“A majestic cottage tainted by betrayal.”
She grimaces. “I can see why you wouldn’t want to hold on to it.”
I reach for the bottle of chardonnay. “More wine?”
“I’m good.”
“Dessert?”
She sits a little straighter in her chair. “What’s for dessert?”
“Bread puddingmade with brioche served with bourbon and caramel sauce and a side of vanilla ice cream from Creamy Heaven.”
“Yum.” She licks her luscious lips, and my eyes drop to them.
Fuck, I want to own those.
“What you suggested is the kind of decadent dessert that could have me agreeing to anything.”
“Anything?” I study her. “Even agreeing to accept myjob offer?”
She narrows her eyes. “Are you blackmailing me with sweets?”
I rake a hand through my hair. “Listen, Harley, we can pretend you didn’t give me an answer yet, or we tackle it head on.”
She uncrosses her legs. “I want to accept, but…”
“But, what?”
She lifts her eyes to the sky. “What if I disappoint you?”
“What if you knock my socks off?”
“Why is it that you have so much faith in me?”
I shrug. “Call it intuition.”
“What if your intuition is broken?”
Fair point. I have a history of making the worst life decisions when I suffer the kind of injury that causes me to be benched for the rest of the hockey season. My last one was marrying Devlyn. My judgment isn’t clouded right now. I’ve made peace with the fact that my old career is behind me. “I see something in you, Harley. I have since the first day I met you.”
A heavy silence hangs between us.
She blows out a breath. “All right, I’m ready for dessert now.”
I frown.
She’s dismissing me?
“If becoming your in-house social media manager slash public relations liaison is the only way I’ll be able to have that tempting dessert I can’t live one more second without tasting, so be it.”
“You’re accepting the job?”
She worries her lower lip. “Yes.”
Chapter 13
I’m not like them
