Page 67 of Playing Mr. Perfect

“This isn’t funny. There are no sparks.”

He scoffs.

“Okay, there are sparks. But he can’t be here. Look at me.” I hold out my trembling hands. “He makes me stupid.”

“That’s called turned on, babe.”

“I am not turned on.”

“Is that what you’re telling yourself? Because the way you two were looking at each other tells me you must have been burning up the sheets in Paris.”

I close my eyes, fisting my hands, and groan. When I open my eyes, Ravi looks even more amused. “I hate how well you know me. What am I going to do?”

“Him, I hope.”

I narrow my eyes. “You’re not helping.”

“Pepper, what’s the problem? Did something bad happen that you didn’t tell me about? Because I’ll go set him straight.”

I take a deep breath, trying to pull myself together. “No. He’s been nothing but wonderful to me. But I told you. He makes me forget my good sense.”

“You could use a little more of that in your life.”

“You don’t get it. I don’t even know who I am with him.” I hand him the sketch. “Who is that? Huh? It’s not me. It’s some naked chick with sexy lips and dazzling eyes. Even the artist could see that I wasn’t myself.”

He studies the sketch, then sets it on the table and studies me. “Listen, you know I love you.”

“What does that have to do with him?” I fume.

“Because you’re not going to like what I have to say, and I’m going to say it anyway, so I want you to remember that you love me.” He softens his tone. “As you’ve gone out with guys and brushed them off, I’ve supported you one hundred percent. I didn’t think any of them were good enough for you. They didn’t make the efforts you deserve, and you never seemed overly excited about any of them. I don’t know Clay from Adam, but I do know this. You blew off work to be with him, and I say blew off lightly, because we both know you deserve a hell of a lot more time off than that one day. But you’ve been different since you got back from Paris. You’ve been distracted and edgy. I think he lit you up like a firecracker, and that scares the hell out of you because it reminds you of who you were before.”

I swallow hard. Before the accident that changed everything or before the asshole in college, or both?

“I recognize the girl in that sketch, and there’s something really special about her. I’m glad you get the chance to experience her again. Even if she scares you.”

I swallow hard, fighting tears. I have no idea if they’re tears of anger, or for the girl I said goodbye to years ago, or sheer frustration, but I fight them with everything I have, trying to get my head to focus.

“Showing up here is an aggressive move by a guy who can have any woman he wants,” Ravi says. “Which means he knows that you can have any man you want, and he’s not taking any chances. I like that.”

I hear what he’s saying, but I’m too out of sorts to deal with any of it. “Then you go out with him.” I huff out a breath and walk around my desk.

“Pepper—”

“Don’t.” I hold up my hand, silencing him. “We have a call to make, and my head is all over the place. Maybe we should reschedule.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?”

“No,” I snap.

“It took us six weeks to set up this call.” As we’ve done dozens of times for each other, Ravi’s demeanor morphs from best friend to determined business associate. His eyes go serious, his jaw tightens, and he places both hands on my desk, leaning across it, staring me down. “You are Dr. Pepper Montgomery, a leader in our field. You started this company with the goal of making medical devices you care about. Are you really going to let a little chemistry get in the way of doing that?”

“No?”

He scoffs with a smile and shakes his head. “Cut the shit and pull up your big-girl panties. It’s showtime.”

More than an hour later, we end the conference call, and Ravi and I sit back as the rejection sinks in. “Well, that sucks,” I lament. “I thought I pulled myself together and gave a solid pitch. Did I say something questionable or sound like I wasn’t confident in our abilities?”

“Of course not. They wouldn’t have spent that much time with us if they weren’t interested in what we were doing. The VP is just old school. You heard what he said. He’s hesitant to give money to a company that hasn’t been around very long.”