The woman had curves for weeks and a burning fire in her eyes.
The only thing I found blatantly unattractive about her—same as back then—was the way she so obviously detested me.
After I’d given the two of them as much of my time as I could afford, and picked up the tab, I excused myself and stood to leave. “I’m afraid I have another meeting to get to,” I explained. My phone had been vibrating in my pocket for a while. I was running late now, and I could see Rolf trying to catch my eye from the front entrance of the restaurant. I hated being late, and he knew that. “Ladies, thank you for your time.”
Janelle offered her hand and I shook it. “I look forward to seeing you at the gala on the weekend,” she said.
Right. The fucking gala. Where hopefully I could avoid her in the sea of mingling women.
I looked at Devi. “Ms. Sereda. It was a real slice.”
“Sure was.” She shook the hand I offered, putting on a fake smile.
“Can I walk you out?”
“Oh, thank you, but we’ll finish our drinks. It was wonderful meeting you, though,” Janelle gushed.
I released Devi’s hand after holding it for too long, mostly to annoy her. Seemed to work. She immediately smoothed her palm over her hip, like she was wiping the evil off her skin.
“It was truly enlightening,” I told them. “Have a nice day.”
“Enjoy your brief stay in Vancouver,” Devi said, stressing the wordbriefthrough her fake smile.
I licked my lip, tempted to indulge in a little more subtle verbal sparring. Instead, I walked away.
And I felt the heat of those dark-brown eyes burning into me all the way across the restaurant.
“How did I do, boss?” I asked Sir Uppity as he fell into step beside me. He’d been watching my every move from his perch. I was surprised he didn’t whip out opera glasses.
He made an uptight-old-manhrrmmphnoise way back in his tonsils. He’d already made it clear he didn’t like me calling himboss, which meant I was definitely going to keep doing it.
“When you’re in a business meeting,” he informed me, “there is a proper way to interact with a woman. Anddisdainanddesireare not a part of it.”
“I have no interest in Ms. Gorman,” I said, as we stepped outside and two of my security guys tossed up umbrellas to keep us dry. “And the disdain was deserved.”
“You tread the line between frankness and rudeness with her.”
“Trust me. She didn’t notice. I’m pretty sure she’s intoxicated.”
“And the other woman… Who is she?”
I supposed his hearing aid hadn’t been cranked up enough to overhear it. “She works for Ms. Gorman.”
He made the disgusting throat sound again as we neared my car. People eyed us as they wandered by, conspicuously flanked as we were by four hulking dudes in dark coats.
“When you’re conversing with a woman in a business meeting and you feel… attracted to her,” Sir Judges-A-Lot advised me, as if he’d ever unclenched his asshole enough to feel anything, “you must not let it show.”
I took exception to that. Mostly because the fact that this guy could tell I found Devi—or anyone, for that matter—fuckable was heebie-jeebie-level disturbing. I stopped and turned on him. “I didn’t do anything.”
“Body language,” he said primly. “It speaks more than words can say.”
“Noted,” I said. Then I let my body language speak for me as I pulled out my phone, got into my car, and let Rolf shut the door in his face. “Get me a meeting with Janelle Gorman,” I told Velma as soon as she picked up in Toronto.
“Gorman,” she said, and I could hear her rapidly typing. “Janelle… didn’t you just have a meeting with her?”
“Yes, I did. And I need another one. Tonight. At her office, after hours. And I need it private. No cameras. No witnesses.”
And no hot employees stopping by to try to save her.
