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“I trust my sixth sense. That’s what Candi calls it.”
Still not buying it, Damian nodded. “Okay. I’ll get her on board.” He’d also find out the reason why Bill was so interested in her. Well, he knew the reasons, but the thought of another man—
“Great. Well, I’ll have my lawyer take a look at the contract and get in touch with you next week in case we need to tweak any clauses.”
“Sounds good. Thank you,” he said.
“You’re welcome. I have a good feeling about this.”
“Me too.” He also had a bad feeling about Brit sliding into yet another part of his life. But, damn, if that was the price to get the project off the ground, so be it. But for sure he’d be taking a lot of cold showers.
* * *
Damian removedhis white coat and used his key fob to slide it and get access to his office. He walked in, tossing his coat and messenger bag onto the couch, the effects of operating all day wearing him down.
“Oh, I’ll be done soon,” said a very familiar female voice. He followed the sound to find Brit organizing some files of case studies in front of the credenza. Several folders scattered around her, and she looked… different.
A strand of lust zapped to his groin. Magnificent.
She had chopped some inches off her hair, now whispering above her shoulders. The sleek cut brought even more attention to her pretty face. Today, her brown eyes looked bigger, with some shimmering stuff around them. A need to touch her hair, to feel its silkiness shot from his fingertips up his arm.
“Damian?” she called him. “I wasn’t expecting you, so I decided to get some more stuff out of the way.”
“That’s fine,” he said, choking out the words.
“Are you sure?” She tilted her head. “You seem mad.”
Madly aroused. “Yeah. There’s something I’ve been meaning to talk to you about,” he said, sitting on the couch across from her.
She stopped stacking the folders and glanced at him. “Shoot.”
“I met with Bill O’Donnell today. He’s going forward with investing.”
She shot him a smile so bright, it had had the power of curing illnesses. “Excellent. I’m happy for you. Congratulations.”
“Thanks. He wants you to be involved.”
“Involved?”
“Yeah. He likes you and thinks you’ll be a good addition to the team.”
“But I’ve got no experience in this kind of stuff.”
“You’re good with people. And he can pay handsomely too,” he said. So could Damian, but he’d better keep himself out of this equation and make it as though this was just a professional opportunity.
“I have my own career plans,” she said, her voice edgy.
He perched his hands at his waistline, his spine locking into place. Had he offended her? He didn’t mean to, but millions of dollars rode on her answer. Bill hadn’t spelled it out, but he’d made it clear he wanted Brit to be a part of this—the stubborn man clearly wasn’t used to hearing no. “This won’t be a full-time gig for you. We can have you as a junior project manager until you figure out what capacity your skills will be better used at.”
“I don’t know.”
“Think about it. The company also has good healthcare even for contractors.”
“You’re pimping me out to Bill in order to get your damn hospital?”
“No. He’s not interested in you like that,” he said evenly. If he’d detected that kind of interest from Bill, of course he wouldn’t have gone along with it. “If I didn’t see any advantages for you, I wouldn’t ask you to consider the offer.”
“I’ll think about it.”
“Can you let me know by tomorrow? Say, around lunch? A phone call will do.”
“I can’t,” she said, erasing the gap between them so she stepped into his reliable spatial bubble. “See, tomorrow I’ll be on a date around lunch. So no, no phone calls for me.”
“A date?” He snorted. Every muscle in his body stiffened, and his gaze slid from her eyes to her mouth. A date. Had she been seeing this guy when she slept with him? Not that it mattered, but… oh yeah, it mattered. A painful pang of frustration knotted his pulse. “Do I know him? I thought you said—”
“That I haven’t gotten laid in a while? I meant it. But after our rendezvous, I realized I miss being in a relationship with a man who won’t dash out of my bed in the middle of the night,” she said, defiance lacing her voice. “So, I decided, why not?”
When he shifted his attention back to her eyes again, he detected a glint of bitterness in the depth of her irises, matching the half-smile on her face. She stood to her full height, leaning in, perhaps hoping from him the same thing he hoped for—the courage to open up again.
“I’ll call you in the evening,” he said, turning around and moving the hell away from her.
