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“I’m downstairs. I brought dinner for you.”
“You didn’t have to do that.”
“I know I didn’t, but I wanted to. I’ll be up in a few minutes.”
“All right.”
She hung up the phone and breathed slowly through her lips again. Since he was here, she’d take this opportunity to give him the new list of possibilities.
Minutes later, he appeared in her doorway with the Bruno’s Tavern logo emblazoned on the side of the paper sack in his hand. She smelled the food and her mouth watered.
Bruno closed the door and stood back to look at her. “How was your day?”
Marissa stood. “Good. Busy.”
“You’re not sorry you came to work?” He walked across the floor and placed the sack on her desk.
“No.”
“Hm. I must be losing my touch. You should be too tired to work. You should be exhausted.”
Heat flamed her cheeks. “Sleeping on the plane helped.”
“Oh.” Amusement lifted the corners of his mouth. Then his eyes narrowed. “What’s wrong?”
“Oh, nothing,” Marissa said in a breezy voice. She didn’t know how to broach the subject of the new prospects. “Thanks for the food. I’m sure whatever you brought is delicious.”
“I brought you a strawberry milkshake and our signature burger and fries. I know you’ll enjoy them.”
Marissa cleared her throat. “I’m glad you came by, actually, because I’ve been hard at work for you. I put together a list of women I think you’ll appreciate. A couple are recommendations from our other offices. I have another client coming here soon and need to prepare for that meeting, but we should set a time to review these women?—”
“What are you talking about?” Bruno’s brow furrowed.
“Well, you’re looking for a wife, and my job is to find you a wife.”
He stared at her.
The silence in the room stretched to an uncomfortable level.
Bruno laughed. “Do you not see that as a conflict, since you and I are now involved?”
“Are we?”
Bracing his hands on the desk, he leaned toward her, staring her down. Speaking slowly, he said, “Did you think California was a one-time thing?”
Marissa swallowed. “I didn’t know what to think. I didn’t want to assume, and you know my situation here.”
He came around the desk and stopped within inches of her. “You’re not allowed to date clients. I don’t care about that.”
“I do. This is my livelihood, Bruno.”
“I would never want to jeopardize your livelihood, but if you think I’m giving you up, you’re mistaken.” He cupped her jaw. “I have thought of little else but our trip this weekend. I want to spend more time with you, Marissa, so we’ll have to figure out this situation with your job, yes?”
“I don’t know what we can do. You would have to cancel your contract, and you’ll lose all the money you spent. The fees are nonrefundable.”
“I don’t care about the money. Now, what else?”
“We’d have to be careful about being seen together in public for at least a year. As I said before, I could get sued. The whole conflict of interest, moral dilemma problem again.”
