Page 31 of With Wine Comes War

I smiled and shook my head. No sense in pretending it’s not happening. I know we have a weird connection. “No, it’s fine.” I insisted. “The favor is…I’d like to know if you have an apprentice program?”He looked shocked. It was the same expression Harrison wore in the elevator, so I hurried and clarified, “Not for me. I know someone who would love to learn about construction and building and I told him I would talk to you.” I sat up straight and crossed my legs then rested my hands on my knees. Mostly to stop my knees from bouncing up and down.

“As of right now, no, but Amelia and I are getting a committee together to discuss this exact program. We want our own in-house contractors. Who’s the person you’d like me to help?”

“Darius Jackson. Ella’s grandson.” I stated, matter-of-factly.

“The drug dealer?” he asked with shock on his gorgeous face like I was insane.

I shook my head and raised my hand dismissively and said, “Not a drug dealer. That was the cops trying to create drama. He’s the one that stepped in to protect me from the kid with the knife.” He looked a little more at ease but still skeptical with his brow raised.

“Well, what is it about this kid that you think he’d be a good fit for my company?”

Now it feels like an interview and there’s nothing that turns me on less than an interview. I need something to focus on other than his tongue sweeping over his bottom lip.

“He has definite leadership skills, he’s very intelligent and he got super excited about the prospect of either working in construction or just having a real job.” I kept my eyes locked on his because they were less distracting than his lips. “He said construction was something that highly interested him. It’s hard to feel good about yourself when no one will give you a chance.”

Roman hadn’t taken his eyes off me the whole time and it was starting to get hard to breathe in here now. He stood up and turned around to look out of the window, breaking our connection, thenwalked over to his fridge and got a bottle of water, tipping it back just like I had. I almost started laughing until he came over and sat on the edge of the desk right in front of me. I held my breath as I looked away and scooted my chair back a little. The proximity was too much.

He looked intensely at me and said, “You’re right. People do feel better about themselves when you give them a chance.”

I know that jab was directed at me. I’m just going to pretend I have no idea what he’s doing.

“Yes, so does that mean you’ll do it? Or at least consider it?” I sat back and clasped my hands. Crisis averted; I hope.

“Yes, on one condition…”

Oh great, here it comes, his way of getting me to spend time with him.

“We’d like you to take over the relocation of the residents. Grant can’t handle it with everything else he’s got going on and it’s out of Matt’s scope of knowledge. I had a meeting with Matt before this and he said they’ve got some relocation properties, but they can’t do much more than locate stuff.”

I wasn’t expecting that at all. But I knew what a difficult position I’d left people in with this project.

“Yes, I’ll do it, I’m in. I obviously have the time, and I think I’ve let everyone down enough.” I wanted to run out of there but I was worried he would stop me like he had yesterday. “I guess I should meet with Matt and Grant to see where I need to catch up.” He seemed to be good with that. At least that’s the way I took it from his nod.

“That’s a good place to start.”

Perfect. Good enough. Almost home free. I scooted to the edge of my seat.

“I have to get going. I have training in forty-five minutes, and I still need to change.” I stood up cautiously, maneuvering around him–careful not to touch. I thought I was getting out of there unscathed, but of course that was too good to be true.

“Before you go…”

Shit!I looked down at my shaky hands before turning back around.

***

ROMAN

Damn, what was she thinking about right now? I adjusted the front of my slacks before she turned around, trying to get control of my own arousal. It’s nice to know that connection is still there.

“Before you go, I have a personal request.” I crossed my arms over my chest and sat back on the desk, legs comfortably apart stretched out in front of me. I wanted her to see I wasn’t getting up to stop her. She turned around, keeping a safe distance. She had an apprehensive look on her face– a nervous, twitchy smile. “I’d like you to have dinner with me tonight. I’m not going to make excuses. I want to talk about us.” I dropped my hands to grip the edge of the desk, maybe to hold myself to this spot. I wanted to get up and crush her to my body. “I’m being honest, I just want to talk.” She put her hand over her mouth and looked around the room like she was trying to figure out a way out of this. Then she tapped the side of her leg nervously.

“Training is over at 5:30…” She just began rambling. “...then I need to take a shower and get ready. I don’t know how I’m going to feel afterwards.” She was staring at the ground picking the invisible lint from her pants when she drew in a breath and replied, “But I guess you can pick me up at seven, if that works?” She looked up at me through her thick lashes. “I know I owe you at least a conversation.”

The last part of her sentence sort of whispered away. Damn I wanted to hold her, but I got what I wanted so I’ll let her go for now.

“Thank you. I’ll pick you up at seven. I can just meet you at the valet?”

“That would be great,” she agreed. “I’ll see you then.” I walked her out to the elevator. She said bye to Amelia, smiled and waved as the doors closed.

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