Page 34 of Open To Negotiation

“So I had the whole place renovated to the best of my memory on what she wanted. I thought about renting it out but I just couldn’t do it. So now I have someone go in and check on the place even though I live here now. It just doesn’t feel right to live there. At least not yet. I stay the night sometimes, but it is easier to be here, it’s a block from the office.” He finally let out a breath, like talking that much was exhausting, which for him it might have been. We were both quiet for a moment while he was lost in thought.

“Thank you for telling me.” I reached my hand up and gave the arm I was laying on a squeeze.

The ping of his phone broke the moment and had us both pulling away.

“Food is on the way up.”

“Could we eat out here?” I asked, letting the topic change. I figured he had reached his limit of being vulnerable with me today.

“That would be great. Want wine? I have red and white.”

I rubbed my hands on my arms. “Yes please, whatever you’re drinking works for me.”

We moved inside and he told me where to find cutlery as he grabbed the food from the doorman who had brought it up, and I watched as he popped a cork on a white. We carried our stuff outside and settled at the table. He went back inside and then came back, tossing a hoodie on my lap.

“Put it on, Quinn.” He glared at me until I slipped it on, nodding at his plate as I settled back in.

“Thank you for feeding me. You didn’t have to do this,” I said as I took the lid off my food.

“You don’t need to thank me. I’m happy to do it, plus this way I get to spend more time with you.” He watched me as I took my first bite of food.

I moaned, closing my eyes. The food was delicious, maybe made even better by the fact that I hadn’t eaten much today. “This is amazing,” I said as I opened my eyes.

Theo was staring at me with heat burning in his eyes. He watched as my tongue popped out and ran along my lips, his eyes tracking every move.

We both sat there frozen for a moment before he cleared his throat and looked down at his plate. I felt pretty smug that I got that reaction out of him, even if it was unintentional. Well, at least the moan was. The food was delicious.

“So Dick is making you work late?”

I gave myself a moment to decide how to tackle his question while I chewed and took a sip of my wine.

“Not making me exactly… but there are a few things I need to get done. I should have left earlier and worked from home, but I was focused and didn’t notice the time.”

“And why did you decide to walk? You live too fucking far.”

“I should’ve never let you get my address,” I mumbled as I took another sip of wine. “I just wanted a little fresh air, I was going to get a car after a few blocks.” He grunted and I avoided eye contact.

“I could get Richard fired,” he said casually.

“Isn’t your dad’s company an investor? Isn’t that a conflict of interest or something?”

“I have more than enough money to convince the other investors to sell his portion to me.” I could hear the pride in his voice. “I could buy him out, become the investor and then fire Dick.”

I shook my head and laughed at the absurdity of that statement. “That seems a little drastic. But it’s cool that you could.” I wasn’t sure what else to say, we were talking about money way out of my league.

“Pisses the man off that I’m more successful than him. I kept my mum’s last name too. He told me to change it when I started uni but I refused.”

“It’s too bad he couldn’t just be proud of you.”

He made a sound of agreement. “What about your dad? Is he proud of you? You seem to be doing well for yourself.”

“If you asked him, I’m sure he would say yes but he has no idea how I’m really doing. He has no idea how good or bad I’m doing financially, if I have any investments—”

“Do you?” He interrupted me with a quirked brow.

“No,” I dragged out my reply since I felt like I was answering wrong. Especially when he narrowed his eyes slightly at me.

“You should. Oli will help you.” It wasn’t a question meaning I’m sure I would hear from Oli about it. Theo seemed like a man of his word.