like to look at it again.”
I lean over to pick up my portfolio, but he waves his hand dismissively. “I don’t need to see your portfolio again. I was impressed the first time around. And I confess, I did a little looking online to find out more about you. You’re hired. The platinum package should work perfectly.” His phone buzzes, and he glances down at it briefly before turning his attention back to me. “Just send the contract along with your bill to my office.” He hands me a business card across the table, and I feel a jolt of electricity as our fingers brush. “I’ll have Natalie contact your office to set up an appointment with Ms. Windsor to get things started. I apologize, but I’m going to have to cut our meeting short. There’s an emergency at the office.”
“Oh. Okay.”
He pushes his chair back and tosses a twenty on the table, which is way more than necessary to cover our two cups of coffee.
“I can get it.” I push the bill toward him and open my purse.
“I’ve got it already.”
“But I have a ten. Our coffee was only six dollars.”
“I always take care of the check.”
“That’s ridiculous…” I trail off as he fixes me with a stare, that faint smile playing at his lips again. “Are you always this argumentative, Ms. Ward?”
“Yes.”
He steps aside, gesturing for me to go ahead of him, and I’m hyperaware of his eyes on me, even though my back is to him.
“Where are you parked?” he asks once we’re outside.
“Just over there.”
“I’ll walk you to your car.” I don’t argue with him this time, and when we get to my car, I turn around to thank him for meeting with me. Only I find him dangerously close—so close that I can smell his cologne.
“Have dinner with me tonight.”
It’s not really a question, more of a command, and I get a little tingle up my spine. This! This is what I’ve been wanting.
I look up into his face and get lost in those piercing gray eyes. “Okay,” I whisper.
He smiles, grips my throat lightly, and brings his lips to mine, barely brushing them, but when he lets go, I’m breathless. What was that all about?
The rest of the day passes in a flurry of activity punctuated with a giddy anticipation I haven’t felt in ages. I have a ton to do after being out of the office for a week, for both the photography side and the business side, which mostly falls to me since McKenzie’s out of town. Charlotte has her hands full with the wedding planning side of our business.
“Welcome back. I brought dinner. I figured you probably worked straight through lunch and forgot to eat, although how anyone forgets to eat is beyond me.”
I look up from the photos I’d been editing and stare dumbly into Charlotte’s smiling face. “Dinner?”
She sighs as she crosses the sunlit space, sets a container of salad on the desk in front of me, and then plops herself into a chair as she opens another container. “It’s almost six o’clock. Sorry I wasn’t here earlier. I had to go look at venues with Brittany, and then Walker called and wanted to know about that necklace of Kenzie’s. You didn’t tell me he was in town.”
“I didn’t know myself until last night.” It’s on the tip of my tongue to tell her about accidentally climbing into bed naked with him, and how he pulled me against his hard chest and his even harder cock—I know she’d find it hilarious and we’d have a good laugh over it—but something stops me. For some reason, I don’t want to laugh about it; I just want to keep it to myself. “Wait. Did you say it’s six?”
Charlotte nods.
“Shit.” I quickly log off and scramble to gather up some papers to take home with me to finish later. “I have a date at seven! I’ve got to go.”
She arches one perfectly groomed eyebrow. “With who? Walker seems to think you’re going out with him to talk about McKenzie. He asked me to come too.”
“Damn. I forgot. But Walker’s going to have to wait.” I waggle my eyebrows at Charlotte. “Remember Declan Campbell?”
