Jacob would be standing on the other side of the entrance, and though this was the third night in a row they were trying out this tentative peace, it was the first time he was coming to her home. Ever.
Her fingers curled as she slowly counted through the fifties.
There was no possible way she could hide all her personal things here. She’d purposefully laid her stamp on the place, and for good reason—only her closest friends and most vetted confidantes were permitted to visit this house. Business functions were handled in impersonal hotel ballrooms. Not in her home.
She wasn’t quite sure how Jacob had managed to invite himself. She’d informed him she would be busy, packing for a quick two-day trip to New York to meet with the head of the Anderson Group, who she feared was getting cold feet about selling his European assets to her. She’d spent too long combing through the due-diligence reports legal counsel had sent her to have this idiot back out now simply because he hadn’t warmed to her personally.
She’d told Jacob as much, and the next thing she knew, he was coming over.
He was a wizard. It was the only explanation as to why she was incapable of saying no to this man.
Case in point: this ridiculous agreement. She could find someone else to open the damn box. Tatiana had a lead on the company that had initially crafted the thing. Hell, Akira didn’t even particularly care what was inside it. Getting the thing into her possession had been her goal for so long, simply having it was enough for now.
You just wanted to spend more time with him.
Guilty. Though the last two nights had been a bit awkward and strained at times, things were…different. There was a shift in the way he looked at her and talked to her. Like she was the friend he’d said he was looking for.
He had a quiet irresistible charm and surprising hidden depths. Like last night, when he had brought up her work habits. “You always work late like this?”
“No.” She could have ended with the short answer, but he’d been looking at her expectantly, as if he was actually curious about her business. “I’m trying to finagle a deal, taking over the European arm of this corporation. They’re running the actual businesses into the ground, but they have great locations.”
“Sounds important.”
“It is. It could instantly almost triple my holdings there.” Europe was a market she had long been eager to expand in. That was where the Mori hotels had been particularly robust.
Not that she was competing with her father. But, well…she couldn’t deny that it would give her a great deal of satisfaction to rub his face in her success on his home turf.
“So no, I don’t always work as late as this, but I probably do work later than most people.”
He didn’t respond, so she prodded him. “Aren’t you going to lecture me on proper work-life balance?” A phrase she rather despised. She had a proper work-life balance, but people either assumed she did nothing but party or she worked herself to death. No one understood her work-life balance was just right for her.
He had cast her a confused look. “I work late sometimes because I enjoy it and I don’t want to stop. You should do whatever makes you happy. Even if that’s staying here until midnight.”
Maybe he was telling her what she wanted to hear. But that made no sense. He got nothing out of winning her over—money, sex, or fame hadn’t exactly been a part of his deal.
A shocking thought: perhaps he had no ulterior motives other than getting to know her without the negativity that had contaminated every dealing they’d had before.
She narrowed her eyes. Look at him, not even impatiently ringing the doorbell more than once, though she was taking her sweet time in answering. What kind of a saint was he?
She rose slowly to her feet and made her way to the door, pulling it open. He gave her his lopsided, rare smile, and she almost slammed the heavy wood in his face.
She wasn’t used to this at all. Somehow, it was easier to deal with the man when he was brooding and being silently disapproving. Then she knew what to expect, was able to predict his actions, which in turn dictated her own. This guy…no, she had no idea what he was up to.
“So you answer your own door.”
“It’s the butler’s night off.”
He snorted as he walked past her, forcing her to open the door wider to accommodate his large frame. When she didn’t respond, he turned, his red sweater clinging to his muscles.
The spurt of lust was almost second nature by now. Almost.
“Oh. You’re serious.”
She closed the door and shoved her hands into her pockets. “Of course I’m serious. Do you really think I have time to run a house of this size in addition to my business?”
“Hmm.” Jacob glanced around, and she had to fight her instinctive urge to blindfold him, perhaps lead him to the most nondescript and boring room in the place. She had a guestroom on the third floor that was in the process of being renovated. He could go there.
No, there was only a bed in that room. He might get the wrong idea. Or the right idea.
