No, it wasn’t sexual. But it had to be intentional, I thought. He could have just as easily said, “to me again.” It still worked in the professional sense, but…
Dante smirked at me. I nodded, more easily able to brush him off, and began pacing the room. Not because I had a particular interview target in mind, not even because I had particular notes I wanted to make, but just because I needed to get my senses back.
Somehow, Adrian had sent my head spinning in a way no other subject had done. Already, I was violating a rule about getting too close to the journalistic piece in question.
And somehow, a part of me was not only not upset, it seemed to be downright delighted about it.
CHAPTER 3
Adrian
Iwalked to the back office ofAllurenearly shaking with excitement.
I had often said that the enjoyment of a particular woman directly correlated with the degree to which she pushed back on me. There could be little doubt that Delilah wasn’t so much pushing back on me as she was outright refusing me, or doing everything she could to refuse me. Most men who didn’t pay attention would have assumed she was not interested.
It would have been a missed opportunity on their part.
Call it attention to detail, call it nuance, call it whatever the fuck you wanted, but I saw how Delilah reacted to me. I saw the hair go up on her arms. I saw the slight eyebrow raise. I felt her nervousness and her excitement.
This would make for a great fuck, but more than that, it would make for a great mouthpiece. She would make our family look great. She would give us what we needed in the face of the Morrills—a better image, better press, and a better face. I would have my way with her, and it would be of utmost delight as it went along.
The only question, really, was whether I had the patience to ride things out as they went along. Because if I had a downfall, itwas that I tended to try to seize the moment too fast. It made me great as the media liaison since media was an instant reaction thing; in a weird way, it made me great as the CFO, because I could spot prime investment opportunities before everyone else piled on.
But in matters of romance and love… well, I wasn’t really into that. I wasn’t interested in tying myself down. Maybe if you counted the high school days, I could come in too hot. But what fucking man in his thirties did that when?—
“What the hell are you doing back here?”
Ah, right. That man in his thirties.
I stood and turned around. Cassius Vale.EngagedCassius Vale. For fuck’s sake, he even had his engagement ring on.
“I could ask the same of you, except at least I’ve been speaking to a journalist for the last ten minutes,” I said. “Where the hell have you been beforehand? Cooking dinner and making kissy faces to your sweet, sweet fiancée?”
“Funny,” Cassius growled. “You understand that just because I am engaged does not mean I have turned into a shriveled bitch, right?”
I snorted. Truthfully, yes, I kind of did think that. Maybe not to the extent I’d mock him for it, but it was undeniable he’d lost some of his edge.
“There’s a difference between understanding that there’s a time and place to be heavy-handed and turning into a bitch,” Cassius said. “Just because I am not the cold asshole you once knew does not mean I am not when I need to be.”
“No need to defend who you are to me, brother,” I said, putting my hands up in mock deference. “In any case, let’s put aside perceived images. Where have you been?”
“If you must know, I was speaking with Sarah about whether or not to put her front and center in the gala,” Cassius said, which didn’t exactly help my perceived new image of him.“Ultimately, we decided not to, since she feels she’s been at the front too much recently and that we want it to appear she’s there for her work, not for who she’s with.”
“Even though Vegas knows who she’s with?”
Cassius snarled at me, but I was actually being serious.
“It’s not a bad thing,” I said. “Have you actually bothered to read the articles recently? They talk about how the King of Hearts has finally stopped playing the game. How he’s finally found his Queen of Hearts.”
“I pray that if there’s any influence you have over whichever journalist you just spoke to, it’s that you will get them to abandon the King and Queen of Hearts nonsense. That was from a prior life, when I meant it to have a double meaning. I only wish now for me and Sarah to live things out without putting titles on them.”
Besides “married” and “husband” and “wife,” I suppose.I wisely just nodded though.
“In any case, I have now answered your question, and now you will answer mine,” Cassius said. “What the hell are you doing back here? We all agreed we’d be out there as much as we could.”
“I know,” I said, stalling, looking for the right answers. Cassius, of all my brothers, could not know what I felt after the meeting. He’d read into it too much, say that he went through the same thing. Sure, sure.
Except Delilah and I had never met in person before tonight. Maybe,maybeyou could say we’d been in the same room before, maybe even exchanged looks as attractive people did to one another, but I had never dated her. I’d never even touched her before about ten minutes ago.
